Cheap Eats 2012: Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza

Consistently well-wrought pies, salads, and pastas make this local chain a favorite place to pop into for a last-minute dinner, but New Haven specialties in particular—garlicky white pizza with clams, tangy tomato pie drizzled with sweet olive oil—show off the excellent ingredients and detail-focused kitchen. Try terrific house-made meatballs on a cheese pizza or alongside caramelized onions and roasted and cherry peppers on the Boola Boola. Simple salads—we like the house, with toasted walnuts and Gorgonzola—and seasonal antipasti round out the meal.

Also good: Crisp goat-cheese salad; Staven pizza, with pepperoni, sausage, garlic, and hot peppers; Sorbillo’s Original, stuffed with cured meats and ricotta; sorbets.