Owner Jimmy Ormrod and Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti.
ANSONIA – A little slice of heaven has come to Beaver Street.
The iconic Zuppardi’s Apizza, located on Union Avenue in West Haven since 1934, has opened a slice shop and takeout store at 58 Beaver St. They officially open for business Wednesday (Feb. 2) at 11 a.m. Click here for a map.
On Tuesday (Feb. 1), city officials welcomed the Zuppardi family to Ansonia with a ribbon- cutting ceremony.
“This is my old neighborhood, my old stomping grounds and this (site) was a former plumbing business, an auto mechanic, but this pizzeria is the best business there is for here and I’m excited to welcome them to Ansonia,” Mayor David Cassetti said. “We are welcoming in an institution, all started by Dominic Zuppardi, an immigrant from Italy who came to this country for a better life. My staff and I, every Friday, would venture down to Union Avenue to get that very famous sausage pie, and now you’ve got it out here. It’s a wonderful pizzeria and I look forward to purchasing a lot of pizzas.”
Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce President Bill Purcell said he is a regular customer at the West Haven Zuppardi’s.
“With this location in the heart of the mayor’s old neighborhood, you really have captured that same, neighborhood feel as you did in West Haven,” Purcell said. “You have opened just in time for the Olympics and Super Bowl Sunday, and I’m already putting in my order for your famous sausage pizza.”
The Ansonia location’s owner, Jimmy Ormrod, whose mom Lori Pearce Zuppardi and Aunt Cheryl Pearce Zuppardi, co-own the West Haven Zuppardi’s, is excited to be in Ansonia. Ormrod began the family’s pizza truck business several years ago and said the new Ansonia location will also serve as a prep kitchen for the pizza truck. Zuppardi’s also runs a satellite location out of The Hops Company in neighboring Derby.
“I had a vision and my staff helped bring it to life,” Ormrod said. “I love this neighborhood, and it feels very blue collar, it’s a good fit.”
Ormrod gave a shout-out to Ansonia-based Red Line Construction for renovating the building, and giving it a simple, rustic charm that makes it feel like it’s been in the Beaver Street neighborhood forever.
Lori Pearce Zuppardi said pizza has been running through her blood since birth, and it was at the West Haven restaurant where her mother went into labor with her but refused to go to the hospital until the ‘Friday rush’ was over. She is proud of her son for carrying on the family tradition.
“Jimmy is the creative one, and it was his idea to branch out into Ansonia,” she said. “He told me this location reminds him of West Haven, and that it has all the same charm.”
The menu for Zuppardi’s Slice Shop and Takeout Apizza includes whole, 14 inch, made-to-order pizzas with a variety of toppings, as well as specialty pies, like white clam, buffalo chicken and mashed potato, along with salads, meatball and sausage sandwiches, minestrone soup, garlic bread, Libby’s Italian Ice and homemade biscotti.
The Ansonia Zuppardi’s will be open for take-out from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Pizza slices will be available until 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
You can reach them at 203 – 751-9006.
