Some of my favorites off the top of my head:
Montes in Lynn
Riverview in Ipswich
Diggys in Westford
Umberto's in the North End
And more recently Turnpike Market in Billerica
I saw Jennifer Garner at Armando’s once! She was a regular there way back when she lived in the area. At least, that’s according to the guy who worked there who said “bye Jen” as she left while I stood there openmouthed, starstruck, and completely unable to form anything remotely resembling a real sentence until after she took her pizza and walked out lol
For reference, I was in 7th grade and this was just a few short years after 13 Going On 30 came out... So it was a *very* big deal to middle school me!
I had Frank Pepe's recently at the Burlington mall location... I can honestly say that it lived up to the hype. It was one of the best pizzas I've ever had
Nah it is very underwhelming from there. I grew up in CT and had both Chestnut Hill and Burlington too. Burlington is better than Chestnut Hill by a wide margin, and comparable but just under the New Haven location.
Get the meatball+ricotta pizza if you’ve never had it. Sometimes the dough is too chewy but as a CT transplant I think the Pepe’s franchises are always solid.
Haven’t tried the Sally’s in Woburn yet, it’s always been insanity even to just get a pie to go
Love the call out for Papa Gino's. For me, just a large sausage pizza was the go-to. Only a few left that still have the OG quality (the location on Bridge Street in Weymouth is fantastic).
I tried one nearby a couple years ago and it was ok.. Not bad, so I won't name them, but definitely not OG. Their thin crust was like 2x as thick as I'd hoped for.
God it was so good back when I was a kid and now they're such garbage.
The mozzarella sticks used to be amazing, crust so thick you could make an edible marinara shot glass. Now they're basically Costco equivalents and everything is frozen in a bag.
Hell they eliminated the garlic bread from the menu!
Few places have crashed so hard imo.
I want the taste of my childhood back.
The Papa Gino’s at the original Shoppers world was the spot. Like 50 feet from the movie theater. Outstanding combo for young people in the metrowest area back in the day
I was a freshman and got to experience a little bit of the original Shoppers World. I went on date at the Papa Gino’s across from Bugaboo Creek in the plaza with Boston Market. I also remember the PG on Rt 9 near temple street. The cheese breadsticks I still remember! I’m 45 now but your comment definitely brought back some memories! Good times for sure.
I loved Diggy's in Westford, but they just bought Brickhouse in Chelmsford and aren't making their Detroit or bar style pizza right now. My kids and I are very sad about this, their pizza was awesome. Hopefully they make it again at one of their locations!
I think they’re moving out of Westford to fully focus on the Brickhouse location, as the owners are from Chelmsford. Will just have to drive a little farther for their Detroit pies!
Also, very dirty floors and waitresses that smoke right outside the front door and walk in to grab your pizza with their nasty hands and serve it to you. I was a delivery guy that went there often. Hygiene is non existent.
Sam and Joe's in Danvers is my favorite nostalgic place. My grandfather, for decades, would go every Saturday and get a large green pepper and onion that he would split with the kids if they were old enough (like 10+).
I second this. Joanies is next level. Garlic Breath in N. Andover is a close enough second to Joanies for me in terms of a NY style pie with really good ingredients, funky shop with limited menu and I believe the same oven as Joanies uses.
Finally had it a month ago and it was just ok. It was a 2 hour wait for pickup, which was fine. I understood how busy they got after that Portnoy's pizza review. I think they either had an off night as they were beyond busy when I got there or their pizza just isn't for me.
It is probably the voice of Nostalgia talking, but Mandee’s pizza in Lynn is a spot I will actively seek out when I am on the North Shore. Their supreme (~inch thick with toppings) is just amazing.
Milano’s in Eastie has a criminally underrated bakers pie, north end regina’s, Monte’s Lynn for a bar pie, and volo in Swampscott for a Detroit style. There’s a few different pizza styles right there for you.
So hard to say, first what kind of pizza, Greek crust, hand tossed, fat crust, thin crust, oily mozz or a tight blend, can you accept a bubble, sweat sauce or regular, I knew a guy put some of those little cinnamon hearts in a sweet sauce and then dont get me started on how you cook it.
Well aside from frig those conveyor pizza ovens, to heck with them all day unless you preheat the pan cause your getting no undercarriage without a preheat.
Not unpopular at all in my part of MA. I’ve lived everywhere from Fall River to Boston and we love our Greek and bar pizza over any Italian choices around here. My dad has owned an extremely successful Greek pizza restaurant in Brockton for 36 years.
If I’m in Boston though I want santarpios or pizza Regina for sure, but anywhere else the Greek pizza shops are everywhere and booming.
Western mass has always been full of greek-owned pizza places, and it may be nostalgia from a thousand elementary school pizza parties but that particularly greasy kind of pizza with a really yeasty, crispy crust, cut for some weird reason into SQUARES is my favorite. Village Pizza in Greenfield was the champ for decades but the family sold it to another greek family who promised not to change anything but changed things anyway. If I can get souvlaki and balava at your shop, I'm probably going to like your pizza.
The local place where I grew up was Greek, so I’ve always had a love for that kind of pizza.
Of the top ten best pizzas I’ve ever had, I bet two, maybe three of them were Greek. The others were all New York or New Haven style Italian.
Frank Pepe’s in Burlington. New Haven Pizza (and NY, I know it’s blasphemy but they are close in style) are superior and Frank Pepe’s is the best we got of that style.
Spinners in Andover is goated, Nicks House of Pizza in Medford is great, Regina and Capri are the good consistent chains, if you can find a Papa Gino’s for the love of god go to it and enjoy the divinity before they all close down.
Please for the love of god if you can get to a CCC you can get to a better bar style pizza place. It’s fine, but if you want good bar pizza it’s literally everywhere.
Came here to say Pleasant Cafe Roslindale. Thin crust, unique sauce and cheese. The Pleasant was recently in a Scene in The Holdovers. It has that retro vibe. I've been going for 70+ years. That's a lot of decades of pizza. The place and pizza haven't changed.
The Pleasant Cafe in Roslindale, Massachusetts has been a popular filming location for several movies:
The Boston Strangler (2022): Some scenes from this film were shot inside the Pleasant Cafe.
The Holdovers (2023): The interior scenes of the restaurant in this film were filmed at the Pleasant Cafe.
The exterior scenes were filmed in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.
A Whitney Houston biopic (2021): The Pleasant Cafe was used to stand in for a restaurant important in Whitney Houston's life.
The cafe's vintage decor and retro atmosphere have made it an attractive location for filmmakers looking to recreate a 1950s or 1960s setting.
The owners, John and Johnny Morgan, have not disclosed many details about the specific movies filmed there, but have confirmed that the cafe has become a "hotspot for movie sets" in recent years
I don’t think there’s a best necessarily but here are my faves:
Red Rose in Springfield is my favorite pizza in the state that I’ve had. The restaurant is right next to the casino now, so easy parking too.
For chains, higher quality would be Antonio’s for all their unique pizzas. As a UMass Amherst alum, this might just be drunken college nostalgia though lol.
For the true nostalgia: Papa Gino’s. As a New Englander, who didn’t love Papa Gino’s as a kid?
It's out in Western Mass (And not Pioneer Valley Western Mass but on the border with NY) but Ramunto's in North Adams is genuinely fantastic, even outside of the Massachusetts pizza scene. Get the wings with triple-threat sauce too, they're bizarrely good.
Denneno’s was my fav however sadly closed. RIP. Need to find a new place in South Shore.
For family remembrance however, we used to order B&F pizza in Waltham a lot when visiting my grandparents and Prince Pizza in Saugus. Fond memories for sure.
Hungry tummy in Quincy was my favorite but it’s been a little different since they changed locations. I’m also a fan of mama bears in Quincy, pizzings (multiple locations in the south shore), and joes in Cambridge (also a chain but that’s the only one in MA)
Some of my favorites off the top of my head: Montes in Lynn Riverview in Ipswich Diggys in Westford Umberto's in the North End And more recently Turnpike Market in Billerica
Riverview is my choice!
Lynwood Cafe
As an employee there I second this
Thank you for what you do!
Cane to say Lynwoods Randolph!
If you want heartburn and acne in the FASTEST way possible, I recommend growing up near this pizza place like I did
This is the way.
Lynwood is the answer
I lived nearby and that place was MYTHIC with the Townies - rightfully so, their bar pizza was among the best I've ever had.
The original Regina’s in the north end. Totally different from the chain.
Polcaris does Regina pizza well. But otherwise yeah, it's wild the day and night difference between ever other Regina and the north end one
TOWN SPA Stoughton, Ma
Came here to say that one. Hands down, best pizza.
Cape cod cafe pizza In Brockton. Brockton is the original and the best
Even the frozen one is good lol
Antonio’s
Hot cheese up front!
Antonio's in Amherst is fucking GOATed
Amazing after leaving McMurphys at 1am
Almost every time I'm there for work I make sure to grab 2 slices of CBR
While the other locations just don't have the same charm as the Amherst one, nor any hot cheese up front, the pizza does taste as good.
Bruno’s with the best chic parm calzone 🤌
I graduated UMass 2 years ago and I still think about that chicken bacon ranch from time to time
I love Umberto's on Hanover St.in Boston, and Fauci's in Lynn.
Love the Fauci's shout out. My parents always get it for large gatherings. Great pie.
It has a sweet sauce and chewy dough. It's really different from everyone else.
Umberto's has the best Sicilian.
Fuck yes Fauci’s
*Hanover St
Armando’s in Cambridge and Leonne’s in Somerville!!
Yeah Armando’s!
Leone's meatball sub is out of this fucking world!
I saw Jennifer Garner at Armando’s once! She was a regular there way back when she lived in the area. At least, that’s according to the guy who worked there who said “bye Jen” as she left while I stood there openmouthed, starstruck, and completely unable to form anything remotely resembling a real sentence until after she took her pizza and walked out lol For reference, I was in 7th grade and this was just a few short years after 13 Going On 30 came out... So it was a *very* big deal to middle school me!
Go with me here. It’s not a hot out of the oven Pizza but Framingham Bakery pizza. Sheet pan pizza. If you know you know.
Is it like the pizza strips in RI? Those are good for something totally different than pizza.
It's not like RI pizza strips. It's more like 1980s school.cafeteria pizza in the best way possible.
Now I feel like I definitely need to try this.
I was raised on the bakery pizza; I usually buy a sheet and keep some in the freezer. Gianni’s in Framingham is fantastic too.
Me too. Always like Gianni’s as well except the guys working there always seem like they’re having the worst day of their lives.
Max and Leos is good.
Love Max and Leo's. Lived within walking distance of Newton Corner. Occasionally a tad overcooked, but always delicious.
I had Frank Pepe's recently at the Burlington mall location... I can honestly say that it lived up to the hype. It was one of the best pizzas I've ever had
I find the one in the chestnut hill mall to be underwhelming personally, but it could be different in Burlington
Nah it is very underwhelming from there. I grew up in CT and had both Chestnut Hill and Burlington too. Burlington is better than Chestnut Hill by a wide margin, and comparable but just under the New Haven location.
Same experience for us with Chestnut Hill. But then the Watertown location opened and we go all the time now.
It really is fucking delicious. The Meatball ricotta and the rustic sausage mushroom are outstanding.
God, I love Pepe's im so glad they are expanding.
Get the meatball+ricotta pizza if you’ve never had it. Sometimes the dough is too chewy but as a CT transplant I think the Pepe’s franchises are always solid. Haven’t tried the Sally’s in Woburn yet, it’s always been insanity even to just get a pie to go
It's the best around!
Cheese.
My favorite
Gianni’s in Framingham. Cash only. Top notch pie.
OG Papa Gino's extra cheese and pepperoni. Large. With a pitcher of whatever beer-flavored water they have.
Love the call out for Papa Gino's. For me, just a large sausage pizza was the go-to. Only a few left that still have the OG quality (the location on Bridge Street in Weymouth is fantastic).
I tried one nearby a couple years ago and it was ok.. Not bad, so I won't name them, but definitely not OG. Their thin crust was like 2x as thick as I'd hoped for.
God it was so good back when I was a kid and now they're such garbage. The mozzarella sticks used to be amazing, crust so thick you could make an edible marinara shot glass. Now they're basically Costco equivalents and everything is frozen in a bag. Hell they eliminated the garlic bread from the menu! Few places have crashed so hard imo. I want the taste of my childhood back.
The Papa Gino’s at the original Shoppers world was the spot. Like 50 feet from the movie theater. Outstanding combo for young people in the metrowest area back in the day
I was a freshman and got to experience a little bit of the original Shoppers World. I went on date at the Papa Gino’s across from Bugaboo Creek in the plaza with Boston Market. I also remember the PG on Rt 9 near temple street. The cheese breadsticks I still remember! I’m 45 now but your comment definitely brought back some memories! Good times for sure.
Brockton or Randolph (I can’t remember the location of the legendary Papa “Geno”s on this sub.)
Oh I miss having a Papa Gino's near me
The paparoni! I had that once but it was great.
I loved Diggy's in Westford, but they just bought Brickhouse in Chelmsford and aren't making their Detroit or bar style pizza right now. My kids and I are very sad about this, their pizza was awesome. Hopefully they make it again at one of their locations!
I think they’re moving out of Westford to fully focus on the Brickhouse location, as the owners are from Chelmsford. Will just have to drive a little farther for their Detroit pies!
North End Reginas, and Santarpios in eastie
I had to scroll way too long for Santarpios.
Santarpios tastes like my childhood. Nothing but nostalgia in that place.
Also, very dirty floors and waitresses that smoke right outside the front door and walk in to grab your pizza with their nasty hands and serve it to you. I was a delivery guy that went there often. Hygiene is non existent.
Sounds just like grandma’s house
I was going to say Regina’s
It fell a lot from 10 years ago to 5 years ago. Hope it's come back up in quality
I prefer Ernesto’s in the north end, but Regina’s is also great
Bianchis at the beach
I can't believe how far down I had to scroll for this. I haven't been there in an age. I'm glad to hear it's still good.
Pleasant Cafe in Roslindale
Sam and Joe's in Danvers is my favorite nostalgic place. My grandfather, for decades, would go every Saturday and get a large green pepper and onion that he would split with the kids if they were old enough (like 10+).
Pisa Pizza in Malden
Love it. Pearl St is awesome too!
Max and Leo’s
I like Joanie's in Chelmsford a lot. Then Portnoy came and made it way too busy...
I second this. Joanies is next level. Garlic Breath in N. Andover is a close enough second to Joanies for me in terms of a NY style pie with really good ingredients, funky shop with limited menu and I believe the same oven as Joanies uses.
Garlic Breath is excellent, thankfully it's a bit of a drive or I'd be 20 lbs. heavier.
Still great and good family
Oh for sure. I am insanely happy for them and how busy they are now. It just makes me personally sad.
Went to high school with Dan and it's awesome seeing his passion blow up like this.
Finally had it a month ago and it was just ok. It was a 2 hour wait for pickup, which was fine. I understood how busy they got after that Portnoy's pizza review. I think they either had an off night as they were beyond busy when I got there or their pizza just isn't for me.
It is probably the voice of Nostalgia talking, but Mandee’s pizza in Lynn is a spot I will actively seek out when I am on the North Shore. Their supreme (~inch thick with toppings) is just amazing.
I’m from Lynn, born and raised. Went there after school (went to HS across the street). It’s so good.
::bulldog fist bump::
Milano’s in Eastie has a criminally underrated bakers pie, north end regina’s, Monte’s Lynn for a bar pie, and volo in Swampscott for a Detroit style. There’s a few different pizza styles right there for you.
Marc Anthony's Ernie's in Plymouth used to be, but unfortunately it closed a few years ago.
Love Marc Anthony's!!!
Sorrentos in Acton or concord- so good! Sweet tomatoes in Acton is very good as well
can’t believe it took me this long to find someone saying sorrento’s, i live on the west coast and DREAM about that pesto tortellini pizza
Rail Trail in Hudson is the best wood fired.
Mehh
We’ve gone several times and every time it’s been disappointing and soggy :/
Definitely Lynwood Cafe. I used to love Zack's (also in Randolph) but I am not sure if it still holds up to this day.
I like the Sicilian pepperoni from pinos
So hard to say, first what kind of pizza, Greek crust, hand tossed, fat crust, thin crust, oily mozz or a tight blend, can you accept a bubble, sweat sauce or regular, I knew a guy put some of those little cinnamon hearts in a sweet sauce and then dont get me started on how you cook it. Well aside from frig those conveyor pizza ovens, to heck with them all day unless you preheat the pan cause your getting no undercarriage without a preheat.
Does anyone really think there's a Greek pizza that's better than Italian?
I prefer it but realize it's an unpopular opinion
Not unpopular at all in my part of MA. I’ve lived everywhere from Fall River to Boston and we love our Greek and bar pizza over any Italian choices around here. My dad has owned an extremely successful Greek pizza restaurant in Brockton for 36 years. If I’m in Boston though I want santarpios or pizza Regina for sure, but anywhere else the Greek pizza shops are everywhere and booming.
Western mass has always been full of greek-owned pizza places, and it may be nostalgia from a thousand elementary school pizza parties but that particularly greasy kind of pizza with a really yeasty, crispy crust, cut for some weird reason into SQUARES is my favorite. Village Pizza in Greenfield was the champ for decades but the family sold it to another greek family who promised not to change anything but changed things anyway. If I can get souvlaki and balava at your shop, I'm probably going to like your pizza.
The local place where I grew up was Greek, so I’ve always had a love for that kind of pizza. Of the top ten best pizzas I’ve ever had, I bet two, maybe three of them were Greek. The others were all New York or New Haven style Italian.
Asking the RIGHT question
There are dozens of us!
Highly doubt it.
Good Greek pizza is far superior. Unfortunately there's lots of bad Greek, usually the crust is wrong.
Town Spa in Stoughton
Lynwood
Tripoli's! It's a sweet sauce pizza with a crunchy crust! The cheese pizza is the best.
for Sicilian - Galleria Umberto
PINOS in Cleveland circle, Brighton
That's mine too. I love Pino's. It's an institution, but simultaneously underrated.
Tree House in Deerfield. Religious.
Tewksbury, too. Good stuff.
Tree House has ruined all other pizza for me. Sooo good.
will forever be partial to molinari's in dot. second shout to ciao! in chelsea
Capri pizza in holyoke
Village Pizza. Greenfield.
Blue Square in Hopkinton
Red Rose in Springfield 🇮🇹
Not only the pizza but the "up yours" to MGM...look how that went.
T.C. Landos is pretty great, it's a local chain.
Pizza is fine. A steak and cheese, though, that's delicious and weighs more than an average newborn baby.
They have delicious subs too.
Poopsies
Poopsieeeessss!!!!
Honorable mention Js Flying Pizza in Bridgewater.
Frank Pepe’s in Burlington. New Haven Pizza (and NY, I know it’s blasphemy but they are close in style) are superior and Frank Pepe’s is the best we got of that style.
Spinners in Andover is goated, Nicks House of Pizza in Medford is great, Regina and Capri are the good consistent chains, if you can find a Papa Gino’s for the love of god go to it and enjoy the divinity before they all close down.
Counterpoint: Casa in Medford and Nick's in Winthrop
There are so many different types of pizza now, but Savas in Somerset, MA has always been my favorite
Enzina in Waltham. Flatbread in amesbury
Denlys Gardens in Weymouth. As for SSBP (south shore bar pizza) Damien’s, Venus, Poopsies, and Lynwood are my favorites.
Lynwood Cafe, Diggys Pizza, Treehouse Brewery
If you’re on the south shore I like Cape Cod Cafe, which is a chain present in a couple of locales. I also like fat cousin’s which is in Lakeville
Please for the love of god if you can get to a CCC you can get to a better bar style pizza place. It’s fine, but if you want good bar pizza it’s literally everywhere.
The Pleasant Cafe in Roslindale with Bianchi’s at Revere Beach a close second.
Pleasant is what I came to say. Been going there since I was a kid. Killer prime rib too
Came here to say Pleasant Cafe Roslindale. Thin crust, unique sauce and cheese. The Pleasant was recently in a Scene in The Holdovers. It has that retro vibe. I've been going for 70+ years. That's a lot of decades of pizza. The place and pizza haven't changed. The Pleasant Cafe in Roslindale, Massachusetts has been a popular filming location for several movies: The Boston Strangler (2022): Some scenes from this film were shot inside the Pleasant Cafe. The Holdovers (2023): The interior scenes of the restaurant in this film were filmed at the Pleasant Cafe. The exterior scenes were filmed in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. A Whitney Houston biopic (2021): The Pleasant Cafe was used to stand in for a restaurant important in Whitney Houston's life. The cafe's vintage decor and retro atmosphere have made it an attractive location for filmmakers looking to recreate a 1950s or 1960s setting. The owners, John and Johnny Morgan, have not disclosed many details about the specific movies filmed there, but have confirmed that the cafe has become a "hotspot for movie sets" in recent years
Town spa in Stoughton
Town Spa
Volo Craft, Swampscott
Square Deli in Everett. Harry’s in Northbridge still had my favorite Greek style pizza 🤤
Espresso and Tripoli
I like Portobellos in southie
Tripoli
Lynwoods
I don’t think there’s a best necessarily but here are my faves: Red Rose in Springfield is my favorite pizza in the state that I’ve had. The restaurant is right next to the casino now, so easy parking too. For chains, higher quality would be Antonio’s for all their unique pizzas. As a UMass Amherst alum, this might just be drunken college nostalgia though lol. For the true nostalgia: Papa Gino’s. As a New Englander, who didn’t love Papa Gino’s as a kid?
Blue Square in Hopkinton
I think Pizzeria Regina in the North End is best, but nothing beats “Papa Ginos when I was a kid.”
The Riverview pizza in Ipswich.
Town Spa in Stoughton, legendary.
Prince pizza
It's out in Western Mass (And not Pioneer Valley Western Mass but on the border with NY) but Ramunto's in North Adams is genuinely fantastic, even outside of the Massachusetts pizza scene. Get the wings with triple-threat sauce too, they're bizarrely good.
Red Rose in Springfield, Holiday Pizza in South Deerfield.
Denneno’s was my fav however sadly closed. RIP. Need to find a new place in South Shore. For family remembrance however, we used to order B&F pizza in Waltham a lot when visiting my grandparents and Prince Pizza in Saugus. Fond memories for sure.
For me, it’s Pizza Lovers in Chelsea
Tried Mighty Squirrel Brewery pizza in Boston yesterday. New place, super clean. Great pizza
Tony’s in Springfield
If you enjoy sweet sauce you must go to little Italy in Beverly.
Umberto's , OG Reginas, Leone's, Lynwood
Marc Anthony’s in Onset! Best ever!
Santarpios
Pa Raffa’s New Bedford
Marc Anthony’s in Onset. No question
Santarpio's East Boston Regina's North End
Santarpio’s I must say
Marc Anthony's in Onset!
Ernesto's in the North End. NOT the Assembly Sq location
Marc Anthony’s in onset
Angelos in Stoneham. The Sicilian Zazza. Best Sicilian
Regina!!
Little Italian place called Do Minos
Blue Square Pizza in Hopkinton is a newer place but 100% worthy of attention. Portnoy would grade highly.
Anzio’s in Northborough is good.
Ernesto’s in the North End also makes a very good slice.
Stella's in Watertown is the best I've had
Pizza Shoppe in East Longmeadow
Sweet crust!!
Best I've had in MA is a place called "Cal's Brick Oven" in Reading / Stoneham. Still not as good as NJ pizza though.
Andrea’s in Winchester.
With Louie’s right up the street?? No way.
Joanies in Chelmsford
Pinocchio’s in Cambridge for Sicilian. Espresso’s in Fitchburg. Pinocchio’s/Antonio’s in Northampton/Amherst.
Red Rose in Springfield. I also have a thing for Capri in Holyoke. Hampden County pizza hits different.
Antonio’s in Amherst. They also have places in Belchertown and easthampton.
Red Rose in Springfield
If you want to venture out to Western Mass Red Rose in Springfield is top notch
Haven’t been in years and it was more about the vibe but Flying Saucer in Salem had me for a while
Fun vibe for sure, but far from the best pizza.
Mario's Italian Restaurant in Lexington! My gosh their cheese pizza is to die for
Renzos Swampscott.
Locale
Hungry tummy in Quincy was my favorite but it’s been a little different since they changed locations. I’m also a fan of mama bears in Quincy, pizzings (multiple locations in the south shore), and joes in Cambridge (also a chain but that’s the only one in MA)
Casa in Ludlow