ConnectiCrust

Mall Pie

Randy's Wooster Street Pizza - Manchester, CT
(additional location in Southington, CT)

 

Most pizza makers who set up in malls are suspected of committing Pizza Crime in the name of capitalism. Suspected but never charged. Such brazen criminal acts go on daily all over America, with unsuspecting louts chewing down the stuff while mindlessly talking about last night's TV shows. Bland. Doughy. Add some arcade games and the little kiddies. Chuck E. Cheese and bring the earplugs.

So, what are we to make of Randy's Wooster Street Pizza Shop (locations in Southington and Manchester)? Here's a place that proclaims Wooster Street (New Haven) as Pie Mecca in its very name. Yet. A mall place as well. Could they have actually brought Wooster Street pie to Greater Hartford's scruffy hoi polloi?

At first blush, its not the basic pizza joint (as in the plain walls and Spartan Spot Annex or grown-into Sally's of Wooster Street). A shiny yellow school bus, a bright blue Corvette and a jukebox motif is certainly fun looking but hardly the scene of great New Haven pie. But this place is very successful, so can we get injured by ordering a 16 incher (medium)?

In a word: no. You won't get hurt in here. While the service can be indifferent, owing to the high school cheerleader aspect to the waitstaff, the thin pie is a variant on Wooster Street's most famous.

Only in Connecticut, I dare say, would the name Wooster Street convey quality and a School of Pie-making that the public might actually grasp thin crust, fresh stuff on top, and a menu that educates the unknowledgeable.

Due to the extreme temperatures of our Brick Oven, pizzas have a tendency to be darker when fully cooked, the menu advises. We recommend (a) normal to well-done (bake). At this point the pizza releases its natural oils for optimum flavorings. If you're a Wooster Street purist, you just might say BURN IT!

Ah, yes. Wisdom passed down from the New Haven savants to the Southington and Manchester hat-backward gang. The pie here is a nice find away from New Haven, East Haven, Hartford (south end of course) and Bleeker Street's Johns Pizzeria.

It's about a 15 on both eyeball and flavor scales (out of 20 see Connecticrust # 4 to review how the ratings work.) Priced okay (two items atop a 16 medium costs $11.50) and again, service can be good or fair depending on who is working and how busy they are.

And they have some weird ones here too, which I wont eat. But the menu pushes the following: Tropical Tease - sweet and sour pie with mozzarella, chopped ham, pineapple, and red peppers. Ah, no.

Also: Crunch Time - plain pie with chicken, taco meat (?) diced jalapenos, garlic, olive oil, and romano cheese. Yes. Sounds intriguing.

Or: The Wooster Street King: A masterful array of our choice toppings! Onions, peppers, mushrooms, sausage, bacon, meatball and pepperoni. Why not? (Heart surgeons need business too).

So, if you're in nowheresville and hey, you need one, you will not be disappointed with this venue. Inspired by Sally and Pepe, this two-store operation is a sort of hybrid of the great pies of Wooster Street and the garish fast food appearance more commonly associated with Chuck E. Cheese, but for teenagers who just wanna cruise in that Vette.

Fire it up, give it a go.

Southington: telephone 860 276-8600
Manchester: telephone: 860 649-1166.