Pat's Apizza Opens in a Gas Station in North Haven

You’re driving on Washington Avenue in North Haven, your car is thirsty, and you pull into Forbes Premium Fuel. Wait a second. What’s that sign say at the gas station? Pat’s Apizza?

That’s your sign to swing open the gas station’s convenience store’s door. Look to the left and there’s a full-on pizzeria in there.

No. We’re not joking. Pat’s is legitimately inside of a gas station.

Be honest…you thought this was gas station pizza, didn’t you? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but there’s a (desperate) time and a place for Stewart’s Shops, Love’s, Speedway, and Wawa. Let’s scrap that whole deal. Pat’s is a pizzeria that just so happens to be inside of a gas station and they’ve been getting a lot of love on social media since they opened on September 4 of this year.

The face that runs the place is Patrick Hennessy, an East Haven local, who got bit by the pizza making bug as a teenager.

Hennessey stretches dough before Pat’s opens at 11 a.m. And FYI: there’s usually customers ahead of opening hankering for a slice or two. Early on, they’ve had days where they ran out of doughs and popular toppings.

At Pat’s you can pick your preferred toppings or you can go with something they’ve crafted, some of which are tributes to Hennessey’s time in Boston and others from his upbringing in East Haven. Expect classics like bacon and onion, meatball and ricotta, a tomato pie, and mashed potato and bacon.

Pictured is the Florina with mozzarella, spinach, roasted red peppers, garlic, pecorino romano, and olive oil.

“My mom, when I was 15 or 16, got me a bunch of pizza making stuff for Christmas; a peel—which I still have my first pizza peel and it’s hanging in my room at home—a pizza stone, and some other stuff,” Hennessey says. “The first time I tried to make pizza, it came out like shit, but I was instantly hooked. Like, why is it so bad? I wanted to learn how to make it better. Every now and then, I’d make it at home, and it turned into a passion, trying to make it better each time. It ended up being this special occasion thing, so I had to get it right.”

Hennessey, still in love with the art of making, did what anyone would do…he moved to Boston and studied finance in college.

But he never left his pizza hobby behind.

Since opening, Hennessey has been honest about dough issues as the temperatures have dipped.

“Lately, I’ve had a few issues to work through because of temperature and humidity,” he says. “It’s been crazy dry out. I had days when I overmixed. We’re trying to maintain a delicate, soft bite structure. I had days when it was tough or chewy, dry, but regulars have provided good feedback. that helps me get better approaching those new challenges.”

“That’s actually when I got really deep into it,” he says. “My apartment obviously had an oven, and it went up to like 550 or so, but I started to learn how to make dough (better), and at the same time I got into sourdough, around 2017. I was into bread baking, pizza dough, all kinds of stuff. I was so obsessed with it. I made lots of pizza and bread. I would host pizza nights with my friends as a once in a while type deal and they were loving it. Once propane ovens came out, I got an Ooni, then eventually a Gozney.”

After earning his masters at Boston College, Hennessey was working in accounting, and early on, he knew that the corporate world wasn’t for him, stating, “The stuff I was doing, I didn’t have a passion for it and I wasn’t good at it. It got to a point where it was just to make ends meet and to pay my rent. I was hooked on doing something creative.”

When an opportunity came up to quit his job or stay in accounting, you’d think it would have been an easy choice, only it wasn’t. That opportunity? Operating his own pizzeria inside of a gas station. And how he came upon it is pretty simple.

“I had a very easy way in here because my family owns Forbes (Premium Fuel),” Hennessey explains. “My dad was looking for a property on this road for a while. Construction started in March or April of 2024. They tried to outsource the food, like I think they talked to Chipotle at one time and other local people. It didn’t work out so they figured to do it in-house. They asked me about doing a pizza joint in here. I sat on it for a bit, maybe too long, because I knew it would be a big life change. I have zero restaurant experience and zero with large scale pizza production. You can do it at home on a small scale, but scaling it up is a challenge, and managing people, too. All things I had to really consider. I said yes, because what if I passed on it? A year from now, I would totally regret it. Who cares, right? What do I have to lose?”

Hennessey moved back to East Haven to oversee the construction of his pizzeria inside of his family’s gas station, and he made a deal that Pat’s Apizza would not only carry his name, but his own branding as well.

When it was ready to go, Pat’s Apizza opened to a nice bit of fanfare and plenty of foot traffic given its location at a busy gas station on a main road.

Another component he’s been messing around with is the tomato. By the time you read this, he’ll likely have already changed it or at least experimented with it.

“It just tastes better,” Hennessey says. “It’s sweeter, better texture, easier to spread. Same brand, just different tomato.”

“The traffic was insane being where we are and we got good social media buzz, and a New Haven Register article,” Hennessey says. “We hit it hard with quality (pies) at the start. If I’m making three pies at home, I gotta make it count. We have to do that here. Word of mouth travels fast around New Haven, so it’s been good. We’re already reaching capacity some nights with two ovens. The challenge already is, do we need a bigger oven? I never knew how busy we’d be.”

And what people are coming for is strictly slices and whole pizzas. The style? Think of it as New Haven if you wish (I think it’s New Haven with a bit of New York) or call it artisan if that’s easier.

As for the dough, it’s Pat’s own blend of different flours that’s the result of his own research and development at home. He says he hasn’t altered his mixing process, but he tried out higher gluten flours and he was pleased with the end product.

“Since I never worked in a New Haven pizza joint, I don’t know the rules for what makes something New Haven style,” he says. “I tried to use my sourdough with pizza before, but mine is too acidic and I don’t think it tastes right in pizza, especially paired with tomatoes, it doesn’t match well. Fermentation is minimum 24 hours, but ideally 36-48, first at room temperature, then cold ferment in the walk in. I like a slow, gentle rise. I don’t wanna say it’s high hydration, but for pizza it’s high hydration, with a small bit of yeast to slow the rise, then…fingers crossed.”

Months later, Pat’s menu is still limited to pizza as they’re still getting slammed with whole pie orders and slices go fast all day long. He has ideas, though, for sandwiches, wings, and focaccia, but he says that for and if there’s a menu expansion, the answer is “always a maybe.”

“We have a little corner there and that was the plan (for sandwiches), but the feedback so far was that people loved how fast the service and slices are, so maybe not yet,” Hennessey says. “Focaccia sandwiches, maybe try that as a grab and go, warm them up if you want. Ultimately, it’s about how do we serve the business and our customers. Do people want to wait around for 10 minutes or just get it quick and go?”

If there is another phase coming soon, Hennessey teased breakfast, and it’s not just because his pizzeria is in a gas station (OK, maybe that has something to do with it), but he’s leaning towards breakfast sandwiches, at least a great bacon, egg, and cheese, since he loves making bagels in addition to pizza.

289 Washington Avenue, North Haven
475.234.6466, patsapizza.com