Zuppardi's Apizza — Restaurant in West Haven

Life changing.

I was a divorced dad of six. Disowned by my own kids. Deeply depressed. Then I heard about Zuppardi’s Apizza.

I jumped into my rusting 1989 IROC Z and drove through the night because pizza or nothing.

I found zero parking spots in West Haven. So I double-parked. No hazards. No shame. I even tossed my keys to a random 12-year-old and winked “Guard it well, kid.” He ran off with my dignity.

Inside, the dining room was packed and the line snaked out the door. Yet every staff member greeted me like I’d just won the lottery. They took my order with genuine smiles. They even remembered my name. MVPs in aprons.

Then the pizza arrived.The cheese bubbled like a delicious volcano. The crust had that perfect char you only dream about. The sauce punched my taste buds like Mike Tyson.

One bite and I felt like Rocky Balboa after the final bell. I slapped that whole pie down in record time and ordered another before you could say “midlife crisis.”

I texted my ex “I’m winning now.” I updated my LinkedIn title to Professional Pizza Connoisseur.

And then my life detonated into pure ridiculousness.

I wiped the sauce off my chin and spotted a gold envelope by the Golden Tee machine. Inside: a winning lottery ticket for ten million dollars. I stared. I blinked. I was rich.

At that exact moment she slid into line behind me, six-foot model stature, runway posture, and a smile that could melt mozzarella. Giselle? Naomi? No idea. Who cares!?! She leaned in and said “Congrats. Pizza luck I see.” Five words later we were swapping life stories over pepperoni.

Next stop, Vegas.

We booked a red-eye. We rolled dice on the Strip. We clinked champagne flutes under neon halos. We kissed under the Bellagio fountains until security politely escorted us back to our room.

We capped off the night with late-night tacos at a dive called “Glitz Tacos” (don’t ask).

By Monday I had: Launched Slice of Fortune, an AI-driven pizza-delivery startup. Secured a book deal: How One Pie Made Me a Millionaire. And promoted Jimmy, the 12-year-old key guard, to Chief Happiness Officer.

My phone buzzed. My kids were texting “Can we have daddy’s old IROC back?” I replied “Sure. After our next pilgrimage.”

Zuppardi’s Apizza did not just fill my stomach. It resurrected my soul.

One glorious slice at a time.

All fun aside, This is by far the best pizza I’ve ever eaten in my 50+ years on earth. You will not be disappointed. But forget about me my six-year-old is a pizza connoisseur that’s only one of three foods he ever eats and he gave this a 9.9. And I would put his pizza reviews up against Dave Portnoy’s any day...

This is WHAT PIZZA DREAMS ARE MADE OF!!! As a pizza connoisseur, a former managing partner of a very highly rated restaurant that served gourmet pizza, and as a commercial R.E. broker & consultant who has worked closely with many dining spots, I'm qualified to accurately judge any restaurant.

Location: 5 HUGE STARS! On the west coast we virtually never see classic restaurants surrounded by nothing but single family homes. I felt like I had been transported back to the most charming of the 1920's or 30's.

Building: 5 HUGE STARS! Total nostalgic charm!

Interior: 5 HUGE STARS! Like going back to a simpler & better time!

Kitchen: 5 HUGE STARS! Organized chaos, in the best possible sense of the words! I have never seen so many people in shared kitchen space before, yet doing so in harmony!

Gorgonzola Salad: 5 Stars! Delicious with an outstanding & unique homemade dressing!

Pizza Crust: 5 Stars! Perfectilly imperfect! Misshapen oblong, square & round all in one! Crispy, but not overly burnt like many describe at some other New Haven style pizzerias.

Sauce: Taste is 5 Stars! The only slight flaw is that there wasn't quite enough. Easy fix - if I were in town again I would simply ask for a small cup of sauce on the side.

Cheese; 5 Stars! Ample & creamy!

Toppings: 5 Stars! All beef meatballs were delicious & ample. The mushrooms were moist & ample.

Takeout Service: 5 HUGE STARS! Outstanding! Especially considering how many orders were constantly flowing in.

What a pleasure this meal & the entire experience has been!

I'm sure a few other similarly famous New Haven style pizzerias are terrific too. However I strolled by several yesterday in downtown New Haven, and NONE have the nostalgic location, neighborhood, and one-of-a-kind charm that Zappardi's does!

If you have to choose just one...

We’ve come a few times in the past couple of weeks & we thought we found us a good new pizza place… today showed us differently. My husband and I both work in food service so we know what great, good and okay service is but what we experienced was beyond awful service. Our waitress came to our table only to deliver food, yet we watched her prance around to every other (non-black) table in the dining room delivering 6 other pizzas- all of which were ordered after us. We went without a refill of our water & we waited so long for the bill, we ended up just finishing the whole pie of pizza. Even after our table was cleared, we still had to wait for her to come and bring us the bill and continued to watch her take new orders and finish serving other tables. We jokingly made the comment that maybe she was treating us to dinner because she really showed no interest in coming to check in on us. By this point, we had already decided that she would not get tipped (again I work as a server and I really don’t believe in NOT tipping but it really goes to show the amount of attention and service we received) but when we FINALLY got the bill we went to the register to pay and we politely declined to add a card tip when the guy at the register had the audacity to ask if we left a cash tip which was WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE! If I wasn’t already so appalled and worn from the service we received, I might’ve informed him of the many reasons our server did not deserve a tip but I felt it would be more fitting to just remove our patronage altogether and to share with others the terrible experience we received. We are avid pizza lovers to the point we were here twice in one week but tonight will unfortunately be our...