In 1935, a post-Prohibition tavern named Colony Grill opened in an Irish immigrant neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut. Since then, Colony has become famous for what is now its only menu offering: a one-of-a-kind, thin-crust pizza that is best served with the signature “hot oil” topping.

We know what you are thinking…Irish pizza? Grill?

The local Irish crowd, and anyone else who visited Colony, seemingly could not get enough of this unique pizza, which was made even more appealing when drizzled with a spicy, full-of-flavor, pepper-infused creation simply called: hot oil.

The original owners of Colony were indeed Irish-Americans, but they employed some Italian and Eastern European chefs during the Great Depression. These men proudly wanted bar patrons to try the pizza recipes from their homelands, in addition to other menu items, but needed to figure out how to fit a pizza tray on the narrow Colony bar top.

The solution: the “bar pie, extremely thin crust, smaller in diameter than a traditional pizza, and not too much cheese or sauce so that slices can be easily managed with one hand, fittingly leaving the other hand free to hold a glass.

Eventually, across the decades, the hot oil bar pie became so popular that all the other Colony menu items faded away, as did the need for a grill. But the name Colony Grill remains as a link to our heritage.