Past Rankings - Frank Pepe's, Brooklyn Bridge, Rock Hall

Since I added my official Pinstops Rankings after my first few posts, I thought I'd go back and let you know how I would rank my visits to those places I wrote about.  To read the original posts for these places, click on the title names of each.


Frank Pepe's Pizza - New Haven, Connecticut
Pin Stops Ranking: 4 Pins

I have to say that Frank's exceeded my expectations.  I'm actually biased as I really love NY-style pizza over all others (still do).  I walked into this place thinking there's no way pizza from Connecticut would even compare - but I admit this was pretty darn good.  If I was in the area again, I definitely would have to consider stopping here again to eat.




Brooklyn Bridge - New York, New York
Pin Stops Ranking: 3 Pins

For daily exercise or nice views of the city, the Brooklyn Bridge was pretty cool.  I recommend taking your time crossing this bridge and really soaking in the scenery.  I'm sure many people take this walk for granted but if I lived in Brooklyn and worked in Manhattan, this would be a great walk to commute everyday - except in November thru March. ;)




Giant Free Stamp - Cleveland, Ohio
Pin Stops Ranking: 1 Pin

Let's face it - it's kind of interesting to see, but it's just a landmark in a lonely park of downtown Cleveland.  On it's own, you can't justify driving out to see it, but when combined with the Rock Hall or other places around town, it's a quick "Pinstop" to check it out in person.  This giant stamp is really only for the diehard Pinstopper who just has to see everything.




Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - Cleveland, Ohio
Pin Stops Ranking: 4 Pins

One of the more unique museums around - and definitely for the music lover.  There are several other Hall of Fames in the area, but this place (along with the Pro Football Hall of Fame) are clearly the biggest and best.  The building architecture is very unique, and the inside is filled with hours of reading, films, music and memorabilia.  You can easily spend all day here enjoying remnants of your favorite artists from several music eras.


So what do you think?  If you've been to these places, do you agree with my rankings?  Let me know in the comments below.  As always, thanks for reading!

Pin Stop at Pepe's

Line outside for Saturday lunch

If you've ever stopped by New Haven, Connecticut, you may have heard of "Frank Pepe."  This little pizzeria in the Wooster Square neighborhood has been around over 85 years and has become a local institution for its original tomato pies baked in a coal fired oven.  On a trip up to Boston, I stopped here to not surprisingly find a lunch line out the door on a Saturday.  After about a half hour wait, we snagged a booth and was able to order a sausage pie along with some white birch soda from Connecticut-based Foxon Park.  Supposedly, Pepe's white clam pizza (fresh clams, olive oil, garlic and oregano) is his specialty, but my lunch company were not the adventurous types, so we stuck with something more familiar.

The Pepe's atmosphere was simple - the booths were pretty standard, and the walls were decorated with a few pictures and articles on Frank Pepe, who established the place in 1925. Really, there wasn't much

to the decor.  However, as you walk in, you can't miss the opportunity to see them slide the pizzas right into the coal fired ovens using a long pizza paddle designed to shove the pizza deep into the oven.  They leave this area wide open for customers to salivate over watching them bake their pies to perfection (or perhaps imperfection as I'll explain in a moment).  I have heard stories that people claim the oven has been used so long that it now brings in extra flavor to the pizzas.

Now, I love New York-style pizza, and I'm a big fan of places like Grimaldi's, but I found this pizza to be different.  It came out thick, misshapen and burnt in spots.  It wasn't perfectly rounded or evenly symmetrical, and it wasn't thin and crunchy or over-the-top cheesy.  However, it was extremely delicious!  The imperfections gave this pie lots of character without any fancy presentation - what the locals call, "real pizza."  The sausage was hearty and the slices were generous.  It definitely hit the spot, leaving the four of us at our table very satisfied. As one of the oldest pizzerias in the country, it's certainly worth a stop for a meal if you get a chance to drop by this side of CT.