The wide windows at the front of the restaurant showcase the liveliness inside. A red sign labeled “Yorkside Pizza and Restaurant” invites you in. Behind the doors, warm lighting suffuses a space filled with the bustling sounds of casual conversation. The staff welcomes you in with a smile. In every direction, Yale paraphernalia adorns the walls. By the time you’ve had a chance to drink in your surroundings, your pizza is ready.
“We’re in the heart of Yale, which is the heart of New Haven, which is the center of the world,” said George Koutroumanis, owner of Yorkside Pizza and Restaurant.
Yorkside embodies the interconnection and community between Yale and New Haven in a unique way. When asked what defined New Haven for him, Elias Theodore ’27, Yale student and lifelong resident of New Haven, said, “Well, obviously the pizza.” This sentiment is shared by students, faculty, staff, natives, and visitors alike.
Established in 1969 by Greek immigrant George Koutroumanis and his two brothers, Yorkside Pizza has been a New Haven staple for over 50 years. Incredibly, the business has not changed hands since its founding, remaining owned and operated by the Koutroumanis family since 1969.
Yorkside stands out among hundreds of New Haven pizzerias for its friendly relationship with its customers and its family feel. The restaurant employs many of the founders’ family members, including cousin Eleni Koutroumanis. Ms. Koutroumanis, who has been working at Yorkside for 35 years, attributes Yorkside’s popularity to its sense of community. “Other places have employees, sometimes they don’t care too much [like] family does. I think that’s the difference [at Yorkside], being friendly.”
Locals and tourists alike remark on the sense of warmth emanating from the establishment’s culture. “I have very fond memories of that place…it’s kind of the same [feeling] that you get from [a] diner or something,” said Eliana Ritocastillo ’28, who was born and raised in New Haven.
Time is also a factor in Yorkside’s enduring popularity. The owners and staff members, who have been at the restaurant for decades, have relationships with the customers, some of which span generations. “We have second, third generation people coming,” said Mr. Koutroumanis. George W. Bush graduated Yale in 1968. To this day, his daughter Barbara ’11 still returns to Yorkside. “She is here for a milkshake most of the time, her favorite thing,” said Ms. Koutroumanis.
Yale alumni and their children are not the only ones who frequent the restaurant. Locals also form a large part of the clientele. “Yorkside is the place to be…I used to go with my friends in high school and they’ve always been super welcoming, they’ve always had good service,” said Ritocastillo.
According to Mr. Koutroumanis, Yorkside’s business is roughly half New Haven and half Yale. This distribution is essential to Yorkside’s profitability. Yorkside not only serves Yale students and faculty on a daily basis, but it also brings in additional clientele through tourism. “We are one of the most visited restaurants in any college town across America,” says Mr. Koutroumanis. Yorkside is especially busy during Yale’s family weekend. Among the many restaurants in the area, Yale visitors choose Yorkside because of the clear homage it pays to Yale. Immediately upon entering the establishment, one’s eye cannot help but be drawn to the statue of Handsome Dan standing proud over the kitchen, lively drawings of Yale vs. Harvard games, pictures of past Yale football teams, and prints of Yale’s campus done in 1977 by a Yale alum adorn the walls. In much of New Haven, Yale and the city feel very divided. Not so at Yorkside.
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic highlighted Yorkside’s commercial dependence on Yale. As students were sent home,the restaurant struggled financially. “It was a tough go, because our business [is] 50% Yale oriented and 50% New Haven oriented,” said Koutroumanis. I was very dependent on Yale,” said Koutroumanis. Yorkside survived the pandemic, but it was a challenge.
Yorkside’s inexorable connection to Yale is part of what makes it special. But the pandemic demonstrated that that relationship is an ever-evolving one. Yorkside has been a part of Yale and its history for decades, bearing witness to important moments in Yale’s transition to a modern institution.
“We were here when women first came in,” noted Mr. Koutroumanis. In 1969, when Yale admitted its first coed class, Yorkside provided a place for all students to interact and adjust to the change. “[Yorkside] is one big family working together for everybody else’s family…it’s a home away from home.” Koutroumanis appreciates when people come back years after graduation to once again eat at the restaurant or when couples return married after having had their first date at Yorkside. “It’s a two way road,” Koutroumanis said. It is impossible to draw a line between Yorkside, New Haven, and Yale. They exist together. There can be no Yorkside without Yale, and there can be no Yale without New Haven. Both New Haven and Yale appreciate the culture and connection that Yorkside has to offer.
What makes the place memorable is that it invites people to slow down their pace and take a moment to appreciate good conversations alongside great food. Nowadays, everything moves quicker and oftentimes, people don’t have the opportunity to take a break.
“I feel like there’s not that many places where people actually sit down and eat. In downtown you mostly just get your food and go. But people actually make the effort and stay like in [Yorkside] and they don’t just get their pizza and then leave,” said Ritocastillo.
When asked where he would establish Yorkside if he could move it anywhere, Koutroumanis joked and said, “Well, if I had a choice, I would like to set it in paradise and have all the angels come to me.” In a more serious tone, Koutroumanis said, “Truthfully, we’re very happy here. We have long time families here. We’re friends with a lot of the students, a lot of their families.”
While the restaurant is famed for its pizza, it represents much more than that. It’s not just about pizza. It’s about how the ambiance drives the exchange of words and laughs. Yorkside depends on Yale and New Haven. Both the city and the university uphold the sense of community by supporting the restaurant through difficult times. Yorkside is like pizza.The ingredients constitute the people that play a role in the community. Every slice represents a component of both Yale and New Haven that the restaurant unites. The inexorable connection between New Haven and Yale is on full display at Yorkside.