The focus of Apizza is on the unique Neapolitan-style pizza, which originated in the Italian enclaves of New Haven, Connecticut. This pizza is thin crusted with a chewy, crisp texture and charred bottom from being cooked at high heat on stone oven floors. New Haven-style pizza is referred to as "white pie" -- olive oil and garlic based with hard cheeses melted on top. Apizza's version of the white pie adds fresh mozzarella to the mix along with Romano cheese, olive oil, garlic chives and pepper ($6.75).
A house specialty, apparently popular in New Haven as well, is the smashed potato pie ($9), which is the white pie without mozzarella and seasoned mashed potatoes instead. A steak and cheese pie ($14) is another specialty of Apizza, which we ordered. It is topped with peppery steak pieces and just enough mozzarella. The crust was crisp, chewy and flavorful with that great smoky oven char. Even my wife, who rarely eats red meat, really enjoyed this pizza. One could have the best of both worlds by ordering the steak and smashed potato pie (the menu reads: "Meat and potatoes? Yes!"-- $15) or the steak, smashed potato and mozzarella pie ($17).

We ordered Caesar salad ($2.75) and a white pie, to which we added caramelized onions ($9.25) in addition to our steak and cheese pie. The Caesar was more than enough for three of us to share. The dressing was more of a garlic vinaigrette with anchovies rather than a true creamy Caesar dressing and could have had a bit more cheese mixed in for my taste, but we still enjoyed it and you can't beat the price. The white pie had a great crust, but the not-quite-caramelized onions were too strong (not sweet and caramelized) and overpowered the subtleties of the mild, fresh mozzarella cheese. This pie would also have benefited from a bit more garlic and a finishing drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.  Perhaps we should have tried it without additional toppings first.

Although the menu states that one pie will feed two to three people, for most pizza lovers it would more accurately feed two (or one really hungry pizza fiend). These are not your fully loaded, pound of cheese, giant pies you might find elsewhere.

However traditional "American" cheese pie with tomato sauce is available here, with 16 additional toppings to choose from (although they suggest limiting toppings to three or four so as not to overwhelm the crust and cause unwanted sogginess).

Service is casual, order at the counter style. Fountain drinks, three draft beers, and a selection of mostly organic wines are offered as well as classic Boylan sodas -- an east coast institution and assorted juices and bottled beers.

The décor is much nicer than your average pizza joint, stylish and befitting the character of the old building. The dining room features mission-style furniture, including many comfortable booths and period light fixtures. Several works by local artists are displayed throughout, in addition to historic black and white prints of Portland. The restaurant has almost a gallery feel to it, complete with classical music in the background. We enjoyed the art as much as the pizza.