September 3rd, 2016
Boston, MA
Back in July, when we were visiting Boston and had these great slices for lunch, we also first stopped at Galleria Umberto. The plan was to grab slices at both places because they are both conveniently located right in the North End of Boston. We planned this strategically because Galleria Umberto is only open for lunch, Monday through Saturday, and is closed on Sundays and after 2:30 pm (or whenever they run out of pizza). We planned to get there first thing when they opened to make sure that we got slices.
This was the first time where our plans didn’t quite work out. Galleria Umberto was closed for construction, just for that weekend. We were bummed, since we didn’t have any more plans to come up to Boston together in the near future.
Luckily, Eric planned a guys weekend for the fantasy football draft in September in Boston. He talked one of his friends into grabbing slices at Galleria Umberto early on Saturday morning.
The line often starts before the pizzeria opens around 10:30 am, and it doesn’t let up throughout lunch. Luckily, the pizzas just keep coming out every few minutes so it moves very quickly. Galleria Umberto keeps it simple and only offers one type of pizza – Sicilian.
Their Sicilian slices are really all about the cheese. The pies are baked in large square baking sheets and cut into smaller square slices. The slices may look small, but they are certainly filling. The cheese actually overflows from the pans when the pizzas are taken out of the oven. You will definitely get a slice where the cheese is still hot and oozing down the side of the crust. The cheese also gets those nice burnt bubbles on it – not too dark, though. The crust is a bit lighter than your usual Sicilian slice and isn’t as thick. Honestly, we forget what the sauce was like because the cheese is so overwhelming.
After hearing Eric’s thoughts on the pizza, I knew that I had to go myself and see what it was like. I ended up making a stop there for lunch one weekday when I was in Boston for work. The pizza actually reminded me a bit of the pizza that we had in Buffalo, but maybe just because those pizzas were also heavy on the cheese.
We’d recommend not taking these slices to go. They are the type of slice that would not be as good reheated, so plan to eat in. The restaurant has plenty of space to sit. Make sure to bring cash, since Galleria Umberto is cash-only. And also check to make sure that the restaurant isn’t closed for construction, or the owners aren’t away on vacation (I see right now that the restaurant is closed the month of July this year).
To visit:
Galleria Umberto
289 Hanover Street
Boston, MA 02113 USA
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