Frank Pepe was the quintessential American immigrant, with a quintessential American story. He immigrated to America as a teenager in 1909. After going back to Italy for a few years to fight in World War I, he returned to New Haven to work first in a pasta factory and then in a bakery on Wooster Street. While working at the bakery, Pepe started making his version of the classic “apizza,” (pronounced A-beets) a style of pizza from his hometown of Naples. Pepe began selling his “tomato pies” off a special headdress, walking through the Wooster Square market with several pies perched atop his head. He eventually saved up enough money to buy a wagon and continued selling the increasingly popular “apizza.” In June of 1925, Frank Pepe was able to take over operation of the bakery and establish “Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana” on Wooster Street. The rest, as they say, was history.