Pizzeria Marzano: The Closest Pizza To Italy

I took a trip to Italy a couple years ago and was amazed to find that their idea of pizza was unlike anything we know in New York or in Chicago. Italians idea of pizza is a personalized meal with huge tastes, fresh ingredients, and wood fired ovens.

"PIZZERIA MARZANO" in Torrington CT is a place where you get pizza closest to that of our Italian counterparts. The pizza place, located right across from Target on East Main Street, can not easily be spotted from the road but the sounds of the Italian music playing from the speakers outside will indicate your arrival. Strewn across the entrance way are white Christmas lights like something out of Little Italy in New York and a a quaint little patio.

I am always amazed by the places that are located so close to you (25-30 minutes from Waterbury) that you never heard of. Upon walking in, rightfully so, this is your first image:

The atmosphere already hinted at the notion that these guys knew what they were doing...marble and wood accent almost every piece of the restaurant and the owners took great pride in making sure that it was a place people would actually want to sit down and eat in. The whole place feels comfortable and sweet smell of pizza invades your every breath.

However, I still wasn't sure that this place would be everything I heard it would but as I began to watch them make the pizza, my expectations rose. Pizzeria Marzano only has one size...that's right...no small, medium, or large...just one personal sized pizza (all reasonably around 10 bucks). I ordered the Margherita and the Clams and Prosciutto. First off, the dough is unbelievable. It tastes like freshly baked bread.

As you can see, the pizza comes out of the oven piping hot (only taking about 3-4 minutes to cook). What makes this pizza absolutely fantastic is...IT ACTUALLY HAS GOOD SAUCE. So many times you will get a pizza and it seems like you're only eating cheese and dough. Not here...Pizzeria Marzano only uses SAN MARZANO tomatoes D.O.P. For those of you not familiar with San Marzano, they are a particular and more expensive tomato from the region of San Marzano Italy. You can find them in your local grocery store (Napoli has some great ones) but make sure it says D.O.P. on the can because that means it came directly from San Marzano (not like some per-pa-traitin tomatoes out there).


Above is the clam and prosciutto pizza. First of all...holy crap. Just unbelievably made. Starting from the bottom up, the dough is strong enough to hold in all the juice and butter from the clam and cheese. They throw some extra clams in the shell and ship it out. Prosciutto is a tough business because it is expensive and anyone who knows anything can tell when it's cheap. The prosciutto was fantastic...salty and tender, this is how it's supposed to be done.

Look, I know we've done some pizzerias in the past (BAR) and they were all very good, but this place in Torrington IS A MUST STOP if you want to get a taste of Italy. Everything about this little gem is well done--to the atmosphere, the food, and the idea that you're tasting pizza you can't get everyday.


4 out of 4 Belly Bustins