I’m in Connecticut for the night. I decided since Susan is out at her “Bachelorette” party and one of my groomsman’s wives is out with her that I would hang out with him and my brother. I wanted good New Haven pizza. We tried Modern, but they were packed, so we ended up at BAR. There was an hour wait for a table, but they have a “Take Out” window where you can order a pizza and then bring it into the bar in the other room. That’s exactly what we did. BAR is kind of a strange place. They have a separate, yet connected place called the Brü Room, which is a brewpub. So there’s the restaurant on one side, a bar on the other and in a back room on the bar side is a dance club. It’s kind of strange. This place holds a cask ale festival every year (and I’m gonna try to make it next year). Anyway, back to my story/review. We sat at the bar and got some beers while waiting for our pizza. This is another of those brewpubs that has a selection of commercial beers along with their own.
I started with their Damn Good Stout. It’s a dark black beer with a tan head. It’s super roasty goodness, though it’s on a nitro-tap (the same thing Guinness has), meaning it comes out smoother, but it also loses some flavor. Next, I had their Toasted Blonde Ale. This one was maltier and sweeter with a slightly toasted flavor. It’s a good refreshing beer. Finally, I had the Pale Ale. This one was nice and hoppy, like a west coast pale ale. It reminded me a lot of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Now, the pizza… If you’ve never had New Haven style pizza, you must. It’s seriously the best pizza in the world, and that’s no lie. BAR makes an awesome pie, right up there with Sally’s and Modern. We got a white mashed potato pizza and a red fresh tomato and basil pizza. They were both awesome. I’m glad we didn’t end up waiting at Modern. I couldn’t have gotten 3 great local beers. This is the only place I know where you can get awesome local beer and awesome pizza in the same place. It really is a one of a kind type of place, though I could do without the dance club.
I’ve heard you hype New Haven pizza before and have yet to try it, I have to admit, I am intrigued. We’re starting to find some really good classic, cheesey, big slice pizza at some hole in the wall places in Boston. Good stuff. We found some gourmet Pizza in Cambridge at a place called Cambridge 1, that used to be a fire house, thats really good too, they have a potato pizza like the one you had, it was sooo good.
I’ve had potato pizza at Willington Pizza near UConn, but that’s a smaller thicker crust pizza, nothing like New Haven. I have yet to have a pizza that comes close to what I can get in New Haven, including several pizzas in NYC.
I have never had a pizza I would call really good in the Boston area. Pizzeria Regina is good, but nothing I would rave about.
The Pizzeria Regina main location in the North End is some of the best in Boston in my opinion. You can get the personal pizzas with some really good toppings. The chain versions you can get at the providence place mall are still good, but nothing compared to the original.