Domenic's & Vinnie's Pizza - Killing it in Waterbury Area for 75+ Years

My latest excursion into the great CT pizza offerings took me to Middlebury, CT, north of I-84 to Dominick’s & Vinnie’s, who proudly proclaim, “we serve only one item: pizza, in all its various forms.”

Domenic’s & Vinnie’s is a family-owned destination that has been satisfying the greater Waterbury area at three different locations for over 75 years. The original location in Waterbury was opened in 1949 and the family later expanded, first to Middlebury and subsequently to Southington. The restaurant’s recipe dates back to the owners’ roots in Castelpaganica, Italy in a province known particularly for its superb cuisine, with all sauces and doughs made fresh daily, as well as their house-made meatballs and sausage.

The Middlebury location is located in a strip mall at 1625 Straits Turnpike, and I drove right by the entrance to the mall. I circled around, followed the “trucks only” sign and eventually pulled up in front of the restaurant. The basic white concrete building sports a white sign with the D&V logo and very light-fonted “Domenick’s & Vinnie’s,” you need to look hard to find it the first time.

Once you open the doors and enter the world of Domenic’s and Vinnie’s, it is a completely different experience, it is visual overload, with seating for 100 people in booths and tables in a bright and airy dining area. As you make your way to the back counter, your eyes are drawn to the sheer size of the open kitchen, it is enormous. On the entire right wall of the kitchen, extending over twenty feet from the counter to the rear, were ten pizza ovens, five double-stacked columns; how many pizzas could D&V produce on a busy night? And in the middle of the kitchen was an equally massive pizza prep area. On a lazy weekend afternoon, there were already three pizza makers busy preparing pizzas for in-house guests and takeaway orders.

I ordered my normal half-sausage, half-pepperoni, and took a seat.

This open and bright dining area was very different from the other pizza places I have visited in CT, where they are part of a neighborhood, or my eating a pie in the parking lot because of limited seating, or a dining area that felt more from the 1950’s or 60’s, D&V’s Middlebury location was large, open and bright. My expectations were very high for the product.

When my order was brought to my table, it looked as good as any pizza I have ever seen. The sauce and topping almost reached the edges, which had just a few char marks, and limited poof. Visually it was a 10, and the aroma hit my nose “like a big pizza pie…”

 I pulled a little piece of the crust and tasted it. First, the texture was denser than I prefer, it was neither a crispy crack crust, nor a soft rendition, and the flavor was pretty good. My next stop was a slice of the pepperoni. The edges were crispy (positive #1), the slices were thicker than many others (positive #2), which allowed for a softness that I really liked (positive #3) and then the spice level kicked in, it was on the higher end of the spiciness scale, maybe a 7-8. If you like a spicier pepperoni, this will please you. Onto the sausage side and it was much milder, the kitchen was generous with the amount of crumbled pieces (my preference), they were still juicy and soft, and I was a big fan immediately.

When I looked at the underside, it had a nice medium tan with just a few char marks, the kitchen did a great job in the prep and baking. Now for the big test. Given the spiciness of the pepperoni, I started with a sausage slice. As I pulled the slice, the cheese clung in long strands, there was a good amount of cheese and sauce. The flavors were great, the sauce had a deep tomato-ey freshness and there was just a hint of tang in the cheese, each played well with the fennel-laced sausage. The toppings were a 10 on the sausage side.

Onto the pepperoni side with its added spiciness. For me, it was a little too spicy, for others, it may be perfect; it was hard for me, since I am not a huge fan of that level of spice. After a few bites I needed a plan B and I gently removed some of the pepperoni to taste a “plain” slice; it was more aligned with my strike zone, and I enjoyed that very much.

Overall, Dominic’s & Vinny’s has a great pie; the sauce, cheese and sausage were excellent, for those who like a big kick in the pepperoni, you will probably enjoy that as well. As I have found with a few other places recently, I struggled with the texture of the crust, others will enjoy the denseness and chewiness more than I did. I strongly recommend a visit to Dominic’s and Vinnie’s, over 75 years at three locations tells you the people love the product.

 Dominic’s & Vinny’s 1625 Straits Turnpike, Middlebury, CT

203-758-8846