Walk into Yorkside Pizza on York Street and the first thing you notice is not the pizza. It is the walls. Framed Yale crew shots, old team photos, signed pictures and campus prints cover nearly every inch, and a statue of Handsome Dan, Yale’s bulldog mascot, stands watch over the kitchen.
For generations of Yale students, Yorkside has been a regular stop. For plenty of New Haven families, it is simply the neighborhood spot with the booths, the pizza and an owner who greets people by name.
Here is the story of the Greek immigrant family that built it, why the Yale crowd keeps coming back decades after graduation, and what to order at 288 York St.
From Broadway Pizza to York Street
Yorkside owner George Koutroumanis was born in 1955 in a rural part of Greece and came to the United States with his parents when he was 3, he told the Yale Daily News in 2016. While he was still in high school, he started working at his two older brothers’ business, Broadway Pizza, in New Haven.
“People loved Broadway Pizza so much that soon we were able to open another location,” Koutroumanis told the paper. The three brothers became partners, and Yorkside opened for business in January 1977, according to that interview. The family’s website describes Yorkside as “a family operation since 1969,” which takes in those earlier years.
At first, he said, only a few Yale students trickled in. “But more and more students started to come. Soon, word was out that we had good food and good prices.”
Nearly five decades later, the business has never changed hands. A 2024 profile in The Politic, a Yale student magazine, reported that the restaurant is still owned and operated by the Koutroumanis family and employs many members of the founders’ family, including cousin Eleni Koutroumanis, who at the time had been working there for 35 years.
“Other places have employees, sometimes they don’t care too much [like] family does,” Eleni Koutroumanis told The Politic. “I think that’s the difference [at Yorkside], being friendly.”
Half Yale, half New Haven
George Koutroumanis has a line for where his restaurant sits. “We’re in the heart of Yale, which is the heart of New Haven, which is the center of the world,” he told The Politic.
He also told the magazine that his business is roughly half Yale and half New Haven, and that the mix matters. When the pandemic sent students home in 2020, “it was a tough go,” he said. The restaurant made it through.
The Yale ties run deep. The Yale Daily News has counted President George W. Bush, Class of 1968, among the restaurant’s famous customers, and Eleni Koutroumanis told The Politic that his daughter Barbara, a 2011 Yale graduate, still comes back. “She is here for a milkshake most of the time, her favorite thing,” she said.
One frame on the wall holds a Yorkside menu and a guest check signed “G Bush” and dated May 28, 1998, displayed with a presidential portrait, a photo and a tie.
Koutroumanis told The Politic that second- and third-generation customers come in, and he enjoys it when alumni return years later, or when couples who had their first date at Yorkside come back married. “Truthfully, we’re very happy here,” he said. “We have long time families here. We’re friends with a lot of the students, a lot of their families.”
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The walls are the menu’s best side dish
The Politic described the decor this way: the Handsome Dan statue over the kitchen, lively drawings of Yale vs. Harvard games, pictures of past Yale football teams, and prints of Yale’s campus made in 1977 by a Yale alum. A Yale student told the Yale Daily News in 2016 that “all the pictures of Yale events on the walls don’t hurt either,” and that they show Yorkside cares about the Yale community.
The booths are part of the draw too. Eliana Ritocastillo, who was born and raised in New Haven, told The Politic she went there with friends in high school. “Yorkside is the place to be,” she said. “They’ve always been super welcoming, they’ve always had good service.” She added that downtown, people mostly grab food and go, “but people actually make the effort and stay” at Yorkside.
Made from scratch, the family way
The family’s website sums up the kitchen philosophy. “From our soup to our salad dressing, we make virtually everything from ‘scratch,’” it says. Dough and sauces are made fresh daily on the premises, and specialty dishes and salads are cooked and made to order from raw ingredients, using the family’s own recipes. The message closes the way a Greek host would: “Enjoy and Kali Orexi!” It is signed by the Koutroumanis family and the Yorkside staff.
Back in 2016, Koutroumanis told the Yale Daily News that using cheaper ingredients was not an option. “We use real meat on our pizzas. Our pork sausage comes from a local farm. We make our chicken sausage in-house,” he said, adding, “It’s not all about the money.”
“My heart and soul are here,” he told the paper. “We’ve been a part of Yale for 50 years now, and I’ll do my best to make sure we continue to be a part of Yale for another 50 years.”
What customers say
Yorkside posts a few of its reviews on its website. Josue, in a Google review, wrote: “Great service and amazing pizza!!!! Not once have I had a problem here! And i travel 30mins just to eat here.” Christine, also on Google, wrote that the pizza “is all time favorite for my kids, their chicken tenders awesome with homemade french fries, I love their dinner.”
Lauren, on Facebook, called it a “great family run restaurant perfect for a special occasion celebration or a casual Friday night!”
The recent reviews keep the same tone. On Yelp, Nikki called it “a true New Haven gem” and added, “everyone talks about new haven pizza but you don’t know until you have had yorkside.” Shan wrote that the pizza was “phenomenal. Truly one of the best pizzas I’ve had! The crust was scrumptious.”
What to order
Yorkside’s menu goes well beyond pizza. The website lists Greek salads, gyro made in-house, traditional Greek dishes from family recipes, steaks, seafood, daily specials, subs, pasta and handmade burgers. Call the restaurant for current prices.
A pizza, of course. The dough and sauce are made fresh every day, and Koutroumanis has said the pork sausage comes from a local farm and the chicken sausage is made in-house. Josue and Shan both singled out the pizza.
Something off the grill. Steaks and seafood are part of the family’s “more than pizza” menu, cooked to order.
A steak dinner plate. Yorkside serves full dinners with vegetables and potatoes on the side. Christine’s review sums it up: “I love their dinner.”
And a milkshake. If it is good enough for a former first daughter, it is good enough for the rest of us.
If you go
Yorkside Pizza & Restaurant is at 288 York St., among The Shops at Yale near Broadway. The phone number is 203-787-7471. The website lists hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Visit yorksidepizza.com for more.
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