💎HIDDEN GEM ALERT💎 Family owned & operated since 2001, this joint was founded by Jimmy Ormrod who has been making pizzas since 1977. As you can tell just by looking at the way it’s sliced, this is New Haven style pizza at the foot of the Pizza Capital, less than 20 minutes south. Strikingly similar-looking to a Modern Apizza pie, this is very close to the real thing. Despite looking, smelling & almost tasting like New Haven pizza, the moderately floppy, soft & chewy dough is a dead giveaway that this is an imitation & not a crispy coal-fired New Haven pie. Lacking firmness, the body of the dough is tasty but missing that signature New Haven crispness, in need of some backbone. The crust is magnificently charred, straddling the line of burnt, but delightfully light & crunchy with fantastic smokey flavor. Very reminiscent of Modern Apizza’s cheese blend as well, the shredded mozzarella is sensational; though not terribly oily, the grease is certainly noticeable but manageable. Creamy & flavorful, the mozz has plenty of bite, as well as a marvelously melty consistency, very representative of New Haven pizza cheese. Not as prominently flavorful as the dough & cheese, the sauce is a mixture of quality crushed plum tomatoes & seasoning. More sweet & savory than robust & spicy, the sauce is slightly salty but very solid despite subtle flavors, perhaps in need of a tad more volume & a little kick. Overall, this is sneaky good pizza with no hype surrounding this place; a great sleeper spot if you don’t want to wait in the ridiculous lines of the big time New Haven pizzerias. Just a notch below those legendary pies, this pizza just needs some crisping & tightening of the body of the dough. With a beautiful balance of taste & texture, this is a travel-worthy hidden gem just outside of the Pizza Mecca, definitely worth a try, especially their intriguing specialty pies named after people.
