Who Makes The Best Pizza In Massachusetts (Boston, Cambridge: transporting, live)

[edwardsyzzurphands]

Original Reginas
Santarpios
Area Four
Leones
Hot Box

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

The local Chinese is worse than the pizza. I'd kill for good Dim Sum with carts.

It's really is the worst imaginable, there was this entire thread topic devoted to the awful RI Chinese food scene (which is identical to SE Mass.).



https://www.city-data.com/forum/rhod...e-food-ri.html

[Lampert]

Regina pizzas are almost all overloaded, that's not how pizzas should be. They compensate the poor dough and tomato sauce with a lot of other stuff. An outstanding pizza should taste great as a marinara (only tomato, oil and spices) or margherita.

Santarpio is not bad, in central MA I like Volturno. But neither of them is an outstanding pizza.

Without going to Naples there are some pizza places in NY that are really good, like Roberta's

[bohemka]

I always liked Penguin in Mission Hill. Bravo in Allston served a decent, tangy, NY-style pie, but I see they are gone now.

Bianchi's in Revere is excellent. I haven't tried their new Lynn location yet. I have yet to try Santarpio's despite hearing about it for years. I'm just never near it.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Here in West Portugal, if it doesn't have linguica as a topping, it's not pizza. LOL


....so that completely disqualifies the highly rated North End places. You need the taste of the Azores Islands to make an acceptable pizza in my book. On business trips, I do admit to liking an UNO's Chicago Classic deep dish with a Caesar salad and a beer at the bar once in a while.

Dragon Pizza in Somerville (one of my favorites) does a regular special called "The Fall River Special" which is tomato, linguica, clams, and kale. It's very good, but not the same as a linguica (w/ peppers and onions, of course) pizza from any of the Greek-style spots on the South Coast. If it weren't for the occasional inconsistency with the temperature (had a few that have been burned, and a few more that deserved another 10 minutes in the over), I'd rate Dragon my favorite in MA. Their pepperoni is the best I've had anywhere in the state and their maple cheddar bacon is a brilliant mashup of flavor.

Regina's is still good. I still haven't tried Santarpio's - we're moving a 10 minute walk from there later this month and saving it for our first night in the new home.

My favorite is probably Leone's on Broadway in Somerville. They've been in business over 65 years and they do Sicilian style pizza better than anyplace else I've ever tried it. 1/2 tray of pineapple bacon is the ultimate comfort food for us. The cheese is perfectly gooey, and the toppings are generous. The sauce is house made and the crust is the perfect mix of chewy/crunchy.

Honorable Mentions: Brick in New Bedford for an excellent Neopolitan pizza. Mesa 21 in Fall River - great wood fired pizza.

[bostonguy1960]

I love Pizzeria Regina pizza, even at the other locations. Supposedly it's inferior at the food courts and the non-original North End locale, but to me it seems similar if not identical?

But some spots only have one size whereas the North End has small and large.

Sadly, Allston has closed its location, though.

Two years ago, a pizza snob friend and I ate at the Chestnut Hill Frank Pepe location. Yes, the original and famous one is in New Haven. A basic cheese pizza there wowed me...maybe better than Regina's cheese pizza?

A former local talk show host, Bradley Jay on WBZ, claims Otto from Portland is best in New England. I believe and hope we still have three locations in our area? It's definitely a step above most, to me.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by bostonguy1960

A former local talk show host, Bradley Jay on WBZ, claims Otto from Portland is best in New England. I believe and hope we still have three locations in our area? It's definitely a step above most, to me.

In my opinion, Otto's reputation benefits from the Portland hype machine. I lived within walking distance of the original Portland location and visited a few times over the few years I was living there. It was pretty good, but hardly worthy of the "OMG BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD!!!!" accolades heaped upon it by the locals. When I moved to West Somerville, I wasn't far from the Arlington location (5 minute drive), but I rarely went. Again, it was fine (definitely better than average), but there were more/better options in the area. It seems almost everything that comes out of Portland is plugged as "THE BEST EVER!" and I've found that that's rarely the case (with a couple of exceptions). There's zero chance Otto is the best in New England.

[charolastra00]

I dated a guy who lived a few blocks down from Santarpios and ate there a few times a month for close to a year. Good stuff, though I haven't been back in close to 10 years.


I'll admit, I'm a sucker for Greek pizza. It was a big treat when we visited Haverhill when I was growing up in a town in Georgia that *only* had Papa John's.



Kindles in Marlborough is decent, but not knock-your-socks-off.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I still haven't tried Santarpio's - we're moving a 10 minute walk from there later this month and saving it for our first night in the new home.

If your first time make sure you start off with the sausage & lamb combo. Despite what has been claimed here, I'm quite Irish looking and every time the lamb has been perfect. Most of the time I go (which is infrequent), I'll get the sausage+garlic pizza. Otherwise just pepperoni.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by massnative71

If your first time make sure you start off with the sausage & lamb combo. Despite what has been claimed here, I'm quite Irish looking and every time the lamb has been perfect. Most of the time I go (which is infrequent), I'll get the sausage+garlic pizza. Otherwise just pepperoni.

That sounds really, really good. I'm quite Irish looking as well (though late August/early Sept. I should still have somewhat of a tan), so it's good to know I won't get the bad cuts! Sausage and garlic sounds awesome too.