This Hotel Has 'Pizza Payphones'—Direct Lines to Two of New Haven's Best Pizzerias

Room service can be one of the best parts of a hotel experience. Who doesn't want their meals rolled right to their bed, occasionally on a literal silver platter? And yet, you're not always in the mood for a $29 Caesar salad; sometimes, you'd rather just grab a pizza. If so, the Graduate New Haven has you covered. The lobby of the newly-opened Connecticut hotel features a pair of "Pizza Payphones" offering direct lines to two of the city's best pizzerias.

Though places like New York, Chicago, and even Detroit are known for their pizza, New Haven is an oft-underappreciated pizza haven, as well. The Graduate's Pizza Payphones—which, despite the name, are free (they just look like payphones)—dial up two favorites: Frank Pepe's and Modern Apizza, both of which made the cut for our own epic pizza tour of the city. Anyone is welcome to use the phones—hotel guests or visitors off the street—by simply stepping into the phone booth for the restaurant of your choosing (the phones are adjacent, in case you have a last-minute change of heart) and dialing "0." Put in your order, and then collect your pie from the hotel's cafe, Poindexter.

The Graduate bills its Pizza Payphone as "the first of its kind," and whether that's true, it's certainly an idea worth imitating. Sadly, its only flaw appears to be that it isn't operational 24-hours a day. The phones are only available Tuesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.—this despite the fact that Frank Pepe's is open until 10 p.m. daily and Modern Apizza is open until midnight on the weekend! Still, a direct line to pizza is a power that should be wielded with care, so it's understandable why the hotel would want to keep some firm limits on its use.

As for the hotel itself, it's conveniently located by the Yale University campus, across the street from the Yale School of Art. Clearly, some of that Ivy League genius rubbed off on whoever designed the Graduate New Haven's lobby.