Grand Apizza? Try Grand Apharmacy

A storied pizzeria that fed Fair Haven for generations will soon transform into a pharmacy providing health care to low-income and uninsured residents.

On Feb. 7, Fair Haven Community Health Care purchased the single-story building at 111 Grand Ave. which housed Grand Apizza, a culinary institution in the neighborhood since 1955. The building sold for $376,000.

The owner of the pizzeria, George Carranzo, had been seeking to sell the building for over a year. He had long planned to close the business and pursue a new stage of his life. The pizzeria closed in January.

“With the departure of Rite Aid, we sensed a significant desert for affordable medications,” said Suzanne Lagarde, Fair Haven Health’s CEO. 

The healthcare organization already operates a pharmacy by the border of East Haven and Branford and had sought to bring services closer to Fair Haven, according to Lagarde.

As a federally-qualified community health center, Fair Haven Community Health Care would be able to provide medications to clinic patients at lower costs. The pharmacy would also be able to serve residents who aren’t clinic patients, Lagarde said.

The organization also plans to offer free products from Direct Relief, a nonprofit that provides a varying assortment of health supplies such as Tylenol and sunscreen.

Lagarde said the clinic eventually hopes to offer medication management services and health education programs for the public.

Grand Apizza isn’t the only pizzeria to be replaced by Fair Haven Community Health Care in recent months. Last September, the health care organization demolished Avellino’s on Grand Avenue, another pizza place, as part of the expansion of its headquarters.

To those wondering whether the health care provider has been purposefully targeting New Haven’s hallmark cuisine in an effort to, say, promote a more nutritious diet in Fair Haven … Lagarde said that the clinic was actually hesitant to replace the historic restaurant.

“It was almost a stopping point for us,” she said. ​“The last thing I wanted to do was take away a treasured resource for the community. But the owner assured me that he could not find a buyer” for the restaurant after more than a year of trying. 

After consulting with the city and political representatives, the clinic decided to go forward with the purchase. ​“This is really going to be a community resource,” Lagarde said.