While I am not a pizza connoisseur, I do enjoy a slice now and then. While in Mystic, Connecticut last summer I decided I wanted to check off a stop on my bucket list. Mystic Pizza was somewhere I’ve wanted to go for some time, more for the “Hollywood filmed here” aspect than anything else. Since we were in the area, I knew it was my chance.
We were visiting Mystic for the big art festival downtown, and thought it would be the ideal time to indulge in “a slice of heaven” for lunch. The restaurant is easy to find, off a main road and not far from an array of shops and other touristy things to do. It’s nestled in a little building with a sign overhead beckoning to locals and travelers, and you can’t miss it because it seems there is typically always a small group of people taking photos in front. If you walk up from the road, you are golden, but if you drove, parking is a bit tricky, however we found on-street parking both in front of the restaurant and on the side road next to the building (which is a bit of a short, steep hill, but if I can park a car on it, anyone can).
Once inside, the place is teeming with people, some there for takeout by the bar (which you can place an order and sit at), and some there to sit and enjoy the entire experience in the much bigger dining room. I admit it was a bit confusing the first time we went, but the staff was helpful and before we knew it we had a seat and menus and it was all good.
The atmosphere is fun, especially if you know anything about the movie ‘Mystic Pizza’ that was filmed there in 1988 starring a young Julia Roberts, and there are TV’s playing the movie on repeat everywhere you look. There is also memorabilia displayed all over with plenty of merch if you want to take home a souvenir. The restaurant is clean, family friendly, handicap accessible, and we found the staff to be welcoming and courteous.
The menu looks like your typical pizza joint- apps, salads, soups, sandwiches, Italian dinners and of course, pizza. We wanted to see if the pizza really stood up to its logo, “a slice of heaven”, and ordered the Slice of the Day, which was chicken, bacon and ranch. I ordered a lemonade and my guest ordered a beer, in which we were both pleased. When the pizza slices came, they were good sized with crusts not too thick, but not paper thin, and still crispy. The sauce was good, and there was just the right amount of cheese and toppings. Might not be the very best pizza I have ever tasted, but it was definitely worth us going back the next day for lunch as well, and we tried the BBQ chicken and plain cheese, with the same satisfaction. Additional positive note- the prices are reasonable and you leave full.
All in all, if you are looking for the best pizza in the state, you might try elsewhere, but if you are looking for a tasty, fun, nostalgic piece of Connecticut, you certainly can’t go wrong with Mystic Pizza.
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