New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven’s coal-fired pies from Frank Pepe’s, Sally’s, and Modern Apizza form a holy trinity that outperforms #2 New York City in serious pizza critic rankings. These blistering-hot, thin-crust creations achieve a char and chew that 85% of blind taste testers prefer over the city’s iconic slices. The unique balance of tangy tomato sauce, pecorino Romano, and fresh mozzarella on a crust blistered at 700°F sets a benchmark that rivals struggle to match. For a town of just 130,000, its concentration of world-class pizzerias is unparalleled, with three of America’s top ten pies (per recent polls) located within a single square mile.