Marco Pizzeria & Restaurant — Restaurant in Branford

This review is for Marco Pizzeria’s PIZZA. I cannot vouch for any other food on their menu. In fact, I am giving them a pass on the Caesar Salad I ordered.

I would suggest skipping salads here - below that top layer of good looking lettuce was lettuce that should not have been served. Also, dressing is a solid MEH.

But I’m removing the lowest grade because what I came for was the pizza!

Marco Pizzeria is serving Napoletano style apizza (AHBEETZ!) made famous in the New Haven, CT region here by Frank & Pepe’s (no longer family owned, now just another chain…I don’t go). Marco learned his pizza craft working at Frank Pepe back in the day and then opened his own spot in Branford.

Look, I don’t care what you think. New Haven County is The Pizza Capital if the world. Napletano Apizza is The Best Pizza. Paper thin crust. Cooked at HIGH heat so that crust is cooked all the way through and the edges have traces of “char” on them and big, crispy “bubbles.” The dough/crust itself is DELICIOUS and flavorful, even without any toppings.

The King of Apizza is The White Clam Pizza. I’ve eaten Marco’s White Clam many times. It is perfection. Plenty of fresh clams garlic, pecorino. Food of The Gods. During Covid, when no one could get anything in Connecticut I could get everything up in Vermont. But my family is all down here. So I would collect up a truckload of paper towels and toilet paper and Lysol and anti- bacterial wipes and bread and bacon etc etc etc and drive down to Greenfield, MA. My brother-in-law, would drive up from Branford and we’d park the trucks back-to-back and move the load over. Pete would bring me a white clam pizza from Marco and I would eat it, cold, in the vehicle on the drive back up to Vermont. And it would still be DELICIOUS!!

If you can execute a great White Clam you likely can do anything else with pizza.

Last night I ordered a White Shrimp, a Pizza Romana (pureed plum tomatoes, Pecorino Cheese, no Mozzarella) and the Classic Margherita, with red sauce (fresh Mozzarella, fresh sliced tomatoes, fresh basil - comes “white” unless you add the red sauce).

If you are at all lactose intolerant (as many of us are…), but you still want the full Apizza experience, order the Pizza Romana. Pecorino is a sheep milk cheese, full of flavor. Delicious and great mouthfeel. Easy to take bites of because nothing “pulls” or slides off.

I only recently started trying white shrimp pizza and I am sorry I waited this long! Marco’s White Shrimp is pizza perfection: Fresh mozzarella, garlic, and plenty of shrimp that were all cooked perfectly. Which is kind of amazing. It is easy to overcook shrimp and turn them into terrible rubber. It’s also easy to use “not great” shrimp... Marco Pizzeria is using excellent shrimp and then turning out an incredibly flavorful pizza with those shrimp.

Full Disclosure: I ate 2 slices of the White Shrimp Pizza the day after, cold, directly out of the fridge. Obviously that is a completely different experience than eating the pizza piping hot and fresh from the oven. But I’m here to tell you it’s STILL a fantastically delicious experience. As in every bite of cold Shrimp Pizza was just delightful and brought me joy. The ONLY cold pizza I have ever had that experience with is New Haven Style, Napolitano Apizza.

The Classic Margherita is basically a delicious, exceptional cheese pizza. Or what most people think of as a “cheese pizza.” Really, really good. Adding the red sauce gives more depth of flavor and the acidity of the tomatoes as a counterpoint to the fresh mozzarella. Even so, I want to try this without the added red sauce to see what that’s like. Obviously will still be delicious!

Marco has completely redone their interior. HANDS DOWN the best, nicest interior of any pizzeria I’ve been in in The Shoreline region. The “standard” interior at all these great (and I do mean GREAT) pizzerias in the New Haven area is “old and tired."

I HIGHLY recommend. Single folks take note: Perfect Pizza...

We just hired Marco’s food truck for our son’s high school graduation party. We couldn’t have been happier with Marco’s!! From the initial conversation of booking, the manager gave me all the details. They were very organized and everything explained was on point. The staff was amazing with checking in before the event to introducing themselves when they got here. They were all so friendly, professional, and very helpful. I love how they are in chef jackets and they personalize your party with color coordination and a congratulations sign! We loved that they went around handing out the salads, extra pieces of pizza, and desserts! All of the food (salad, pizza, Nutella fruit dessert, and the s’mores were excellent!! Everyone raved about the food, even the next day! There were so many varieties of pizza, even choices for dairy free and gluten free! They even helped pick up and with 70 people, our yard was in great shape at the end of the night. Most importantly, every part of their service was top notch and they made everything run so smoothly. I’m hoping we can get them again soon! I’ve gotten a pizza truck before but Marcos...

Ok so this has nothing to do with the quality of the pizza because we never got to eat it. I called in our “to go” order at 4:30PM on Sunday for a pick up at 6:00PM. I ordered 2 small pizzas, 3 house salads and a side order of meatballs. Figured Sunday night would be busy so giving an 1 1/2 lead time should be sufficient. Arrived at 5:55PM and the line of disgruntled customers was almost out the door. The gentleman at the cash register and his helper kept tell people they were behind. Finally at 6:11 I asked if the young lady could check on my order. She said…..”it is only 11 minutes passed your pick up time”! I bite my tongue and continued to wait, but when 6:30 arrived and my ordered was still not ready I told them I wanted my money back (yes they collected money on time)… the manager asked why and I told her…. She said they were running behind…. I told her that’s why I called an hour and a half before pick up time. I understand Marco’s is under new management but they will not see me again. There are too many good pizza places in Branford. BTW I called Paciello’s and had a pizza in 20 minutes…. Thank you...