The Gagliardi Family’s Hartford Turnpike Kitchen, and the Clam Pasta Worth the Trip

At Gagliardi’s on Hartford Turnpike, dinner is a family affair, and the family has been feeding North Haven for close to four decades.

Chef Vincenzo Gagliardi runs the kitchen at 1899 Hartford Tpke., cooking with fresh ingredients grown on site, according to the restaurant. His daughter, Michelina, works side by side with him. “From cook, waitress, dishwasher there is no job too small or large,” the restaurant has said of her.

A North Haven restaurant family

The Gagliardi name runs deep in town. Vincenzo and his brother, Salvatore, grew up in the restaurant business, the New Haven Register reported. Their parents, Michelina and Giulio Gagliardi, opened Giulio’s Pizza Restaurant in 1987, and Salvatore remembers making small mozzarella pizzas at age 11.

Today the brothers own both Giulio’s and Gagliardi’s, and they recently opened a third North Haven spot, the pub-style Sly Fox Tavern at 630 Washington Ave. Both brothers cook, and Salvatore told the Register they would “bounce back and forth every day” between kitchens. At Gagliardi’s, the third generation is already on the floor, with young Michelina carrying her grandmother’s name.

The Sly Fox is a departure from the family’s Italian cooking, with pub fare like a 16-ounce Black Angus New York strip steak. Its build-your-own concept was borrowed from the Temple Grill in New Haven, which Salvatore owned from 2004 until selling it around 2021, the Register reported.

That kind of continuity is getting rare. Neighborhood Italian restaurants with the owner at the stove are harder to find every year, and at Gagliardi’s, the family name is on the sign and the family is in the building.

Pizza, pasta and a lot of seafood

Gagliardi’s is a pizza and Italian restaurant, the kind of place where a pie and a plate of pasta share the table. Prices below come from the restaurant’s 2023 printed menu, so expect some changes.

Pizzas come in three sizes, from a 12-inch small plain or mozzarella pie at $10 to a 16-inch medium at $14.50 and an 18-inch large at $16, with gluten-free crust available. Specialty pies include a Pizza ala Margherita, Vinny’s Special loaded with mushrooms, pepperoni, onions, bacon, sausage and peppers, an Escarole & Bean pie, Chicken Scarpariello, and a Seafood Special with clams, shrimp, crab meat and calamari ($21.95 small to $39.95 large).

Seafood is where the menu really stretches out. Fresh clams over pasta are $24, baby clams $18.95, shrimp $24, calamari $21.95 and mussels $20, and the Zuppa de Pesce for one is $38. Starters run from fried dough balls ($8.95) and garlic knots ($9) to New York-style calamari ($16.95), clams casino ($13.95) and a bowl of suffrite ($13), a spicy pork stew with Southern Italian roots.

The Italian specialties cover the classics: lasagna, manicotti, baked ziti, eggplant rollatini stuffed with ricotta, and Vinny’s Combination, meatballs, sausage and eggplant under melted mozzarella ($18.95). Chicken Francese and Chicken Marsala are $20.95, veal saltimbocca $24 and pork chops $23.95. Hot subs, from meatball to pepper and egg, are $9 for a half and $13 for a whole.

Calzones are pizza dough stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella, with fillings like meatball, sausage, broccoli rabe or pepperoni ($14 small, $18 large). Salads range from a chef salad to a seafood salad of clams, calamari, shrimp and mussels ($24), and the house Giulo’s Special Salad is $11 small or $14 large. There’s a full bar, too, where one Google contributor snapped an espresso martini.

What to order

Fresh clams over pasta

Linguine tossed with fresh clams in the shell ($24 on the 2023 menu). It’s a Hartford Turnpike take on a shoreline staple, and a good test of any Italian kitchen.

Seafood over pasta

Order shrimp, calamari or mussels over pasta and you’ll get a heaping plate in red sauce, the way the restaurant’s own photos show it. Go big with the Zuppa de Pesce ($38) if you want a little of everything.

A sausage pie

A small mozzarella pie is $10, and regular toppings like sausage add $3 on a small. Simple, crisp and very North Haven.

Why we like it

Gagliardi’s is the kind of restaurant North Haven has relied on for generations: a family kitchen, a long menu, generous seafood plates and pizza that doesn’t need a gimmick. With a chef-owner at the stove and his daughter in every role from server to dishwasher, it’s a place where regulars feel at home and newcomers are treated like regulars. If you haven’t been in a while, it’s worth a trip back up Hartford Turnpike.

What diners are saying

“We have eaten at Gagliardi’s many times and were never disappointed. The food and service is phenomenal!”

— Lynn, Google review

Hours

Online listings show Gagliardi’s open 4 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, closed Mondays. Hours have varied between sources, so call (203) 691-7215 before heading over late. Google puts the typical tab at $10 to $20 per person.

Got a favorite dish at Gagliardi’s? Tell us, or send a tip about another North Haven business, at northhavencourier.com/contact.

Photos: Slice via Google; Flash Gordon & Capone via Google; Doris Gaanderse via Google; DoorDash via Google; Photo courtesy of Gagliardi’s