More Than Pizza: Dedicated for over 15 years
NEW HAVEN, Conn.— On a Thursday night, phones ring every minute behind the counter in More Than Pizza, a small take-out pizza restaurant on the corner of Blake and Fitch Street. Flashing neon lights and painted signs along the windows read “open late,” “fast delivery,” and “we accept hootloot.” The walls on the inside are bright orange with a television yelling the local news to whomever comes in to grab their order. Cars pile up outside at the stoplight, and lights from the restaurant shine onto the vehicles.
On a regular Thursday night, delivery cars are going in and out of the lot all night in a rush to deliver orders before their food gets cold. More Than Pizza’s most frequent customers at night are Yale-New Haven Hospital patients and Southern Connecticut State University students. Local businesses fill most of their orders during lunch period on weekdays.
Unless orders call within 3 minutes of each other, More Than Pizza delivers each one by one, according the daytime manager Ugur Citlak. Instead of leaving food and waiting for other orders to finish, deliverers immediately rush it out while it’s still fresh out the oven.
More Than Pizza has been around since 1998; first starting where their close-by competitor, Pizza Heaven II sits on Blake Street. Their lease ended after ten years, then they moved to a spot on Whalley Avenue. Now More Than Pizza sits on the corner of Blake and Fitch street to be in the middle of a bustling intersection and closer to student life at SCSU.
“It’s the go-to option for this area,” said SCSU junior Emilio Flores, who appreciates More Than Pizza’s wide variety of options and fast delivery.
The owner and father of Ugur, Mehmet Citlak, has been in the profession of food preparation for 25 years. “I worked as a chef at a small diner in East Haven for many years. I opened More Than Pizza so I can run a food business on my own,” he said.
Although it is small like any take-out restaurant, the bright outdoor and indoor colors command attention from the street. Ugur Citlak said that come spring, the landlord for the plaza they’re in is planning on re-paving the lot and opening up a new business in place of Shopper’s Haven. Ugur Citlak said that he hopes the updated look of the plaza will attract new customers. More Than Pizza is one of the few businesses where there is a clear view of the storefront from Blake and Fitch, while the other stores hide from immediate passing view.
Another noticeable feature that the Citlaks take pride in is the cleanliness of the restaurant. “My father is strict about keeping the place clean,” said Ugur.
Other than keeping the restaurant tidy and pleasing to the eye, the Citlaks insist the quality of the food is most important. Unlike most small take-out pizzerias, More Than Pizza makes the dough and sauce fresh usually every day. According to Citlak, the pizza sauce takes 6–7 hours to cook.
“I like to try pizza from other places to compare. I can always tell when they don’t use fresh sauce,” said Ugur. “We don’t buy cheap basil sprinkles either; we always use fresh basil and parsley.”
Quality is something that student customers have also taken notice in. “I always order burgers from More Than,” said SCSU sophomore Erin Kelly. “They’re juicy and delicious. They’re also the only place I know around here that puts mayonnaise on their burgers.”
Ugur said that he hopes customers will know that if something at More Than Pizza costs a little more than the competitors, it’s for a reason.
“I don’t think anyone in the area compares to our food,” he said. “It’s the best you can get for the price.”
