Temple Grill
Known for design-your-own burgers and salads, and for leaving swedish fish on the table with the check.
Claire's Corner Copia
Vegan and vegetarian options, regularly-changing specials. Known for their Lithuanian coffee cake. Great bakery with gluten-free options.
Sally's Apizza
Bangkok Gardens
If you are looking for a casual, but high quality restaurant within walking distance of the University, take your budding scholars here. The food is up to New York standards, prices are reasonable, and the location enviable.
Aladdin Crown Pizza
Don't be fooled by the name; the best cuisine this place offers is not pizza; it's Middle Eastern. Be sure to try their falafel plate and baclava dessert. Authentic food with excellent service.
Royal Palace Chinese Restaurant
Very reasonably priced authentic Chinese cuisine plus friendly service equals a great find. Definitely do not pass up on the honey walnut shrimp.
Pacifico
Latin American seafood dishes with a upscale New York sensibility served at this LGBT-friendly restaurant.
Louis' Lunch
This tiny hamburger joint, located just a few blocks off the Green, claims to be the inventor of the hamburger. The burger served in Louis' traditional style: steamed in an antique table-top cast-iron gas broiler, served between two pieces of white-bread toast, optionally with cheese, tomato, and onion. Condiments like ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard are not used or available, which is a point of pride for management who are adamant that such extras detract from the experience. Sides such as potato salad, chips, pies, and local Foxon Park soda are available. Do not expect McDonald's wait times for your burger!
York St. Noodle House
If you're looking for an inexpensive, casual meal, York St. Noodle House is the place to go. Service is always friendly, and the menu always has irresistible options. Be sure to try their delicious boba fruit slushy. Try also coconut curry noodle soup and spicy wok basil noodle, noodlelicious !!!
Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
Zinc
Modern American. Chef's table options focus on local food items. Make reservations.
Modern Apizza
This New Haven-style apizza place has really stirred up the waters of New Haven cuisine in recent years, dethroning the seemingly invincible Pepe's and Sally's as the city's and quite possibly the world's best pizza place. Modern Apizza has been voted "Best Pizza" in New Haven for twelve consecutive years in the New Haven Advocateâs "Best of" Readerâs Poll. Modern Apizza is a long walk, or a short drive, bike ride or trip on the "M" bus from Downtown New Haven.
Downtown
East Rock
New Haven has many famous pizza parlors and is often credited with having introduced pizza to the United States, although New Havenites themselves often contend that New Haven-style apizza is a separate food from pizza altogether. The pizza has a thin, bitter crust, offset by high quality ingredients, making for one of the world's best pizza experiences. The most famous apizza locations are Pepe's and Sally's, which are over 80 years old and usually have lines going around the block. Modern Apizza—a more recent arrival 1934, further from the city center—has nonetheless usurped these establishments as the local favorite in recent years. For a real New England New Haven experience, order the white clam bake pizza—the simple toppings of garlic, olive oil, and New England clams against the backdrop of the bitter, oven-scorched crust make for a delight to the senses.
While it is a bit sacrilegious to pass through New Haven without trying the pizza, the small city has an astonishing wealth of fine dining establishments—easily rivaling the dining scene of any of New York's outer boroughs. The blocks just south of Yale University along Chapel, Crown, and George Streets are home to the majority of the city's best restaurants. Often-cited top restaurants in town include the Union League Cafe, Ibiza, Heirloom, and Zinc, but there are fantastic options around every corner in this part of town to try.
Wooster Square