Tag: 101 best pizzas in america

#52 Pizzeria Regina

July 30th, 2016

Boston, MA

Pizzeria Regina may be the most famous pizzeria in Boston. It has been a North End staple since 1926, and their brick oven pizza has been made by three generations. Even if you haven’t been to the restaurant in the North End, you may have had their slices in Faneuil Hall, Foxwood’s Resort and Casino, a local Boston-area mall, or at a Red Sox game at Fenway, where they are the “official pizza of the Boston Red Sox” .

Our first taste of Regina was actually at Faneuil Hall, back in college. We didn’t even realize back then that there was an actual restaurant, but we would get a slice every time we went into the city. Toppings are a bit limited at the to-go locations, but the cheese slice was very good.

A few years later, we were back in the city and decided to go to the original Regina Pizzeria with our friend Dave. It was a Friday night, there was a line, and by the time we got our pizza, we were starving. We don’t remember much about that pizza besides it tasting good.

We were glad to be able to go back to Regina as part of the 101 Best Pizzas journey. This time, we went with our friend’s parents, Frank and Mary, who were kindly letting us stay in their North End apartment for the night. We arrived early, prepared for the Saturday night lines. Luckily, we didn’t have too much of a wait, and we ordered three pizzas: a margherita (shown in the picture), a spinach and broccoli, and a white pie with sausage, onions, and peppers.

Regina Pizza stands out because they still use their original oven from 1888. They also specially can their tomatoes and buy their cheese in bulk for the restaurant only. They say that the recipe is the same for all of their locations, but we’d agree with the majority of reviewers that the pizza at the original location in the North End tastes different. If the recipe and ingredients really are exactly the same, it must be that original oven that gives it the unique taste.

The crust is crispy like a NY-style crust. The sauce is on the sweet side, and we loved the slices of tomato on the margherita and the abundance of cut fresh basil. The other pies were a bit heavy on the cheese, so we were glad to have some vegetables to balance them out.

While we bet that there are a good number of locals that come to Regina, most of the clientele seems to be tourists. We probably wouldn’t want to wait in the lines every night either, especially with so many other amazing restaurants in the North End. That being said, though, this is one of the best pizzas in Boston. And you really have to go to the original location to say that you’ve had the pizza – the slices at Faneuil Hall are good, but they really aren’t the same.

To visit:

Regina Pizza
11 1/2 Thacher Street
Boston, MA 02113

BarbaraLeave a comment

#95 Loui’s Pizza

February 18th, 2018

Hazel Park, MI

We concluded our mini-pizza road trip with a drive from Cleveland past Detroit to Hazel Park, MI. Apparently, we like to end our road trips with Detroit-style pizza. Loui’s Pizza was listed on the 2016 list, although didn’t also make it on the 2017 list. We still wanted to go and try it out, and to see how it compared to Buddy’s.

Buddy’s is the pizza place that is probably most famous in Detroit (ranking in the top 10 on a few of the lists), but it isn’t the only pizzeria serving authentic Detroit-style pies there. Loui’s is probably it’s biggest competitor. It was opened in 1977, and has a very similar interior/exterior feel to Buddy’s. The decor inside hasn’t been updated, although it did have a flat-screen TV so that we could watch the cross-country skiing, and the exterior is nothing really special or enticing, so we almost drove right past it.

The main decoration here at Loui’s is the straw-wrapped Chianti bottles, which hang from every wall and fixture, signed by customers. There must have been hundreds in total. If we didn’t have a long drive ahead of us, we could have contributed.

But OK, on to the pizza. We ordered two small sized pizzas (4 slices each). One was a plain cheese and tomato, and the second was topped with pepperoni, onion, and mushroom. As we’ve discovered with Detroit-style pies, the fewer the toppings, the better. You may have previously read our posts on Detroit-style pizza, but if you haven’t you could check out this one and this one.

The pizza here is authentic Detroit-style. The crust was buttery and had crispy cheese along the edges, just as we expected. The sauce is generously ladled over the cheese. The cheese is not mozzarella, but we weren’t sure exactly what it was. The pepperoni and toppings are also layered UNDER the cheese and sauce, which is really unique to Detroit-style. This is one aspect of true Detroit pizza that some East Coast imitations don’t quite get right.

Like Buddy’s, this pizza is filling. We definitely couldn’t finish two smalls (although Eric came close). And for full disclosure, he actually finished the leftover slices a few hours later.

So, it is hard for us to tell you if this is better than Buddy’s or not. It was honestly just too close to call. We’d really have to try them both at the same time. We’ll save that for our next drive past Detroit. You can’t go wrong with either, if you’re a fan of this style. After having been to both Buddy’s and Loui’s, we don’t think we’ll ever get Detroit-style anywhere else.

We call this a successful mini-road trip. While it wasn’t 14 pizzas in 10 days like last year, we managed to stop for 5 pizzas in 3 days, which is pretty solid. This will probably be our last long pizza trip until Baby Cheifet arrives, so we had to make it count.

To visit:

Loui’s Pizza
23141 Dequindre Rd
Hazel Park, MI 48030

BarbaraLeave a comment

#99 Crust

February 17th, 2018

Cleveland, OH

After our last pizza in Buffalo, we hit the road for a 3-or-so hour drive down to Cleveland! Eric had been to Cleveland (but for a bachelor party, does that really count?) but I had never been. We had a bit of time to explore before dinner, which we planned to eat at Crust.

As much as we liked the cheesy, doughy pizza in Buffalo, it was nice to try something different in Cleveland. As you can see, we overloaded a bit on the veggies. The pizza on the left is the roasted eggplant, which also had roasted tomatoes, arugula, red peppers, and a balsamic reduction drizzled on top. The pizza on the right is the Spanish chorizo, which also was topped with red peppers and goat cheese. Crust gives you two crust options – thin or hand-tossed. We tried each. There wasn’t too much of a difference. The eggplant crust was “thin”, but it wasn’t too much thinner than the regular hand-tossed crust. We’d recommend just going with the hand-tossed. The pizzeria is called “Crust” after all.

Crust is relatively new to the pizza scene, opening only 5 years ago. It was pretty busy when we were there. Not only do they serve really interesting and delicious-sounding pizzas, but they have a good looking salad, subs, and pasta menu as well. And a nice beer selection.

They also serve what they call “Monster slices”. Unlike some other pizzerias that sell giant slices (thinking of this one, in particular), the Monster slice at Crust is actually a slice cut from a 32-inch diameter pizza. You can also customize what you want on your slice, which is cool. We didn’t go the slice route, but someone at the table next to us did. But we should note that they ordered a slice AND a pizza.

If you end up going to Cleveland, you should make a stop at Crust. We really enjoyed the pizza here. It may not be the best in the US (it does get ranked at #99 on the 2017 list) but the topping combos and fluffy crust are solid.

To visit:

Crust
2258 Professor Ave
Cleveland, OH 44113

BarbaraLeave a comment

#74 Bocce Club Pizza

February 17th, 2018

Buffalo, NY

We saved the highest ranked Buffalo pizza place for last. After we checked out of our hotel, we drove down to Bocce Club Pizza and got there right at noon when it opened.

Bocce Club Pizza was opened even before La Nova, in 1946, when the owner bought a pizza oven after WWII. It originally was a bocce ball club, with courts in the yard and sandwiches and drinks inside. In the 1980’s, it became the first restaurant to offer take-out pizza in Buffalo. It still seems to have most of its business as a take-out pizzeria because the only seating area is a few stools at a high counter along the far wall.

Here, you can order a full or a half pizza, which is nice. We ordered a half size, topped with half meatballs (honestly, we were getting a bit tired of pepperoni).  We were not surprised to see that they also serve wings but unfortunately we didn’t get to try them. We have only so much stomach space.

This ended up being our favorite pizza place in Buffalo. It was just as heavy on the cheese as the first two, but the sauce was a bit sweeter and the crust was fluffy without being overwhelming. We thought it was really similar to the slab pizzas that we had in Maine.

We didn’t quite finish this pizza either and had to take some leftover slices to go in the car. These Buffalo pizzas are heavy! (And the baby bump in the photo on the left means that I don’t have as much space for pizza anymore to begin with). But Eric enjoyed them the next night for dinner and said they held up pretty well.

After lunch, we hit the road to head down to Cleveland. The last two places on this mini-road-trip coming up next week!

To visit:

Bocce Club Pizza
4174 Bailey Ave
Amherst, NY 14226

 

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#90 La Nova

February 16th, 2018

Buffalo, NY

After our first pizza stop, we headed up to Niagara Falls. There really isn’t too much to do around Buffalo, aside from visiting the Falls. Especially in the middle of February. The good part of timing the trip like this, though, was that there were very few people at the park and we had great views of the snowy falls! We didn’t stay there too long, because it was cold and windy, and more importantly, we had more pizza to eat!

Our second pizza stop in Buffalo was at La Nova. La Nova has been around since 1957, which is pretty impressive. It claims to be the largest independent pizzeria in the US (although I don’t think they’ve updated their website because the last time we checked, it was only ranked at #20). It probably looked exactly the same back then as it did when we stopped in for dinner. The whole restaurant has a very 50’s-vibe, with red tables and walls and old pictures everywhere. Not surprisingly, it also claims to have some of the best wings in Buffalo. It was clear when we were there that La Nova has a huge local following, even with all of the other pizza places around Buffalo. For a Friday night, the place had a huge delivery wait line, and plenty of people who stopped in for slices.

We decided to sit down and eat, since we didn’t feel like just bringing a couple of slices back to our hotel, and we wanted to see some more of the local scene (which included a homeless woman on drugs coming into the pizza place every 15 minutes to harass the customers and staff). We ordered a small cheese and pepperoni, and Eric also ordered a side of the wings.

The verdict: not as good as our first pizza stop of the day, Deniro’s. The crust here was a little thinner but it was topped with the same amount of cheese, which oozed off of the pizza like crazy. This also could have been because we couldn’t wait for it to cool down to dig in. The pizza at La Nova was a little more greasy, maybe partly due to the good number of pepperoni they threw on. You can see that yellow grease in the picture above.

Eric said the wings were good, but they weren’t the “best he’s ever had”. But then again, we definitely aren’t wing connoisseurs, so we should leave that up to others to debate.

Overall, we thought this would be the perfect pizza place to order food from after a late night of drinking or while watching a football game. It wouldn’t be our first pick to eat on a regular Friday night, mainly just because the cheese made it SO HEAVY. We couldn’t even finish it (although we may have been able to if we also didn’t have to try the wings).

To visit:

La Nova Pizzeria
371 W Ferry St
Buffalo, NY 14213

BarbaraLeave a comment

#89 Deniro’s

February 16th, 2018

Depew, NY

Apparently, Buffalo, NY has a big pizza scene. We were not aware of this until we read the 2017 list. We also didn’t know that there was such a thing as “Buffalo-style” pizza. Since there were 3 pizza places on the new list that were located around Buffalo, we decided that a road trip there this year was necessary. Talking with Arthur Bovino (who pretty much created the list, in case you didn’t know) over lunch the other day also convinced us. We really had to see what the fuss was about. 

We decided to take our mini-road trip over this past long weekend. We started out from NJ early on Friday and made it out to Buffalo around 1 pm. Our first stop: Deniro’s.

We were very excited to get out of the car after our 5 hour drive, but a little bummed that the pizza place didn’t have any seating. They had a little “seat” along the window, so we sat/stood to eat our half-pepperoni-half-plain pizza. We went with a medium size, since we were getting more pizza in a few hours for dinner. It ended up being plenty of pizza for us, and we actually couldn’t finish it. If you know us at all, this is HIGHLY unusual. We almost always finish our pizza.

So what, exactly, IS Buffalo-style pizza? It has been compared to Detroit-style, but we didn’t think it reminded us of that at all. It’s also been compared to Sicilian, which we don’t think is quite true either. Yes, the pizza has a thicker crust and a hefty amount of cheese, but that’s about where the similarities end. The pepperonis are thick and the sauce is somewhat sweet, and the pizzas are round.

Eric said that the pizza at Deniro’s reminded him a little bit of Pizza Hut. This isn’t necessarily a negative comment (as someone pointed out on instagram), because he associates Pizza Hut with his childhood. (Although, we should also add a disclaimer here that he hasn’t had Pizza Hut in about 10 years). Deniro’s is definitely comfort food – heavy, cheesy, and doughy. I disagreed with his comparison, though. The crust is similar and they are both cheesy, but this cheese was more flavorful and the sauce was better.

We felt pretty full after this, so we went for a walk around Niagara Falls. We had to make room for our second Buffalo-style pizza on the list that we had planned for dinner. It was a decent start to our road trip.

To visit:

Deniro’s
2251 George Urban Blvd
Depew, NY 14043

BarbaraLeave a comment

#87 Gruppo Thin Crust

February 14th, 2018

Manhattan, NYC

We’re all for Valentine’s Day celebrations, but we don’t like to deal with the whole finding reservations/fancy dinner thing. Usually, we end up at home with take out, watching something on TV. This year, we decided to go out for dinner but we wanted to keep it simple. We ended up stopping by a new addition to the 2017 Best Pizza list, Gruppo.  It was the only pizza place in NYC on the new list that we hadn’t yet been to.

We wanted to avoid any Valentine’s Day rush, so we went for an early dinner.  We ended up ordering two personal sized pizzas, the Shroomtown, which is what the Daily Meal recommended, and the Giordino. We both felt we needed some veggies after all of the chocolate that we had been eating all day. We also tried the Bruschetta appetizer.

The app was really good. It was served on a crispier flatbread, just like the pizza crust, but topped with pesto and a huge piles of fresh tomatoes. We recommend it and we didn’t really miss the thick bread that’s usually served with Bruschetta. We were glad to still have plenty of room for pizza.

The pizzas were good, too. The crust is so thin here, almost like a cracker. We really like a thin crust sometimes because we don’t leave feeling so full. The mushrooms were flavored so well on the Shroomtown, we both loved them. And the crust, while thin, really holds up to the toppings. At the same time, we both agreed that a thin crust makes a pizza harder to stand out in the crowd of NYC pizza. When confronted with the massive amount of pizza in NYC, it would be hard to justify going to one of these thin crust places.

Also, we were wondering why Gruppo made the list instead of the other restaurants in the chain: Tappo or Spunto (both of which we’ve been to), or Posto or Vezzo. They all taste identical to us. Actually, Tappo and Spunto both have a cuter atmosphere, in our opinion. I’m not sure why the owners couldn’t just pick one name and go with it – instead they have five different websites! We actually didn’t realize they were all the same until we saw the logo for Gruppo in the window. And then saw the menu, which is identical (as far as we can tell). We actually had the Shroomtown at Tappo late last year.

In any case, if you’re in the mood for thin crust pizza, these places are great. It’s nice to switch it up sometimes. We’d maybe go back, but probably to Spunto or Tappo, which are both closer to our offices (and to the subway).

To visit:

Gruppo Thin Crust
98 Avenue B
New York, NY 10009

BarbaraLeave a comment

#33 2Amys

July 23rd, 2016

Washington, D.C.

After our lunch at Pizzeria Paradiso, we headed around town for a bit of sightseeing and LOTS of walking. So much to do in D.C.! We were hungry again by the time dinner rolled around (SO MUCH walking), which was good because our second pizza stop of the day was at 2Amys, which was opened back in 2001 as the first D.O.C. pizzeria in Washington, D.C.

We may have mentioned D.O.C. certification in our previous posts, but in case you missed it, D.O.C. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) status is the highest standard for Neapolitan pizza making. Pizzerias that have obtained D.O.C. designation have met strict requirements established in Italy. These include, but are notlimited to, the following:

  • Pizza must be cooked in a wood-burning dome oven that operates at about 800ºF.
  • Specific ingredients need to be imported – San Marzano tomatoes, all natural Fior de Latte or Bufala mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, high quality olive oil. No shortcuts here.
  • The dough needs to be made by hand or on low speed with a mixer. No mechanical shaping of the dough!
  • The border (crust) can’t be higher than 1.5 cm. The diameter can’t exceed 28 cm and the total weight needs to be under 200 grams.
  • Pizzas shouldn’t bake for more than 90 seconds.

Pizzerias that want D.O.C. status need to be approved by a special association, which was established to protect this style of pizza and its traditions. It is basically a lot of extra work for the “star of approval”. 2Amys has gone through all of this and has had its D.O.C. status upon opening, one of about 100 approved pizzerias in the US currently.

So, the big question is obviously: does this make for better pizza? It certainly means that Neapolitan pizzas are more standardized, so you know that you are getting a consistent taste. In our experience, this doesn’t always mean better. Sometimes you like to know what you are getting into when you visit a pizzeria, but other times you are looking for a sourdough crust, or a Neapolitan style pie that has a bit more stability. Sometimes we just don’t want a soupy center.

That being said, 2Amys does serve great pizza. It was probably our favorite pizzeria in the D.C. area. We enjoyed a few beers, and two of their pizzas. The first was a traditional marinara pizza, which had thinly sliced garlic on top of the sauce and is one of the three D.O.C. pizzas on the menu. We had one of the prosciutto pizzas as well, which was also very good with a nice, perfectly charred crust. Finally, we tried one of the “stuffed pizzas”, stuffed with ricotta and fresh mozzarella. That one was filling, but delicious. If you want good (certified) Neapolitan pizza, you’ll love it here.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have room to try any of the other delicious-looking appetizers, or the homemade ice cream. For another day.

To visit:

2Amys
3715 Macomb Street NW
Washington DC 20016

BarbaraLeave a comment

#50 Pizzeria Paradiso

July 23rd, 2016

Washington, D.C.

Last summer we had friends who were living in D.C. who kindly offered to let us stay in their spare room for a weekend so that we could eat pizza. And also, so that we could hang out with them. But, mainly to eat pizza. We drove down to Washington, D.C. on a Saturday morning. As usual, Eric missed our exit getting into town. Let’s just say that we were both very hungry (hangry?) by the time we got to our first pizza stop, Pizzeria Paradiso.

You may not think of D.C. as a pizza town. We didn’t. Neither, apparently, did the owners of Pizzeria Paradiso, who opened this restaurant in 1991 because there was a lack of Neapolitan pizzerias in the city. The restaurant has expanded over the years and now has three locations around the D.C. area. They’ve also added in birrerias (“beer halls” in English) to keep up with the microbrewing scene that is growing around the D.C.area. These beer halls can be found at the Dupont and Georgetown locations. We’d recommend going for happy hour, because they have a lot of great options. And everyone knows that pizza and beer go great together.

It was hard to choose pizzas here to share. We ended up ordering one of the Siciliana pizzas, which was just a veggie pie, and then one of the specials which came with heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella and thinly sliced red onion. They also had a large selection of salads and paninis here. Pizzas also come in two sizes, so you can pick small or large depending on if you feel like sharing and also how many other pizzas you are going to be trying that day (we obviously went with smalls – this was not our only pizza stop for the day).

The pizzas here are wood-fired. As with many Neapolitan-style pizzas, the crust here is the focus. It was crispy around the edges, but not too well done.This isn’t the place to come if you want a good char on your crust. It was also a little droopy in the center with the weight of the toppings, but that’s just Neapolitan-style for you. We wouldn’t say it was the best Neapolitan in D.C., but it certainly gets props for being the first!

To visit:

Pizzeria Paradiso
2003 P Street NW
Washington DC

BarbaraLeave a comment

#14 Totonno’s

July 3rd, 2016

Coney Island, NY

Last year, we were on our way back from Connecticut and we were craving some pizza. We decided to stop at Totonno’s, in Coney Island, since it was on our way home (and honestly, it is such a pain toget to Coney Island from Manhattan via the subway). Looking back on it, it was probably a mistake to try and drive to Coney Island on 4th of July weekend. We spent about an hour trying to find a parking space! We were already committed, though, so we had to follow through. Eric ended up dropping me off at the front of Totonno’s (where there was a bit of a line) and he eventually did find a space about a mile away.

Luckily, the line moved quickly and I was able to snag a table before Eric made it back from parking the car. I was getting a little anxious saving his seat given the long line forming out front, but I ordered a large cheese pie for us and he showed up right as it was served.

Totonno’s is another one of the NYC classics. It was opened almost 90 years ago (1924) near Coney Island. The pizzas are still made in the same way that they were then. The founder of Totonno’s came from Naples, and started making pizzas for Lombardi’s on Spring Street when it became the first licensed pizzeria in America. Totonno’s is still family-operated, which makes it the oldest continually-run, family-owned pizzeria in the US (at least, according to their website – I did not fact check this).

The pizzeria has seen plenty of hardships in the past 90 years. It’s had two fires that closed it down, the most recent in 2009, and then Hurricane Sandy, which closed the restaurant for 5 months.

The pizza here is coal-fired using one of the original ovens (see more info about coal fired ovens in NYC in our previous post here). This gives it a crispy, thinner crust that is made from fresh dough every day. The sauce tastes good and the homemade mozzarella is also a plus. This is one of those restaurants where a good cheese pie is all you need, and you really shouldn’t bother ordering anything else. Also, they don’t serve slices, so you’ll have to come hungry.

We actually were going to try and go back to Totonno’s tonight after work, until we realized that it is only open from Thurs-Sunday. We’ll have to pick another night to take the hour long subway ride out to Coney Island. Hopefully still in the middle of winter, when hopefully no one will be there to make us wait in line.

To visit:

Totonno’s
1524 Neptune Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11224

BarbaraLeave a comment