Boola Boola Meets Mozzarella: Prized Pizza in New Haven

Unfortunately, this pizza purgatory prompts a vicious cycle. Diners wait so long to get in, many order extra pies to take home. The additional pizzas clog the oven, slowing the already leisurely service and, ultimately, the line. And the 16-table dining room doesn't help: While Pepe's expanded and has two huge ovens, Sally's kept it cozy.

Both the wood-paneled walls and Flora, 83, enhance that mood. While Sally ran the place, he didn't allow more than three toppings -- "garbage pies," as son Bobby Consiglio calls them -- because they wouldn't cook right. When Flora took the reins, she relented. "We do it now because my mother doesn't like to say no to people," Bobby said. "If she has a weakness, it's her kindness."

It must run in the family. The night I visited, Bobby chased down a diner who had left her glasses, and later told a cashless young couple to just pay tomorrow. (You can get four toppings if you insist, but Sally's still doesn't accept plastic.) Sally's has little need to turn nonpayers into dishwashers anyhow, because the restaurant doesn't use plates. Between the huge metal platters and the tiny booths, there's just no room, so diners eat from the tray.

Thanks to its 700-degree coal-burning oven, Sally's crust is the star of its apizza. The pies' extremities are well done (read: burned) but delicious. "Some people will ask for a light crust -- and they enjoy it -- but it's really a half-raw pie," said Bobby, 57.

Outside Sally's, I overheard a waiting customer comment that Pepe's undercooks its dough. One could say the opposite about Sally's. Still, I devoured an entire pie at Sally's, and I've been known to scrape the slightest hint of black off my toast.

Sally's crust and cheese layers are a bit thinner than Pepe's, as is the pizza's flavor. But I'd still drive far out of my way to eat at either pizzeria -- even with the lines.

-- Jonathan Bloom

· Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (203-865-5762) is at 157 Wooster St. in New Haven. A pizza with sauce and mozzarella starts at $7.

· Sally's (203-624-5271) is at 237 Wooster St. A pizza with sauce and mozzarella starts at $5.40.