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Lived in the New Haven area all my life, been eating at these places pretty much non stop over the past few years...here's my take:

#1 Pepe's - Still my favorite, had my best pie ever here (red pie with mozz/bacon), love the white clam, love the plain tomato pie. Bottom line is that Pepe's flavor, in my opinion, is unmatched. Been here probably 50 times in the last 2 years, never waited more than 30 minutes to get in, service has never been rude or bad. If you're worried about lines, try showing up around 4:30 on any weekday, you'll usually walk right in...of course if you hit it at prime time, you're gonna wait longer. I'm usually in and out in about 1 hour or so. Also, parties of 6 or larger, there are only a few tables in the place that can accommodate you, and if they're all taken, you'll watch as smaller groups pass you in line and get tables ahead of you...of course, every once and a while, this works in your favor as they will only give the big tables to big parties when they are busy. My advice at Pepe's is to order smalls or mediums, the large pies tend to get way too sloppy and potentially out of balance.

#2 Bar - Love the pizza here. Very consistent. Plain mozz pie is outstanding. Thinner crust than most of the NH joints. Not crazy about their clam, and I'm not a fan of the mashed potato at all, but I've never been disappointed here.

#3 Sally's/Zuppardi's - If I want sausage pizza, I'm heading to Zuppardi's. As stated, their fresh clam pie is awesome, but it's also VERY expensive, and for me, I prefer the chopped whole bellies at Pepe's to the whole clams at Zuppardi's. Both are excellent though.

Sally's is really good pizza, pretty much on par with Pepe's...but it's definitely not better to me (and even if it is, the difference is extremely small)...but the wait and service are SO BAD, that I rarely go here, and would never show up with my hungry kids. If you call between 1 and 2 on weekdays (the restaurant isn't even open), then somebody might answer the phone, and you may be able to make a reservation if you're lucky. This will help you avoid the line, which even though it might not look too long, can be a 2 hour wait. My worst ever experience at Sally's was a 2 hour wait outside, then 1 1/2 hours inside to get my pie. The whole time I had to listen to my 2 friends constantly whine and say, "I can't believe I'm on Wooster St and not at Pepe's". Sally's has a small oven, and they are slow, so if there are a bunch of tables that have ordered ahead of you, prepare to watch pies come out one by one very slowly. Last time I ate at Sally's, I had a reservation, my table ordered third (after the place opened). I got my pies in about 25 minutes, and by the time I left (about 1/2 hour later), only 2 other tables behind me had been served. At least 50% of the people in the joint had been sitting there since it opened, and after an hour, still had nothing in front of them.

*Modern - Been going here periodically forever (was my grandparent's favorite, so that's where they took us) and I have to say, I don't see why people think it's so great. I went this past summer and literally had the worst pizza I'd ever had in New Haven...crust was bready (in a bad way), with no flavor and the whole pizza was just bad (we ordered three different pies, none were very good)...I was so sure this just had to be a terrible day for them, that I went back a few weeks later, and while the pizza was better, it's still pales in comparison to the other three. I swear this place is popular solely because locals who are "in the know" just want to be smarter than all the fools waiting in line on Wooster St. To me, the pizza is just not better in any way.

Thanks for the recipe! A good roast chicken is hard to top, and no matter how good you do it, it always seems like there is room for improvement. I recently posted about a Cook's Illustrated version on my blog: The Teacher Learns to Cook.

I love sandwiches! On my birthday every year I celebrate with my favorite sandwiches:

Breakfast is a fried egg with bacon and american cheese on a good hard roll

Lunch is fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, with a little oil and vinegar on good ciabatta bread

Dinner is a perfectly grilled cheese burger (which I count as a sandwich)

The Teacher Learns to Cook

Seems I ignored the initial question of the post - what would I never put on my burger? Well again, I don't like to speak in absolutes, but I'm not a big fan of overloading a burger. Some cheese, a slice of good fresh tomato, maybe some crisp lettuce, and then ketchup is usually what I want.

I've never been a big fan of bacon on a burger, because I feel it's too strong a flavor and dominates the beefy taste too much. I feel the same way about strongly flavored cheeses (like blue cheese) and sauces.

Check me out:
The Teacher Learns to Cook

I don't know about Counter Burger, but West Hartford already has an AMAZING burger joint. Plan B Tavern (about a 2 miles from the future Counter Burger site) makes hand crafted burgers from fresh ground, naturally raised (no homones, no animal products in feed) chuck, topped with the freshest local produce. This place makes an epic burger and it's a must try for any burger lover.

Check it out: Plan B Tavern

Check me out: The Teacher Learns to Cook

I don't know about Counter Burger, but West Hartford already has an AMAZING burger joint. Plan B Tavern (about a 2 miles from the future Counter Burger site) makes hand crafted burgers from fresh ground, naturally raised (no homones, no animal products in feed) chuck, topped with the freshest local produce. This place makes an epic burger and it's a must try for any burger lover.

Check it out: http://www.planbtavern.com

Whole grain bread, brown rice, oats are all easy additions. When cooking, I like using barley instead of rice sometimes, or even bulgar.

The Teacher Learns to Cook

I'm from the New Haven area, which means my pizza ideal is Wooster Street (Pepe's is my absolute favorite). I really want to try some great NY pizza, but am somewhat overwhelmed by the options. Lombardi's, Grimaldi's, Totonno's, Una Pizza Napoletana, Di Fara's...I want my first impression to be amazing. Where should I go?

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The Teacher Learns to Cook

Pan-seared, oven roasted, rubbed with oil, salt and pepper, ribeye

ribeye

usually dark...sometimes milk

Roasting...mmmm

Usually pliant...sometimes crispy