Customers at Barb’s Pizza in Rocky Hill favor the eggplant parmesan, left, and the BBQ chicken pizzas. (MICHAEL McANDREWS, mmcandrews@courant.com / July 7, 2011)
Barb’s Pizza is back and better than ever. At least, that’s what owner Barry Arpaia’s customers are telling him. But the self-proclaimed “stickler for detail” found that difficult to hear, he says.
“I’ve been doing it for so long, and I was so proud of the product the way it was before,” he says. “I just couldn’t believe it could actually get better.”
Arpaia, business partner David Klett and his team did raise the bar, though, when they started fresh in Rocky Hill’s Old Main Village last month. The new space seats 110 guests between a main seating area, an outdoor patio and a private dining room for special events.
It also came with 130 parking spots, easy access to the towns of Wethersfield, Newington and Berlin and a supportive community, Arpaia says.
“When people walk through the doors here in Rocky Hill, they appreciate really good things. We’ve had a lot of [local] business owners in. They’ll ask, ‘What can we do for you? How can we help?’”
Arpaia owned and operated Barb’s on West Hartford’s Park Road for 12 years. As the street became a dining destination in and of itself, rents rose, and he became increasingly frustrated with the expensive lease payments. A potential new opportunity on South Main Street fell through, and he ended up closing Barb’s over the Fourth of July weekend in 2010.
Then the building in Rocky Hill became available. The new pizzeria celebrated its grand opening on June 14, and sold 900 pies in the first week, with zero advertising, says Arpaia.
“Barb’s isn’t gone,” he says. “It just took a nap.”
The new spot’s menu retains the classic favorites that inspired a following: thin-crust specialty pies, wraps, calzones and stuffed breads, salads. Hot and cold grinders are now made on-site. Executive chef Mike Motowidlak, who’s been with Arpaia’s team “since the beginning,” heads up the kitchen.
Best-selling pizzas include the Queen Margarite, with a blend of crushed and sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh garlic and basil; and the Frank Pepe fresh tomato pie, made in the traditional New Haven style with just romano cheese. The eggplant parmesan and BBQ chicken pies are also popular, says Arpaia, the latter a white pie combining roasted onions, bacon and fresh chicken breast with Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce.
Salads are designed to complement the house-made dressing, a balsamic vinaigrette with a sun-dried tomato base. (Arpaia estimates the restaurant goes through five gallons of dressing each week.) Garlic knots, brushed with olive oil and garlic and sprinkled with romano cheese, are finished with a drizzle of rich alfredo sauce, earning their nickname, “Naughty Knots.”
Pizzas are also sold by the slice at lunchtime, and that’s where you’ll find Barb’s unusual “breakfast pizza,” which piles scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, onions and cheese onto a lightly buttered crust. It’s not on the regular menu, but Arpaia envisions it becoming a potential weekend brunch option.
The restaurant itself is warm and welcoming, decorated with a montage of sports and celebrity memorabilia and photographs of Arpaia’s family, friends and members of the community. Mounted flat-screen TVs and computer hookups (with free wi-fi) provide entertainment and convenience for customers waiting for takeout.
A liquor license is pending, and Arpaia says the restaurant will serve beer and wine once it’s secured.
Barb’s new home, which has “exceeded [Arpaia's] expectations,” means that the military-trained chef can continue realizing his childhood dream of making pizza.
“When I was really young, we used to go to places in the [New Haven] area,” says the Hamden native. “You see these people taking dough and stretching it out and making my favorite food…within minutes, it goes in the oven, comes out and it’s success.”
“And you have these people sitting around, waiting for that one pizza to come out. I wanted to do that…I’ve never been able to make people smile the way I do here.”
>>Barb’s Pizza, 154 New Britain Ave., Rocky Hill, is open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.
Small Bites
>>Mohegan Sun recently unveiled its fully renovated Seasons Buffet, featuring an additional 200 seats, seven chef-manned cooking stations and customer conveniences like advance ticket purchases and VIP seating. The new buffet’s food offerings include breakfast, carved rotisserie meats, Asian cuisine and sushi, barbecue, a raw bar, Italian/Mediterranean fare and desserts. The buffet is open Sunday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to midnight. Breakfast is $12.50; lunch is $21 and dinner is $25. (Kids’ pricing: $5.86 for breakfast, $10.70 for lunch, $12.76 for dinner.) All prices include tax.
Similar Posts:
- Barb’s Pizza Reborn In Rocky Hill
- Joey Garlic’s To Open In West Hartford
- Easter Sunday Buffets, Specials And Brunches
- $1.99 Burritos At Moe’s Southwest Grill in South Windsor Thursday
- Mardi Gras Week at Gladstone Tavern
