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All the United States Connecticut Groton Mystic Pizza
Gastro Obscura

Mystic Pizza

This small-town pizzeria won the Hollywood lottery.

Groton, Connecticut

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Gillian
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Mystic Pizza   Auslandsoesterreicherflickr... on Flickr
The interior of the restaurant.   Patrick Ashley on Flickr
One of the slices that keeps the business, and film fans, afloat.   Bob on Flickr
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Inside the restaurant   ladyredtravel / Atlas Obscura User
Julia Roberts, Lili Tayor and Annabeth Gish in Mystic Pizza   Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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About

Mystic, Connecticut was a relatively sleepy New England town until Hollywood's attention turned to their local pizza shop, Mystic Pizza. 

Opened in 1973 by the Zelepos family, the corner pizza joint enjoyed decades of success in their titular town thanks to their "secret sauce." However, business exploded after screenwriter Amy Jones, who had spent the summer in Mystic, used the restaurant as the setting for her latest screenplay. The resulting film, Mystic Pizza, was released in 1988 and not only shared a title with the Zelepos' business, but also told the story of three fictional women working at the restaurant. The coming-of-age story received critical acclaim and gathered enough attention that the original Mystic Pizza soon had to deal with lines around the block. 

The movie proved so successful for the restaurant that they were not only able to open a second location, but Mystic Pizza also now sells frozen pizzas in grocery stores around America. Fans of the film still flock to the restaurant to take pictures at the backdrop of one their favorite romantic comedies. Not bad for a local pizzeria that simply happened to catch a writer's eye.  

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Added By

Gillian

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Kiri the Unicorn, Rachel, Martin, Travel Maven...

  • Kiri the Unicorn
  • Rachel
  • Martin
  • Travel Maven
  • EricGrundhauser
  • beckieanngalentine
  • thegenxjourney
  • Collector of Experiences
  • missingfilm
  • Nikki Vargas
  • ladyredtravel
  • Antahny
  • whaa fun

Published

November 26, 2013

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  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_Pizza
Mystic Pizza
58 West Main Street
Groton, Connecticut, 06355
United States
41.353984, -71.97303
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Mystic Seaport Museum

Stonington, Connecticut

miles away

Severed Arm of Saint Edmund

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Gungywamp

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Groton

Groton

Connecticut

Places 3

Nearby Places

Mystic Seaport Museum

Stonington, Connecticut

miles away

Severed Arm of Saint Edmund

Stonington, Connecticut

miles away

Gungywamp

Groton, Connecticut

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Groton

Groton

Connecticut

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