If you’re looking for brick oven New Haven style pizza on the outskirts of “The Pizza Mecca,” Papa’s is about as close as it gets, with much shorter wait times and a takeout only window. Possessing exceptional char & smashing smokey flavor, the dough is firm, crisped and crunchy. The undercarriage has terrific texture and sublime sturdiness, a beautiful base for the other ingredients. The uber crunchy crust is heavily charred but not burnt. The cheese blend has incredible flavor, very similar to Modern Apizza’s taste. A little thick & heavy and not quite melted as well I as like, but the mozzarella is delectably delicious. Keeping up with the dough & cheese, the sauce is also sensational. Zesty, sweet, bursting with tomato flavor, the sauce definitely dazzles, complimenting the dough & cheese wonderfully, with plenty of pizzazz. Tremendous texture and taste all around, this is a very consistent pie. With manageable grease and minimal flop, there’s not much to complain about. Maybe dial back the amount of cheese just a bit and this could very easily be a Hall of Fame pie. But as it stands, this is certainly travel-worthy pizza, deserving of more hype. Seemingly somewhat underrated, despite some relatively high scores; I guess those who know, know. Make no mistake about it, this is as close to good as New Haven style pizza gets outside of New Haven.
