We’ve had lots of specific pizza threads off and on, such as these:
or
and my favorite
but no umbrella thread. Let me start the dough rolling by saying that Armando’s Sicilian is still pretty good. Lots of individual posts about it on this site, and I echo what I’ve said before that they can extract a world of taste from ordinary ingredients.
Of “better” pizzas (ingredient-wise) Area Four has our vote. Stoked has some strengths, but their penchant for chopping everything is just plain weird. Who wants chopped pepperoni on their pizza? The joy of pepperoni, and the glory, is these curled up crisp cups, with a little pooled, liquid fat in each. Nobody said you’d live long (or prosper) on pepperoni pizza, but what a triumphant exit it would be!
Things have certainly come a long way since my student days frequenting BHOP. We’re very fortunate to be located between Jinny’s and Max & Leo’s. Our only wish is that both places had more tables. Is it just me, or has Frank Pepe’s not translated well from CT? I’m curious to hear if Sally’s Apizza survives the journey to MA.
Pizzeria Enzina in Waltham is still cranking out great pizzas. They hold up well in delivery too; this past Friday we got their Quattro Formaggi, standard Al Formaggio, and an Al Formaggio for a guest with added meatball, roasted onion, and roasted garlic, and their Romaine Salad (basically, Caesar salad). All were fantastic.
Actually, a lot of people. I’m a big fan of the practice. I liked the curled up cups, too, but there are a lot of places that do the chopped pepperoni. Stoked is not the first place I’ve been to that does it that way.
Pepe’s is still quite good. It is not quite at New Haven levels, but when you’re starting from that level, being 90% as good is still very very good. I have not been to the Sally’s in Woburn yet.
I think Armando’s is good, but over-rated. Stella’s in Watertown, similar style, much better. Oh, I’m talking about the thin-crust, not the Sicilian.
I find Otto is fine.
For old school, grab a pie from the pizza joint, type place, Stella’s is the best I’ve had in the GBA by far. For “fancier” pizza, I’ll give that to Stoked. I did like Max & Leo’s, but after going to Stoked, I felt no need to ever go back.
My spouse and I found ourselves in Woburn, MA the other day and decided to get lunch at Sally’s Apizza.
{Note: I have eaten at Modern in New Haven within the last couple of years, but it has been a very long time since I was at Sallys}
Lots of seating, very airy inside (both bar and tables). Not terribly busy around noon on a weekday but fairly full by the time we left. Kept it simple with a house salad and tomato/mozzarella pizza.
Excellent service, food came quickly. I thought that the pizza was very good. Thin crust with a nice char on both the edge and bottom. Flavorful sauce with enough (but not too much) cheese. I liked the pie a lot, 4 stars out of 5, would absolutely return again and try some of their other toppings. I don’t have enough experience with NH-style pizza to voice an opinion as to whether or not they translated well from CT but as long as I like the product I don’t really care.
Staff said that dinner service can still be crazy with lines so be warned. I personally wouldn’t stand in line for pizza but that’s me.
Many of our favorites have already been mentioned - Stoked (not only is the pizza good but pizza with a cocktail at their outside tables on a warm night is pretty hard to beat), Armando’s (Sicilian only), Area Four.
We also really like Avenue Kitchen in Somerville. Detroit style, with interesting but not overwhelming toppings - I really like the mushroom rabe.
The corn-base mushroom pizza at Dragon Pizza in Davis continues to be one of the best pizzas out there, I think.
Recently we tried Graffiti in Allston. We didn’t get what we ordered, so I can’t provide any names, but we had a rectangular thin-ish crust white pizza with dabs of pesto and vodka sauce (I think?) that was very good.
I haven’t had it in over a year, but Gran Gusto (Sherman St, Cambridge) has tended to have good pizza. Also, La Saison (Concord Ave, Cambridge) has a rather decent Sicilian, with a rotating cast of toppings. Their ingredients are better than Armando’s, but their slices are still a shade less tasty (to me, at least).
Even for Eater this is an odd list (also dated, I know):
Just names of places and no reasons given for why a particular place is included.
Nevertheless, it brought back to my consciousness a rather good experience we had at Woody’s in 2007 (on their list). It was my then-young daughter’s birthday and we took her and a dozen friends for an afternoon party there, followed by West Side Story at the Boston Conservatory up the street (Hemenway). They made very nice arrangements to accommodate us in a portion of the room where the kids could eat and play some genteel games. I’d tested the pizza beforehand and had been impressed by the char on the crust and their sauce. The pizza they served on the day of was equally good. Can’t speak to what they’re like now.
Agree about Pepe’s, I think it’s near the top in our area (though maybe it varies by store? I have been to Chestnut Hill and Watertown multiple times, never Burlington) regardless of how it compares to New Haven.
We had the occasion to eat at Sally’s Apizza in Woburn today. Spring Onion attended a birthday party up the street at Xtreme Craze (yeah, that’s the name…I’m not making that up) and we had 3 pm tickets for the Messiah at Jordan Hall. We decided it would be easier to eat in Woburn rather than risk it in Back Bay/Symphony (find parking and finish eating by 2:30 pm seemed a little tight). Our first choice was Surf in the same plaza (we’d been to the Portsmouth NH location years ago and it was fine). But Sally’s was empty so we pivoted to pizza. Our nice server told us that it’s been dead all week. Filled up by the time we left, though.
As @Stiv mentioned above, it’s a big open space, lots of natural light. SO had already been fed pizza at his party, so he wasn’t hungry. B and I started with the Brussels and ordered the large clam pizza. We found both a bit disappointing. The Brussels were less crispy on the outside than we like and mushy on the inside. They came whole rather than split or quartered, which is our preference to maximize surface area/crispiness. There is balsamic which I didn’t find overwhelming but a tad too sweet for B.
Sadly, the pizza didn’t wow us. We liked the char, we don’t mind a crusty cornicione, but the pie was overall too dry (needed a liberal lashing of olive oil) and the clams were way too skimpy. We both added a bunch of crushed red pepper and the good oregano that they leave on the table. B also added some Parmesan. I had the idea of asking our server for a wedge of lemon which really brightened up the whole affair. The large is yuge. We brought it home and will doctor it with lemon and maybe canned clams.
We would go back to try a tomato sauce-based pie.
Pizza Marvin is in Providence, but their clam pizza wowed us. That pizza memory from this past summer got triggered for me today, thus the lemon.
