A Celebratory Feast From Jerry's Pizza

If there’s one Middletown restaurant other than O’Rourke’s that is known across the country for its excellent eats, it’s Jerry’s Pizza. Their white Sicilian is nationally acclaimed for its made-to-order, artisan dough. The one thing preventing us from stopping by was our lack of cars.

It’s not far from Main Street, located on South Main Street near McDonald's — definitely a walk from Wesleyan's campus. The good news, as we learned the other day, is that they deliver. The other good news, is that their product is just as magnificent as everyone says. After our last crew regatta of the season, we decided that a celebratory dinner was in order, and what better for a Saturday night, pre-hurricane dinner than eating nationally acclaimed pizza in the comfort of Hewitt 10?

We had to try the white Sicilian. It is their most famous product, after all. This pie, which is topped with generous portions of garlic and anchovies, takes an hour and a half to make. Legend has it that Jerry himself personally prepares every single pie to order, obviously a must have. As our crew bus crossed the Connecticut border, we dialed the number for Jerry’s (We gave them a little more than two hours, just to be safe), and ordered one white Sicilian, a medium sausage, pepper, olive pie, and a house salad. Promptly at 7:00, our pizzas arrived, steaming hot, and emitting a strong, joyful scent of garlic and anchovies. The pies were a sight to behold. The sausage, pepper, and olive was generously covered with toppings. It was  cheesy, gooey, crunchy and delicious. The salad was fairly typical for a pizza-restaurant house salad. The large helpings of red peppers and olives seemed a bit more generous than what one normally receives, so thanks, Jerry!

As for the white Sicilian? All we can say is “yes”. We completely understand why this one has gone down in the books. It is a seriously special pizza. Obviously, because it is “white”, it is made without sauce. Like our other pie, it was generously covered in toppings, in this case garlic and anchovies. The dough, in the words of Will Levvitt, Wesleyan grad and writer for Serious Eats, was a “work of art”. It doesn’t taste as much like the typical pizza as it does a brilliant bread. It is artfully seasoned and cheesed, crunchy, doughy, salty… If any of these words ever sound appealing, the white Sicilian will do you right.

Jerry’s Pizza is a truly phenomenal restaurant. You should go. You should get the white Sicilian. Oh, and they have gluten free options too! Check them out on their website.

Now, for those of you who are thinking “But wait! We’re emotionally attached to Mondo. It's right on Main Street, the people are super friendly, and their pizza is delicious!” Agreed! We love Mondo.  So here’s what we’d recommend: if you want to go out to eat in a restaurant on Main Street with a cool atmosphere, and you’re looking for thin crust? Go to Mondo! BUT, if you’re a huge pizza connoisseur/you want a more New York style pie/you want pizza delivered/you want a real Middletown dining experience that you can brag about to your foodie friends the country over, try Jerry’s. You won’t be disappointed.

-Ari & Alex

Like WesStuffed? Read more at wesstuffed.wordpress.com