Ninth annual Apizza Feast brings crowds to downtown New Haven

It was a busy night in New Haven Friday as the city hosted not only the annual Grand Prix bike race, but also a big gathering of local pizza joints.

The cheese is oozing and the crust coming out with its signature char. New Haven apizza at its finest, delighting visitors.

“It’s New Haven. Of course it’s good,” Pete DeSimone, of Milford, said.

It’s all part of the ninth annual Apizza Feast on College Street, a festival of 21 different pizza places across the city, state and even New York and Chicago.

It’s being held in conjunction with the annual Grand Prix. Bicyclists zipped by downtown New Haven.

For some, the main attraction is a warm slice of apizza.

“It’s awesome because they’re all good in their own way and everybody loves it,” Maureen Hinman, of Wallingford, said.

Among those doing it their own way is Longobardi’s Wood Fired Apizza.

“It’s not just about my pizza, but everybody’s pizza. Like I said, I got a lot of good friends here,” Matt Longobardi, owner of Longobardi’s Wood Fired Apizza, said.

Organizers say the Apizza Feast has grown from seeing about 4,000 visitors to now pushing 20,000 visitors over nine years. They say it showcases the pinnacle of pizza prestige.

“When you have all these pizza places, we are the pizza capitol of America right here, and we got the best pizza in the world,” Colin Caplan, who heads Taste of New Haven, said.

Many visitors would agree.

“New Haven, Connecticut. What more can you ask?” Hinman said.

Organizers of the Apizza Feast say they plan on coming back next year with hopefully even more pizza places taking part.