Frank Pepe’s pizza opening location in Maryland

A tomato and mozzarella pizza from Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven. A tomato and mozzarella pizza from Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven. Photo: Greg Morago / Greg Morago Photo: Greg Morago / Greg Morago Image 1 of / 45 Caption Close Frank Pepe’s pizza opening location in Maryland 1 / 45 Back to Gallery

New Haven’s Frank Pepe, one of the oldest and best known pizza places in the country, will be opening a branch in the suburbs of Washington D.C., according to media reports.

Pepe’s will be opening in the Westfield Montgomery Mall, in Montgomery County, Maryland, local news station WTOP reported.

There are currently 11 Frank Pepe locations, though one in Maryland would be the farthest afield from its original New Haven Location.

There’s a Frank Pepe’s in Warwick, Rhode Island, another in Yonkers, N.Y. and two in Massachusetts.

The Maryland Pepe’s is slated to open in 2020, WTOP reported. The Westfield Montgomery Mall is about 30 minutes from downtown Washington D.C.

Frank Pepe, born in Maiori on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, immigrated at 16 to the U.S. in 1909, getting his first job in a New Haven factory. He opened his first pizza shop in New Haven in 1925.

Pepe’s, along with other pizza places Sally’s and Modern, have helped make New Haven a pizza destination, according to New Haven historian Colin Caplan, who wtrote the first pizza history book on the subject.

“New Haven is the up and coming underdog of big pizza cities,” he said. “Everyone knows New York, Chicago, Naples, Rome. They look at these cites and say these are probably big pizza cities. They look at New Haven and say, ‘Really? It’s known for pizza?’ These are not people we’re worried about. People who know pizza know New Haven.”