Serving Wallingford since 2006, Christos Restaurant and Bar offers a fresh, modern take on classic American comfort food. The restaurant provides a recently renovated menu of fantastic sandwiches and New Haven-style brick oven pizzas that add their own signature flavor to the traditional dishes. People of all ages come to Christos to try their unique dishes and modern-style food.
The restaurant was founded by brothers Chris and Mike Constanti in 2006. The brothers learned how to manage a restaurant by working for their parents, Bill and Anna Constanti, who owned Anna’s Prospect Pizza located in Prospect, Connecticut, which opened in 1978. Chris and Mike Constanti worked alongside George Constanti, their third brother, at the restaurant, learning the ins and outs of owning a restaurant business. George remained in Prospect, but Chris and Mike joined forces to start their own restaurant, which they named Christos after Chris. The restaurant’s original location was next to Holiday Cinemas 14 in Wallingford, but they moved to their current location in the center of Wallingford in 2014 with a clean, new interior to match their modern food.
Andrea Langschultz, an integral member of the Christos team, has worked as the restaurant’s manager for the past 11 years. After working at Anna’s Prospect Pizza for a few years, Ms. Langschultz received a call from Chris one night who asked her to start working for him the next morning. For the restaurant, she has served the role of waitress, bartender, and manager. She also played a significant role in redesigning the restaurant’s menu. The new renovated menu came out only two weeks ago. “We now are offering personal-sized cauliflower pizza, Detroit deep-dish pizza, a few new appetizers, sandwiches — a few new things in each section of the menu. For example, [we added] our arugula prosciutto pizza and our steak fajita pizza, two dishes that we created on our own that you don’t see in other places.” With all those options, it’s hard to choose a favorite, but Ms. Langschultz has settled on the pizza. She said, “We have very good specialty pizzas that you don’t see typically around at other pizza places, which is why I think we stand out and are a little different.” She is extremely proud of the different aspects of the restaurant, from the ever-evolving menu and the Italian family-style atmosphere to the very quick service with incredibly friendly waiters.
Known for their thin, well-done pizzas, Christos offers a myriad of options to choose from. Many of Christos’s dishes are loved and cherished by the restaurant’s regulars. As Ms. Langschultz said, “No matter what you get, it will be good.” The small, traditional cheese pizza comes with eight slices of freshly rolled dough, a variety of tasty cheeses, and perfectly-sized crust with a robustly-flavored red tomato sauce. The clam and bacon pizza is very popular among locals and is even considered by some customers to be one of the best pizzas in Wallingford. It is a white pizza with an unforgettable combination of mozzarella cheese, pecorino romano, fresh littleneck clams, bacon, garlic, and a pinch of oregano. Christos also offers bottomless soft drinks and an extensive dessert menu with options like delicious cannolis and chocolate cakes topped with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.
Prices are very reasonable for the amount of food served. Appetizers like the chicken tacos contain grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, and ranch all for $8, and the Muchos Nachos with house-made tortilla chips topped with queso cheese, jalapeño peppers, diced tomatoes, and scallions are $12. The New Haven style pizzas cost either $12 for a 14-inch pizza or $15 for an 18-inch pizza. The specialty pizzas cost between $18 and $23 for a 14-inch pizza and between $22 and $29 for an 18-inch pizza.
Christos offers a way for Choate students to enjoy a modern take on New Haven-style pizza that’s only a four-minute drive from campus.
