The Pizza State Debate: What Defines Connecticut?

I've lived in Connecticut for over 50 years, and it's tough for me to admit that we actually call ourselves 'The Pizza State' in 2025, but that is the reality that we live in. Connecticut, home to Yale University, the best college basketball teams in the country, and some of the most talented entertainers in the world, yet we settle on pizza.

I don't mind, try to do what I've done for the last hour and think of what Connecticut should glean onto as its next identity? We've acknowledged the 'Firsts' of foods that were discovered or invented here: steamed cheeseburgers, lollipops, lobster rolls, and hamburgers, even the Cornish Game Hen. Trouble is, you can get pizza anywhere, and nobody really wants a steamed burger, it's gross.

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How about a landmark? Our tallest buildings are barely over 40 stories, and two of them are in Southeastern Connecticut. The Connecticut shoreline has only a few public beaches worthy of a visit, and most of the coast is privatized land that keep us away. Basketball? Without Geno, Jim, and Dan, we would have no championships, so keep them under long-term contracts.

Pizza? I guess it's the best common thing that our marketing brains can come up with. I blame this all squarely on Dave Portnoy. All of those trips he made through Connecticut, and an interesting idea to rate the thousands of pizza shops that he passed between Boston, NYC, and Nantucket. Can you imagine if he only stopped in Madison or Old Saybrook and not in New Haven?