Atticus Market — Restaurant in New Haven

In New Haven's East Rock neighborhood, where earnest Yale families push strollers past century-old colonials, a curious transformation has taken place. The former Romeo & Cesare's Italian grocery, shuttered since 2019, has emerged as Atticus Market—part European café, part artisan grocery, part pizza laboratory.

After 15 months of renovations that involved peeling back "seven floors, four ceilings, two storefronts," the Negaro family revealed the building's original high-ceilinged bones. What they've created feels like stepping into your most aspirational Instagram feed: gorgeous pastries in bakery cases, cookbooks staged next to organic produce, and coffee appliances throughout, "like entering a room full of your targeted ads in the best way."

The Negratos are Connecticut bread royalty. Atticus began as a bookstore in 1975 on the first floor of the Yale British Art Museum, adding a European-style café in 1981. Patriarch Charles Sr. founded both Atticus and Chabaso Bakery, which now uses over 25,000 pounds of wheat flour daily, supplying ciabatta throughout the Northeast.

But here's where the story gets interesting. Until 2015, CEO Charlie Negaro Jr. admits he "couldn't have identified a wheat head or wheat berry." Then he discovered whole grains and everything changed. Now their sourdough—made with regional whole grains—has that addictive, nutty complexity that makes you understand why people queue for morning buns at 8 a.m.

The real audacity? Pizza. In New Haven. Their "New Haven-ish" style uses the same sourdough starter as their bread, topped with bougie "charred herb pesto or koji-roasted mushrooms." They make about 75 pies per night Thursday through Saturday, and regulars know to order quickly when online ordering opens at 4:30 p.m.

As bakery manager Brian Lance jokes: "If this is good, people might throw bricks through the window. It would be a badge of honor." Taking on pizza in the city that gave us Frank Pepe's and Sally's requires either supreme confidence or beautiful delusion.

The mission extends beyond pastry: creating "a place where people have such a great experience that they want to stay in New Haven" and "help turn New Haven into a city that is less transient." Through their "CT Food Launchpad," local entrepreneurs sell everything from za'atar rolls to salted honey tarts alongside Cato Corner cheese and poblano peppers.

On a recent afternoon, the brick patio buzzed with laptop-wielding remote workers, dog walkers, and families debating pizza toppings. The variety of books along the walls stay "true to Atticus's roots," while the electric oven cranks out pies that somehow honor New Haven's pizza heritage while charting their own course.

It's ambitious, this whole grain gospel in East Rock. But when your almond croissant tastes like it contains the secrets of ancient wheat, and your tomato pie carries both tradition and innovation, maybe throwing caution to the New Haven wind makes...

you know those clothing stores where you walk in and immediately feel like an imposter because you’re never going to actually pull off a seven-foot-long wrap dress that costs twice your monthly salary, but you have to stay inside and browse anyway because it would wound your pride to walk out? that’s atticus, for food. or at least it was the first time i walked in, when the sticker shock on sundry items hit me like a gale force wind to the face. but after i got over $8 bread or $24 for a bag of coffee from local (westport ct) ilse roasters (something i……didn’t learn until checkout at which point i was too embarrassed to put it back), i realized that there is so much to love about this light-filled, unaffordable, souped-up yuppie bodega where every employee seems significantly cooler than you will ever be. specifically, that expensive bread? very good! breakfast items are a) very filling and b) actually reasonably priced. i recommend the frittata sandwich with kale; the brioche is buttery and falls apart in your mouth delightfully. and the PASTRIES! i’m not a godfearing woman, but one bite into the pictured item, blood orange on top of diplomat crème (what’s diplomat crème? who sends crème to foreign service school and the state department? who knows?) had me seeing heaven. take all my money atticus!!!!

tldr: $$$$$$$ but gr8 breakfast...

I have really mixed feelings about this place.There is some and some bad.

Pros: -Food is amazing, high quality -The inside is spacious and clean

Cons: Staff is really a mixed bag. While a few of the staff are smiley and friendly, I found most to be dry and rude. -No umbrellas outside, so if you want to eat there, get ready to melt in the sun. The only table with an umbrella was occupied by the cashier on break, which I found to be very distasteful. -Very expensive -Disappointed that in mid June, almost a month after mask requirements are lifted, still required to wear a mask inside. Seems very arbitrary to still require a mask with such low levels of infection and high levels of vaccination. I would just follow...