2. Sally's Apizza

The pizza is good, but the wait does matter
Sally's pizza is excellent. I don't think it's the best in New Haven, but there are many who disagree. It really depends on your taste. But even if they do have the best in the world, it doesn't matter because the wait (and the restaurant's near-criminal penchant for patron favoritism) will likely prevent you from ever tasting their pies. Die-hard Sally's fans are dismissive of this criticism. Screw them. The wait time really does matter, and the reasons behind the wait matter even more. You see, Sally's has a habit of favoring friends and locals over the plebs who wait in their line. They call this "having reservations," but don't let the common restaurant terminology fool you. Unless you're a friend of the owner, YOU will not get reservations. This is deeply unprofessional for a restaurant. Since 10Best's slogan is "trusted advice for travelers," I must give Sally's the lowest possible rating. If you're a traveler you aren't going to get a Sally's pie without watching a lot of people who arrived two or three hours after you eat dozens of them. This rating is deserved but bittersweet: I really did enjoy their pies, and had friendly (if slow) service once my party was eventually seated. Our mushroom pizza had the most succulent mushrooms I've ever had on a pizza, and the basic cheese pie revealed a near-mastery of the craft. The only reason a traveler should visit Sally's is if he or she insists on trying all of the so-called "Big Three" New Haven pizzeria's. If you're not on a quest, Pepe's down the street serves people in the order in which they arrive (how novel!) and has greater capacity, including a second restaurant called The Spot that serves exactly the same pies with a shorter line. They also have better pizza, though that's just my opinion. I also think Modern Apizza (a bit to the north on State Street) has the best pizza of The Big Three, and possibly in the entire universe.

Pizza? What pizza?
Okay to start take out your driver's license, look at it. Does it say you live in New Haven? No? Then don't step foot in Sally's Apizza. Sally cater's exclusively to neighborhood friends. 'Outsiders' will be seated but don't expect to eat. I waited 2 hours for my food, and after that wait was told by my server that our pizza hadn't even been put in the oven yet. The table next to ours (obvious friends of the waiter who stopped several times to eat with them) had 10 PIZZAS while I waited for mine. My group got up and left without ever being served food. I will gladly hang my hat at Frank Pepe's in the future.

Best Pizza Hands Down
I graduated from Yale in '98 and to this day I still dream of Sally's Pizza and cannot wait to have it again one day. Don't listen to negative reviews...these patrons were obviously put off by the wait and mystique and did not know what to order. During my time at Sally's I sat nearby several celebrities including Michael Bolton and Ashley Judd (who gave me a sexy smile). The white pie with fresh tomatoes is the best and the red pie with clams and mootz is to die for. Bar's pizza and Modern are the next best followed by Pepe's. I lived in the Wooster Area during my time in New Haven and had Sally's private number to get seated when I arrived--that also helped with the experiences I had there. Get to know or work for some local business owners and you can also get this hook up. Sinatra had his pizza's flown in from Sally's---nuff said...period