PrintPepe's: Coming to a College Town Near You?
According to the Yale Daily News, the legendary Pepe's Pizza, in New Haven, Connecticut, is contemplating opening more branches in college towns across the country. But I wonder: Is it possible to clone high-quality, family-owned and operated pizzerias across state lines?
Pepe's, a Slice favorite beloved by just about everyone, including Michael Stern of Roadfood, and me. Pepe's, which I named one of pizzadom's "keepers of the flame" in my book Pizza: A Slice of Heaven, had previously opened a branch in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 2005 and another in Mansfield, Connecticut, last month. I tried to go to the Fairfield branch but was repelled by the long line.
College town expansion sounds like a sound business strategy. College kids love pizza (actually, who doesn't), ditto for professors living on academic salaries, and Pepe's would be a cost-effective way for parents visiting their kids to take them out for some non-dorm food.
But is the pizza going to be any good? Is it going to do justice to Frank Pepe's name and legacy as one of the true pizza giants in this country? Can you make a good coal-fired oven tomato pie beyond the Connecticut state line? I have my doubts.
High-quality burger chains? Not really a problem. In-N-Out is beloved by burger afficionados. Want a pretty damn fine burrito anywhere in the country? You can get it at Chipotle Grill. There's a Chipotle Grill near the Slice/Serious Eats office that I eat in once a week (I get a salad with half barbacoa, half pork, back beans, two kinds of salsa, no sour cream, and just a sprinkling of cheese), and it's mighty tasty.
Turning out good burgers and fine burritos and tacos in multiple locations is one thing, but cloning Pepe's is another. Why? Because pizza is hard. Famous chefs have told me, "Cooking is easy. Pizza is hard." Turning out great pizza day in and day out, when changes in temperature and humidity force the pizzaiolo to make many split-second decisions, is a challenge to even the best pizza-makers like Chris Bianco of Phoenix's Pizzeria Bianco and Anthony Mangieri of New York's Una Pizza Napoletana.
Bianco once told me, "I could teach a monkey to make one great pizza." At a high-volume pizzeria like Pepe's, the pie men and women are going to be making hundreds of pies a day, and I just wonder if they're going to be up to snuff. Making great pizza, consistently, every day for years takes passion, dedication, and know-how, and usually requires an obsessive owner to be there every day presiding over the pies and getting his or her hands in the dough.
Maybe I'm wrong. If the Fairfield and Mansfield Pepe's are turning out consistently good pies—and I would welcome any Slice correspondent's report—maybe this foray by Frank Pepe's heirs, in concert with a Yale alumnus turned financier, will work. It would be one small step for pizzakind.
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11 Comments:
I have my doubts, too, about the quality decline. First of all, it's very hard to open coal-fired pizzerias in some cities because of environmental regulations. I think it would be a mistake for them to open any non-coal locations. Second, college kids are used to—and can often only afford—cheap-ass pizza. While Pepe's is relatively inexpensive as far as world-class food goes, it's still going to be a bit steep for students accustomed to $6* pizzas.
*$6 when I was in school—probably $1 or $2 more now, adjusting for inflation.
Adam Kuban at 8:42AM on 10/10/07
six dollar pizza? where the hell was school? north dakota? i want some six dollar pizza here in new york. unless we're counting Dominoes 5-5-5 deal, which doesn't really count because one person could easily down a medium and a half.
as for locations, how about palo alto, ann arbor, durham, nashville, and boston. i think stanford, michigan, duke, vanderbilt, and harvard students can afford expensive pizza.
foodinmouth at 9:31AM on 10/10/07
I went to the University of Kansas, in Lawrence. From what I remember, the pizzas from Pizza Shuttle, little 8-inch pizzas that made a filling meal for one hungry student, cost $6. That was '92–'97. They're probably more now. And while I lived in the dorm (Hashinger, if any Jayhawks are reading and wondering), Gumby's Pizza opened, offering coupons on the box—collect 10 coupons, get a free pizza. I used to check the recycling room on each floor, looking for boxes with the coupons still intact; I ate many a free pizza that way.
Adam Kuban at 9:56AM on 10/10/07
My experiences with college pizza are limited to Paul Revere's, the little Des Moines dive much loved for its insanely cheap pies and addictive garlic breadsticks; and, of course, ordering discounted pizzas from Papa John's. I would have loved a Pepe's, even if it was a chain store.
I disagree about Chipotle, though. Only thing that impresses me about that chain is the cheap margaritas. Margaritas? In a fast food joint? We are living in the enlightened future.
Smylie at 10:31AM on 10/10/07
Well, considering the quality of Pepe's has dropped off the mountain, I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to duplicate their pies elsewhere anymore.
benlee at 10:49AM on 10/10/07
Like so many others, I'm just plain wary of the whole situation. Didn't Domino's used to be a family business? And look how craptacular that turned out. Pepe's makes an amazing slice and I don't know how reproductions all over the place will be able to capture the same taste. Lombardi's took a down turn just by moving next door/expanding.
Stufsocker at 11:18AM on 10/10/07
I am not totally sure about the whole college town plan. I think setting up shop in yuppified suburbs like Fairfield might be the better strategy. College students don't really care about quality that much, they care about cheapness and easy access. I mean I go to Yale and Pepe's/Sally's/Modern are just far enough away from campus that they are more of a special treat.
Even though we are in arguably one of the best pizza cities in the country and we are a student body that places a high value on food quality (in the early days of the Yale Sustainable Food Project, founded in part by Alice Waters, people would forge IDs and wait in line for up to 30 minutes to get into the designated sustainable dining hall), a lot of us would sacrifice quality in order to get pizza delivered. When I go to the big New Haven pizza joints the clientele is probably 75% locals and people from the suburbs, maybe a couple groups of students are there on a given night.
chasgoose at 12:29PM on 10/10/07
"Want a pretty damn fine burrito anywhere in the country? You can get it at Chipotle Grill. There's a Chipotle Grill near the Slice/Serious Eats office that I eat in once a week (I get a salad with half barbacoa, half pork, back beans, two kinds of salsa, no sour cream, and just a sprinkling of cheese), and it's mighty tasty."
These are the words of a man who is either (1) insane or (2) never eaten a good Californian burrito. Oh wait, OR BOTH. Chipotle is owned by McDonald's; imagine if we replaced the above sentence with the word "burger" and "McDonald's":
"Want a pretty damn fine burger anywhere in the country? You can get it at McDonald's. There's a McDonald's near the Slice/Serious Eats office that I eat in once a week ( and it's mighty tasty."
I can only hope that burritos will make the same transition critical eating that pizza and hamburgers have made, or I will have to ask the food gods what hell hath Chipotle wroth.
NYminknit at 1:10PM on 10/10/07
Chasgoose nailed it on the head
"College students don't really care about quality that much, they care about cheapness and easy access."
Pretty sure that's why the plan is college towns.....who the hell is going to complain? Can make a pretty penny though
California burrito or Mission burrito?..answer is still no for most
Kim Nyland at 3:04PM on 10/10/07
Yeah, that's an important point. Fond as I am of Paul Revere's, I'm pretty sure virtually every time we ended up there we were out of our heads in some way or another. Pepe's only needs to serve edible pizza in college towns to make a buck.
Smylie at 11:35AM on 10/11/07
Re: Chipotle's & McD's, McD's totally divested itself of any ownership in the Chipotle chain by Oct 2006.
Tonecat at 6:22PM on 10/11/07