Not many pizzerias can say that they are the force behind an entire pizza style, but Frank Pepe Pizzeria — home of the world-famous clam pie — is the inspiration behind the signature crispy thin crust of the New Haven, Connecticut-style pizza. Ninety-eight years after the original Frank Pepe first opened in New Haven, Conn., the pizzeria is still family-owned (on its third generation), and has now expanded to 16 locations, with plans to continue opening stores at a rate that the company can handle.
“About a decade ago, Yale was doing research on family businesses, and they could not understand how we went beyond the second generation—from my grandpop, to my mom, and now me,” Jennifer Bimonte-Kelly, granddaughter of Frank Pepe said. “Now it’s just going to go on forever because that’s what we want to do….it’s my whole life.”
Bimonte-Kelly grew up “picking gum off the bottom of the tables,” then waitressed at the original location for 35 years, and now is the face and voice of Frank Pepe Pizzeria, which has been serving pizzas to the New Haven community and beyond for nearly a century.
Frank Pepe’s signature pizza is the white clam pie which was invented in the 1960’s. “Grandpop” Frank Pepe used to sell clams on the half shell until health regulations began to change, so he thought of the idea of putting it on a pizza topped with oil, garlic, grated pecorino romano, and oregano. Pepe also came up with the idea of making an Italian tuna pizza and loved to innovate.
Even beyond the unusual seafood-based pies though, Bimonte-Kelly said that there are three ingredients that separate the brand from its competitors and other pizzerias around the country: an award-winning secret pizza dough recipe, the best pizza ovens money can buy, and the people—many of whom are career-long employees.
“I'm so grateful for our employees and, and the team of people that we have today taking this brand to a whole different level that we never thought would happen,” Bimonte-Kelly said. “They’re really into it-- They're following what my grandpa did… and that is the key to our success today. We don’t store-buy anything, we make everything from scratch…and our back of house guys are just as important as our front of house employees. Without them, we wouldn’t have our product.”
Bimonte-Kelly said one of their employees was starting on the job years ago, and he was nervous about making his first batch of dough, but after giving him a pep talk, she said he ended up “doing a great job” and is still working for the company to this day.
Kevin Gagliard, director of operations for Frank Pepe Pizzeria said that although the company is looking to expand to new markets – and perhaps open up to three stores annually—the trick will be expanding at a rate that won’t compromise the quality of both the food and service. Right now, the family is in the middle of slowly letting the newer operations team take over, especially as the fourth generation of the family considers other career options outside of the pizzeria business. Either way, Gagliard said, it’s crucial to keep training employees to make sure that the company keeps being run the way Frank Pepe ran it almost a century ago.
“My mother used to call Pepe’s her baby, and we’re not going to let go of her baby,” Bimonte-Kelly said. “If these walls could talk, you would hear such great stories about devotion, commitment, and family. That's why today, our employees are who they are….When I was a kid, Grandpop used to give customers numbers, and when their pizza was ready, he’d call their number. We’re too big to do that today…But we didn’t know back then -- we were Italian! We’d [call their number] and say, ‘Come on into our house, don’t worry about it!’”
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