Savin Rock Roots, 50 Years on the Boulevard: The Apicella Family’s App’s Restaurant

Next June, App’s Restaurant will mark 50 years at 283 Captain Thomas Blvd. But the Apicella family has been feeding West Haven a lot longer than that. Their story runs from a pizza shop on Washington Avenue in New Haven, to a Beach Street storefront at Savin Rock, to the dining room on the boulevard where the family still runs the restaurant today.

“One family, 4 generations, and 50 years serving the greater New Haven area,” the restaurant says on its website, where the welcome note is signed, “Enjoy! Carol, Fred and Clark Apicella.” The site says the 50-year mark at the current address arrives in June 2026.

From Washington Avenue to Savin Rock

According to the family’s own history, the roots go back to the early 1900s, when great-grandparents Vincenzo and Anna Apicella and their sons Frederick and Eddie opened Eddie-App’s Pizza on Washington Avenue in New Haven. The family says the business “quickly” built a reputation for Italian food.

In 1942, grandparents Frederick and Susan Apicella opened their own place on Beach Street at Savin Rock, the shoreline amusement district that drew crowds to West Haven for decades. The family history says they served pizza and “old school simple food,” always made by hand, in a casual neighborhood setting, until West Haven’s redevelopment of the area forced them to close.

That photo, which the restaurant posts on its About page under “1942 Beach Street, West Haven,” shows the storefront with “App’s Italian Pies and Spaghetti” painted on the windows.

A second start on the boulevard

The restaurant came back in 1976. The family history says App’s reopened that year at 283 Captain Thomas Blvd., run by Theresa and Vincent Apicella together with Nicholas and Gloria Angeloni. That is the address it has kept ever since.

The next generation took it from there. A food column by Stephen Fries, now archived on CT Insider, identified siblings Fred, Carol and Vincent Apicella as the third-generation owners at the time. Today the restaurant’s website signs off from Carol, Fred and Clark Apicella.

“Although much has changed over the years, we have never lost touch with our passion for excellent food and wonderful service for our guests,” the family writes. “We are proud to continue our tradition of serving quality ‘Italian American’ simple authentic classics.”

Inside App’s today

Walk in today and you’ll find a long, bright dining room with white tablecloths, a bar and booths along the wall. The restaurant posts several photos of the room on its homepage.

App’s is a dinner house. Its posted hours are Monday 4 to 8:30 p.m.; closed Tuesday; Wednesday and Thursday 4 to 8:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 4 to 9 p.m.; and Sunday 3 to 8 p.m. The restaurant says it opens earlier for large parties. Walk-ins are welcome, it takes reservations, and it offers take-out from the full dinner menu plus specials.

A big part of the business happens in the back rooms. App’s says its private dining rooms can hold 20 to 90 guests, and it posts separate banquet, buffet, brunch and trays-to-go menus. It also offers a bereavement menu for families hosting a gathering after a funeral.

What locals say

App’s has the kind of following that writes in about dessert. In that column, Jackie Knoll of Orange asked for one recipe in particular. “In addition to the amazing entrees served at App’s,” she wrote, “they offer the most amazing rice pudding I have ever tasted! Any chance you can get the recipe?”

The family shared it. The column printed the Apicellas’ rice pudding recipe, which simmers rice in milk with sugar and a splash of Frangelico, then finishes it with light cream and egg yolks and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

The same column called the baked stuffed mushrooms with cream cheese and crabmeat a popular starter and named Chicken App’s one of the house signatures. Both are still on the 2026 dinner menu.

What to order

Here are dishes from App’s 2026 dinner menu, shown in photos the restaurant posts on its own website. Most entrées come with a salad or a cup of soup. Prices change, so check the current menu.

House-made lasagna

Pasta layered with ground beef, sausage, ricotta and mozzarella in marinara sauce. It’s one of a short list of dishes the menu calls “house made,” along with the manicotti, meatballs and sausage. The Italian combo puts lasagna, manicotti and eggplant rollatini on one plate.

Clams over linguine

For the shore-dinner crowd, the menu’s zuppe di clams is fresh whole clams simmered in a red or white sauce over linguine. There’s also a lighter version with chopped clams tossed with capellini, and a big seafood plate of shrimp, whole clams and sea scallops over linguine.

Mozzarella caprese

Fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, basil and extra virgin olive oil, from the appetizer list. If you want something hot to start, the menu’s hot antipasto brings fried mozzarella, shrimp, clams casino, manicotti and eggplant rollatini.

Shrimp over linguine

Shrimp is all over the menu: shrimp scampi with garlic, butter and lemon over linguine; shrimp fra diavolo in a spicy red sauce; and shrimp florentine over spinach. The appetizer list adds shrimp casino, sautéed with sausage, peppers and onions and topped with bacon.

Not pictured but worth knowing: Chicken App’s, medallions of chicken with mushrooms and hot and sweet peppers, sautéed with garlic and white wine and served over thinly sliced fried potatoes, and the App’s mixed platter, a chicken cutlet, boneless pork chop and sausage with peppers over those same fried potatoes.

Fifty years and counting

Few West Haven restaurants can draw a straight line from Savin Rock to today. App’s can, and it posts the photos on its website to prove it. The family puts it simply on the homepage: “Since the early 1900’s, family has been the ‘heart’ of App’s Restaurant.”

If you have a memory of the Beach Street App’s, or of a family dinner at the boulevard location, we’d love to hear it.

What’s your App’s order? Tell us in the comments.

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