This spring, my mom and I are touring a few NYC/Connecticut area colleges, and I thought that it would be fun to take a trip to New Haven, walk around campus or taking a tour, and have lunch somewhere. She’s a Yale grad, but hasn’t been back since before I was born.
Anyways, any current Yale students / parents have recommendations for fun, affordable, good food in walking distance of the Yale campus? My mom is very adventurous and would probably like something a little “off the beaten path”.
If classes are in session, find the course catalog and look up some interesting looking classes and try to sneak in (frankly meet some students, tell them you’re in town for 1-2 days – ask them: what’s your most interesting largish lecture course that we could sneak into.
I wouldn’t recommend it now, but since you’re going in the spring, see if you can set aside some time to just hang out on Old Campus. I’m an unreconstructed people watcher, and I got a pretty good sense of Yale from the conversations of passers-by. Count the smiling faces.
Affordable, good food within walking distance of the Yale campus:
Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napolitana on Wooster Street remains the best pizza I have ever tasted (and I have tasted a lot of pizza), and it is regularly called out as the best pizza in the world by various food and travel writers. It’s a very modest hike on foot from the Yale campus (about 2/3 mile from Phelps Gate) through downtown New Haven, but absolutely worth it. My wife and I, both Yale alumni, only rarely visit Yale itself these days, but we hardly ever drive past New Haven without stopping at Pepe’s. Try the fresh clam pizza, no kidding. If the weather is nice, call ahead, get a pizza to take out, and eat it in lovely Wooster Square, a block away. It’s crazy to visit New Haven and to miss the absolute best it has to offer.
Not off the beaten path at all, more like right on the beaten path, but excellent nonetheless: Claire’s Cornercopia, a vegetarian restaurant right across Chapel Street from Welch Hall and the Old Campus. Good, not fancy; really excellent value.
Nostalgia, at least for me: For a huge portion of my senior year, there was a blue-collar strike that shut down the dining halls and forced us out into the real world for food on very, very limited budgets. I probably ate half of my meals at Mamoun’s Falafel, on Howe Street (next to what is now a big parking garage), which back then had just opened its doors. (The Yale strike probably made that place.) It wasn’t my first falafel ever – that had come in NYC a few months earlier – but it seemed pretty exotic at the time. I have only been there once in the past 37 years, but it still hit the spot.
Heard about, not tried: Rudy’s (formerly THE college dive bar, now in a spiffy new building and serving Belgian frites), Caseus (cheese-centric restaurant out past Timothy Dwight), Cafe Romeo (nice-looking spot in a neighborhood with lots of grad students).
I looked it up to refresh my memory–the strike JHS and I are talking about was in 1977, and lasted for 13 weeks. Students were given vouchers to buy food, and most of us ended up with quite a bit of extra money.
I agree that Caseus is very good, and that you need reservations. Low cost it is not. Thali Two is good for Indian food. There’s a Shake Shack near Old Campus that is moderately priced.
Though we’re not musicians, we really enjoyed seeing the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments, which is located near the admissions office. Also, if you have access to a car, the trip up to East Rock Park is nice and has scenic views of New Haven.
Ok. Maybe they were still talking about it when I got there in September 1978. I know back then there was always tension between the union and the administration.
Planning a visit while school is actually in session (last visit we just did a quick self guided tour on a Sunday and it was very quiet). These suggestions are very helpful!
Question, if we are staying at the Omni, is Pepe’s on Wooster St a safe walk? Looks like a 15 minute walk, which is fine, I just don’t know the specifics of the neighborhood.
^^It is safe, although not the most scenic of walks until you get to Olive Street–take out pastries from Lucibello’s-- and Wooster Street has other excellent Italian food. Wooster Square looks very New England, although the neighborhood is where Italian immigrants landed in New Haven. Your hotel will be close to State Street, and Modern Apizza, in the conversation with Pepe’s and Sally’s. The State Street area near Modern has very lively night-life. For falafel, Mamouns has recently been surpassed by Sababa, on Whitney just north of Grove. And heading west on Chapel from the Omni is very boutiquey.
the Omni hotel is not particularly close to Modern (more than a mile by walking). They are sort of on opposite ends of “campus”. Perfectly fine walk though.
Another vote for Geronimo’s. I’m always surprised at the check – coming from Northern New Jersey, it seems that we get a lot of food and don’t pay very much. Your impression will differ depending on where you’re coming from
Across the street from the Omni’s main entrance is a Grill whose name escapes me. I remember the food as great, but since it was where a lot was decided about Yale for us as a family, maybe the glow extended to our memory of the food. We were seated near a table of a dozen or so Yale students (it was fluid, and kids would arrive and leave), and I just could not get over how engaged and happy they all seemed.
Also, Louis Lunch, particularly if you mom hadn’t been there. It’s been there since everyone on earth was born, and claims to be the inventor of the hamburger. Kind of like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld, but for hamburgers. “No ketchup, or buns for you.”
And if you want to see a thriving international cuisine food-cart/truck culture go to the Whale or York Street by the hospital at lunch time.
Louis Lunch is a big no, as far as value is concerned. At least food value. They only value is in being able to say that you’ve been there. It has a lot of that.
We tried Modern once about five years ago. It does not remotely belong in the same category as Pepe’s or Sally’s. It bears comparison with Yorkside; i.e., if what you want from pizza is being pretty much just like Papa John’s or Domino’s, but maybe a little better, it’s fine. Despite its name, Modern has been around for a long time, but I never heard it was any good until recently. We were a little surprised to find that it was only a block and a half from the house where my wife lived her junior year, and neither she nor (as far as she knew) any of her housemates ever even tried it.
I third or fourth the recommendation to visit the University Art Gallery – it’s now stunning. If you’re there in the evening, and you have a chance to go to the Yale Rep or (if you are there at just the right time) the Dramat, that’s a lot of fun, too.
To get into the weeds on this, Modern is closer to Sally’s than Pepe’s in crust --thinner. And many apizza mavens believe that Pepe’s has debased its brand by opening other outlets.
Modern is modern in the sense that it opened in the 30s rather than the 20s.
