Ozzy’s Apizza Brings It All Back Home

New Haven-style apizza arrived in East Rock Market last weekend as the East Coast outpost of a super successful Glendale, Ca. location. Wait — New Haven apizza from L.A.? Yes, indeed.

Ozzy’s Apizza, which started in the West Coast kitchen of CT native Chris Wallace and made its way from pop up to mainstay in Los Angeles is now a part of Goatville. Pies with names like The Liotta, The Swanson, and The Bada Bing are already hits on the other side of the U.S. Now co-owners Wallace and Craig Taylor are hoping to become an integral part of their home state’s scene.

Taylor, also a CT native, became friends with Wallace in college and often visited him in L.A. after Wallace moved there a few years back. Both performed as stand-up comedians; Taylor decided to move out to L.A. permanently to perform stand up ​“about 45 minutes before Covid hit,” he said — though it was actually about two to three weeks before, to be more precise. 

Ozzy’s founder and co-owner Wallace started making pizzas in his kitchen during the pandemic and eventually started doing pop ups, which is when Taylor joined him. They started making pies at a sports bar in Glendale called Underdogs that had a pizza kitchen the bar wasn’t using. The original pop up included only four pies: cheese, pepperoni, S&M (spinach and mushroom) and The Bada Bing — named after the infamous club from The Sopranos — which featured salami, pepperoni, mushrooms, and onion. The pizza making happened first on weekends only, but soon expanded to the rest of the week. After that place shut down, Wallace and Taylor moved to the location they are in now: the Glenarden Club in Glendale. All was going ​“really well” there when Ozzy’s received a positive review from Barstool Sports. That review took the business to another level.

“It just blew up,” said Taylor. ​“We had to buy a second oven, hire seven new people, and it just took off.”

When they were presented with the opportunity for this location in New Haven ​“it was just too good to pass up,” Taylor said.

“We really liked the location of East Rock,” said Taylor. ​“I’ve always loved East Rock.” Wallace and Taylor traveled here and created a new team to set up, train, and get ready for business. They planned a soft opening on Thursday, Aug. 1 and a grand opening on Friday, Aug. 2. 

“We invited a lot of people and we didn’t think they would all show up, and they did, so it was kind of a hard opening,” joked Taylor. Since then it’s been going ​“really well,” with steady traffic from the nearby offices as well as East Rock Brewery next door. Wallace has since headed back to L.A. and Taylor will be running the New Haven location, though both will be back and forth as needed and for special occasions. 

But How's The Apizza?

Ozzy’s pies come in one size, 14 inches, which is roughly what a medium looks like elsewhere. They have 12 different specialty pies, though you can choose your own toppings as well (and yes, they do have vegan cheese as an option). They’re done in about 10 to 12 minutes; the longest wait time for an order at this location, according to Taylor, has been about 30 minutes. This reporter decided to try one with meat, The Tripper, and one without, The White Rabbit.

The Tripper — named after Bill Murray’s character from the 1979 film Meatballs — is a red sauce-based pie topped with meatballs, red onion, garlic, mozzarella, and parmesan.

“The Tripper is probably my favorite,” said Taylor. ​“That’s what I would make for myself in California, so we started putting it on the menu.”

The White Rabbit — named after the Jefferson Airplane song — features a housemade ricotta-based cream sauce, fresh baby spinach, olive oil, garlic, mozzarella, and pecorino romano. 

“That pizza got me to eat more spinach,” said Taylor with a laugh. ​“It made me realize I liked spinach.”

The Mikey Rabbit is The White Rabbit with sausage added, and has been the number one seller at this location thus far besides the cheese, according to Taylor. Currently the most popular pie at the L.A. location is The Liotta ​“because people want to try the most authentic New Haven one they can get: the classic tomato pie.” Taylor said they started making that one because people from Connecticut would ask for it. 

“Before Barstool that was our best form of marketing: word of mouth from people from Connecticut. People would come to us and say ​‘My buddy’s from Connecticut. He told me you’re the real deal, so I had to come check you out.’ We get that a lot.” 

Ozzy’s pies feature a very thin crispy dough and a focus on fresh toppings, nothing frozen. Even the red sauce is homemade, the recipe developed by Wallace, from fresh tomatoes from Modesto, Ca. and a secret blend of seasoning. 

“That was the first thing people commented on at our pop ups,” said Taylor. ​“The first thing people got really excited about.”

Wallace and Taylor both worked briefly at pizza places in California, but when it came to making the pies, they relied on ​“a lot of trial and error.”

“His dog got to eat a lot of pizza when we were just testing,” said Taylor, referring to Ozzy, Wallace’s Chihuahua, and the business’s namesake. ​“We call him the CEO.”

The White Rabbit was a savory delight, the black pepper of the cream sauce and salt-kissed romano complimenting each other perfectly. That umami-like quality did not make me miss it not having meat on it, though I can only imagine how wonderful it is with the addition of the sausage. The crust was thin with just the right balance of crispiness and chewiness. If I did not have to continue working, I would have eaten a couple more slices. But then again, I also had to get to The Tripper, and I could not wait to try that homemade sauce. With its hint of oregano, it reminded me of the pizzas my grandmother used to make on the weekends for all of us when I was a child. Since I’m also a big fan of red onion, I was happy to see it there and taste its sweetness along with the heartiness of the meatballs. I made sure to take some home to my husband, a huge fan of pizza in general. That would be yet another test: how well did this pie travel and taste later on?

Two patrons sat under the large, colorful East Rock Market sign enjoying a couple of their own pies, one for the first time in person, the other for the second time since Sunday. Kayleigh Guggenheim and Dan Roberts of West Haven ordered The Liotta and The Mega Powers, which featured fresh sliced tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, basil, pecorino and mozz. 

“Amazing,” said Guggenheim. ​“The perfect balance of all the ingredients without one overpowering the other.” 

“It’s the bomb dot com,” said Roberts, who had ordered these same two pies plus the Tripper on Sunday, when he had eaten here with his brother and his girlfriend. After he shared the leftovers with Guggenheim on Sunday she said ​“I want to try it fresh” so they came back on their day off. 

“It’s somewhere I’ll keep coming, too,” said Roberts.

“Absolutely,” added Guggenheim.

FYI: my leftover pizza was pretty awesome a couple of hours later, and even the next day. My husband enjoyed the ​“paper thin” crust and did not even realize the white pie had spinach on it until I told him. He is not a fan of veggies in general, but he is a new fan of Ozzy’s.

Taylor said they’ve been called the best pizza in L.A. and he’s hoping Ozzy’s becomes a favorite in New Haven, too.

“We aim for consistency,” said Taylor. ​“I’m a big believer in consistency, that no matter who is working that day you’re still going to get an Ozzy’s pizza, and we achieve that through training and hiring people we think are a good fit.”

Head chef Louis Matteo, for example, has been making pizza for 16 years working locally at places such as Pepe’s, Da Legna’s, Marco’s. He was the owner of Slice in North Branford for four years.

Being part of the local pizza tradition that includes the beloved and respected pizza institutions that have inspired them — and contributing to the city itself — is important to Ozzy’s and to Taylor.

“I love New Haven,” he said. ​“We’re looking to make people happy and locals happy and talk pizza and contribute to the pizza scene here — and the history, and that part of the history is awesome.”

“We’ll be here, and we hope they enjoy it,” he added. ​“We love talking to people about pizza, so stop in any time and talk pizza with us.”

Ozzy’s Apizza is located in East Rock Market on 285 Nicoll Street. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Free parking is available across the street. More information about their hours, location and menu can be found on their website. Yes, they have Foxon Park Soda. No, they do not serve ranch.