Norwalk Pizzeria With History Still Serving Up Fresh Pies Daily

NORWALK, CT — If you ask Danny Segers what his go-to pizza pie is, he will immediately tell you "bacon, onion, eggplant and hot oil," the kind of combination that is so specific it has clearly been perfected over the years. Segers should know, as he is one of the co-owners of Letizia's Pizza, a local staple still serving up fresh pies in Norwalk today.

Tucked away in a shopping plaza at 666 Main Avenue, Letizia's is a third-generation pizzeria that serves up pizza and other Italian dishes, with a history that dates back to 1937. Though it can be a challenge to stand out in a state filled with as many amazing pizza options as Connecticut, let alone keep people excited about your pizza for over 80 years, Letizia's has managed to do just that thanks to a quality product that still gets people talking.

"All you ever hear about are the same [pizza] places in Connecticut, and Letizia's is not typically one of them," Segers said. "We're small and we're in Norwalk, not New Haven, but we've been around just as long as all of them...if you did a blind pizza test and put us up against anybody, we’ll take our chances. We're very confident in what we do."

A Long History

Segers is currently one of the pizzeria's three owners, along with Dave Cook and founder Dennis Letizia, however the start of the business dates back to Joseph Mario "Uncle Joe" Letizia, who first opened The Triangle in Westport in 1937.

Though that restaurant only lasted a year, he quickly bounced back and opened up Uncle Joe's Restaurant, a highly successful eatery on Wall Street in Norwalk. He later moved that restaurant to the Broad River area of the city in 1947 and found even greater success, their great pizza remaining a constant factor.

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After some changing of hands, the Letizia's eventually found themselves selling that business and opening up Letizia's Pizza, first on Stevens Street in 1991 and soon moving to their current location in June of 1992.

A number of years later and Letizia's is still serving up thin crust Neapolitan-style pizza. Their website, which also offers a detailed history of the restaurant, describes the crust as "more chewy than brittle, with a full, earthy taste."

"It's been in the Letizia family for a very, very long time," Segers said. "We've grown leaps and bounds over the last few years or so. What used to be a busy day is now a slow day."

According to Segers, their continuously growing popularity has resulted in a number of customers asking if they plan to expand to other areas of Connecticut, however that's not something the owners are currently interested in.

"We're not chaining out," Segers said. "You won’t see eight Letizia's all of the sudden popping up around Connecticut."

That's not to say they will not expand one day in the future, or that they haven't explored the idea. A few years ago, they came close to expanding when a great offer came their way, but the deal did not end up going through.

"At the end of the day, it came down to how are we going to staff it, and what's going to happen to this place [in Norwalk]," Segers said. "We could've made more money I'm sure, but you'd be making more money at the expense of your product. For some people that's fine and more power to them, but we would rather have one great one than two average ones."

The Experience

For those who haven't tried Letizia's, Segers recommends going traditional before branching out into toppings.

"If you're going to try our pizza for the first time, I say go cheese," Segers said. "Taste what the real pizza tastes like, then do whatever you want."

Letizia's also makes a habit of offering specialty pies, the proceeds from which will go toward a charity. Recently, they sold a BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza for $12 throughout the month of February, which raised over $2,000 for Filling in the Blanks, a local non-profit that helps fight childhood hunger by providing children in need with meals on the weekend.

The pulled pork pie was the result of a collaboration with Bobby Q's Cue & Co in Norwalk. They have also sold a mac & cheese pizza during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October for the past two years, raising nearly $10,000 in the process.

"A couple years ago when we started doing charity work, we came to the consensus that if we were going to do it, we're going to do it 100 percent," Segers told Patch in February. "We're a small local business; we're not going to raise $30,000 doing something, so if we took like 15 percent, what are we really donating? We wanted to go 100 percent. If it helps out the community and helps out people, I just think that's the best way to do it, and we all sort of agreed on that."

Best of the Gold Coast

Letzia's has also won a number of awards in the past few years. Recently they were awarded Best Pizza at the 2019 Best of the Gold Coast Connecticut party, presented by Moffly Media.

The event took place May 30 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich. During the event, Letizia's provided guests with free slices of cheese pizza, however the slices proved to be so popular they ran out of pizza 15 minutes after the doors opened to the general public.

In response, Cook braved a torrential downpour and heavy traffic on Interstate 95 to grab more. They even put up a sign on their table, written on the back of a pizza box, that read "pizza is stuck in traffic on 95. More on the way around 8 p.m.!"

Despite the craziness, Segers and company still felt honored to be recognized among a large number of hugely popular pizza places in the state.

"To be put first amongst all the big boys, it feels good," Segers said. "We've always sort of believed that we’re right up there with anybody. We’ll put our pizza up against anyone's."

Anyone looking to put them to the test can either call up and order a pie for pickup or dine in their recently remodeled dining area, which added new walls, a longer divider between the seating and the register areas and even a TV.

For further proof of Letizia's steady popularity all these years later, simply walk in on a typical Friday night, when the doors are constantly swinging open due to a rush of loyal customers, eager to pick up their traditional start-of-the-weekend pie. It is that loyal and still-growing fan base that makes this pizzeria, tucked away in a shopping center in Norwalk, one of the "big boys" in Connecticut.