Capone’s Pizza Bar in Branford, CT

Basic Information:

Pizza: Capone’s Pizza Bar

Number of Locations: 2, both near Branford, CT

Location Reviewed: 2400 Foxon Road in North Branford, CT

Website: https://www.caponespizzabar80.com/

Date of Review Visit: August 2019

What I Ordered: small (12”) pizza with sausage and pepperoni; Coke to drink

Price: $13.83 (includes tax and drink but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Capone’s calls their pizza New Haven-style pizza, which apparently means a thin crispy crust with skimpy toppings.  The style and texture of the crust are fine, but my pizza was overbaked with a hard, blackened crust.  This crust is a good idea that needs better execution.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: The sauce does not appear in a lot of quantity, but it has a nice tomatoey taste.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: Capone’s uses a tasty cheese blend that includes some yellow cheese: the orange you see on the pizza in the picture below is cheese, not grease.  The cheese appears in good quantity too, and it is the strength of this pizza.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The toppings are applied rather sparsely, and both the sausage and the pepperoni have a hint of spiciness.  The toppings that exist do the job as best they can, but the pizza could use more of them.  Score: 6/10.

Overall Taste: This pizza could be fantastic, but the lack of toppings and the burnt crust really keep this score down.  Score: 7.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza’s appearance is odd due to the orange cheese.

Dining Atmosphere: The dining area has a nice casual dining atmosphere with Al Capone-style decorations and big TV’s tuned to sports shows.  They also have a bar side to the dining room that the Baptist I am did not utilize.

Customer Service: The waitress did not pay me a lot of attention even though I was the only customer in the dining side of the restaurant.

Monetary Value: The quality is pretty high, and the price is not crazy given that you are in Connecticut.  Also, this is a 12” pizza, not an 8” or 10” pizza most places call a small.  Overall, the value is pretty high.

The Final Judgment:

I like Capone’s, but it could be so much better.  Score: 80/100.