The Most Popular Pizza Places in Boston

Eataly Boston

La Pizza & La Pasta remains Eataly’s Boston’s treasured pizzeria, offering Neapolitan pies that never disappoint. Hand-made pizzas are topped with seasonal toppings and are made to order in a wood-fire oven. The Margherita Verace TSG pie comes topped with San Marzano tomato sauce, imported mozzarella di bufala, and vibrant extra-virgin olive oil.

Otto Pizza

Although Otto began in Portland, Maine, you’ll see this New England-centric pizza chain peppered throughout Massachusetts, too. Otto is known for its artisanal pies that feel anything but chain restaurant-like. Case in point: the popular, craveable mashed potato, bacon, and scallion pizza.

South End Pizza & Grill

For round, old-school pies, look no further than the South End Pizza & Grill, where gourmet pizzas include toppings like saucy barbecue chicken and shrimp bathed in Alfredo sauce. The three-pound special is loaded down with the works: pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, ham, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, and spinach.

The Upper Crust Pizzeria

With five Massachusetts locations (and two on the West Coast), the Upper Crust is a Bay State institution. This South End location offers customizable 14- and 18-inch pizzas that can be ordered both vegan and gluten-free. You may not be a Sox fan, but it’s hard not to fall in love with the Fenway: shredded mozzarella, Italian sausage, white onion, and green peppers — another Boston classic.

Florina Pizzeria / Paninoteca

Long a Beacon Hill neighborhood favorite, Florina’s oblong pies are also available by the slice. The Margherita pizza is a sure bet, but if you’re looking for an added kick, don’t skip the sausage arrabiata, a pie studded with Italian sausage, garlic, basil, and plenty of crushed red pepper.

Mast'

A few blocks from Boston’s Chinatown sits Mast’, an ambitious Italian restaurant embracing traditional pizza-making traditions (indeed, the restaurant prefers not to modify their obsessed-over pies). The superlative Margherita uses fior di latte cheese, San Marzano tomatoes, and fresh basil. Truly, there are few better pies in town.

T Anthony’s

At T Anthony’s, 12- and 16-inch thin-crust pizzas can be ordered plain, with half-toppings, or customized however you wish. Among the restaurant’s standouts? Their fried chicken pizza, which comes smothered in pieces of deep-fried deliciousness.

All Star Pizza Bar

If the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “Cambridge” is “Harvard,” allow us to expand your knowledge of the area. A perennial neighborhood fave is All Star Pizza Bar, known for its brick-oven pizza. A roster of creative pies include the Atomic Meatloaf Meltdown — white sauce, jack cheese, mozzarella cheese, meatloaf, red onion jam, and Inner Beauty, a small-batch hot sauce made in Maine.

Leone’s Subs and Pizza

Family-owned and operated since 1954, the legendary Leone’s in Somerville is known for its thick, square-cut Sicilian pizza. Order the pizza by the tray or by the half tray, in red or in white iterations. You can easily order enough to feed a large crowd and then you’ll be the legend.

Oath Pizza

With locations nationwide, Oath Pizza has a devoted following. But the Davis Square outpost — also in Somerville — has a special kind of vibe. Pizzas are available with traditional, thick, or Banza chickpea crusts, which has its share of gluten-free fans. Whichever crust you choose, top it with the Works, a pie overflowing with mushrooms, Italian sausage, Grana Padano and wild Italian oregano.

Veggie Crust

What if you could satisfy your cravings for Indian food and pizza at the same time? Veggie Crust in Somerville nails this extremely particular wish, with ambitious — vegetarian! — pies like the curry leaf portobello pizza, the paneer Manchurian pizza, and the paneer tikka masala pizza. Flavor bombs like ginger, cilantro, and roasted garlic make any pie you order truly deliver.

CINI’S

CINI’s may be best known for arancini — deep-fried, stuffed rice balls — but this Boston hotspot makes seven compelling pies, too, and in two sizes: a personal pan size (10 iinch), and a shareable size (16 inch). The Nonna is the way to go; the pie is topped with the restaurant’s signature meatballs and five (five!) cheeses.

Max & Leo's

With three Massachusetts locations, Max & Leo’s is Bay State famous (the Newton location is the original), thanks in large part to their 900-degree coal oven. Pizzas are char-perfect and chewy. Stay simple with either a Margherita pie or the Mikey, a blessed ode to all-beef pepperoni.

Pizza Days

Allston has always been a haven for artists and cool kids, so it makes sense that some of the city’s best pizza lives here, too. At Pizza Days, you can get your pizza in the form of a 12-, 14-, or 16-inch pie. You can also order it Sicilian-style. But no matter what, don’t miss the creamy, melty spinach Alfredo version, which is this spot’s must-order.

Sweet Tomatoes Neapolitan Pizza

Check out one of Sweet Tomatoes’ three Boston-area outposts for thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizza. Sweet Tomatoes has had a loyal following since Hedy Jarras opened it in Newton Centre in 1998. The classic Sweet Tomatoes pie, made with a chunky red sauce, is popular for good reason.

Alfredo’s Italian Kitchen

This family-owned and -operated Italian restaurant serves a host of pizzas that are considered Boston treasures. But our pick for the Alfredo’s must-order is the shrimp scampi: A pie piled high with sauteed shrimp, scampi sauce, garlic, and fresh basil.

University House of Pizza

Greek pizza is an entire style of thick-crusted pizza in Massachusetts (IYKYK!), and University House of Pizza makes the ideal version. Pizzas here are medium-thick, and toppings are diverse. Meat lovers should go for the Godfather, a pie teeming with both spicy Italian sausage and, as the menu promises, “lots of pepperoni.”

Pantry Pizza Kitchen

Boston natives know that Dorchester is abbreviated Dot. They also know that Pantry Pizza is the best place to grab a pie in the nabe. Leaning into the name, the restaurant serves the Dot Dot Dot, a pie topped with Alfredo sauce, chicken, ziti, and broccoli. That may seem like a lot, but the pie works, and is well worth the carb and cream overload.

Café 472

This casual Comm Ave. spot serves fresh pies that are much adored by Boston pizza fanatics. Try the 472’s Fav Pizza, a pie made with pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and black olives, and served with the restaurant’s homemade roasted tomato sauce.

Mambo’s Kitchen

Mambo’s is a restaurant in Hull, just south of Boston. While you can’t order their incredible view of the water, you can add to cart just about everything else. It’s hard to choose a perfect pie here. The Gunrock with red sauce (mozzarella, red sauce, sausage, peppers, ricotta) is a contender, but so, too, is the Green Hill (mozzarella, tomatoes, mushrooms, red onions, green olives, green peppers). Maybe get them both.

Casa Razdora

In downtown Boston, find Casa Razdora, a charming restaurant known for its traditional Italian food. Pizzas are available whole (18-inch pies, to be exact) and also by the slice. You’ll want to try the spicy Diavola, made with exceptionally high-quality hot soppressata.

Posto

The 12-year-old Cambridge stalwart, Posto from Joe Cassinelli, continues to churn out the wood-fired pies that have made the spot so popular among locals. Yes, the standard pizzas are winners, but do try the corn version, especially in summer. It’s topped with sweet roasted corn, Roma tomatoes, smoked bacon, and red onions.

Apizza by MIDA

Right near the TD Garden you’ll find Hub Hall, the modern food hall that hosts Apizza by MIDA, where two types of pizza are served: New Haven-style (thin, charred, crisp) and Roman-style, which is thicker and chewier. The New Haven Hot Mamma (Italian sausage, spicy tomato, green bell pepper, cheese) just may be the best in show.

Area Four

In the South End, you’ll find this wood-fired pizza space attached to a bakery and café, begging the question: should pizza be a breakfast affair? Diners are free to order a breakfast sandwich and coffee with their pie if they choose, and the pizza menu itself is cheekily divided into the categories pizza large, pizza small, and not pizza. You’ll find traditional options like pepperoni here as well as less traditional options like maple bacon.

Picco

If you believe pizza and ice cream are the ultimate match, Picco, in the South End, may be your new favorite restaurant. Yes, you can order your small or large pie with cheese or pepperoni, but why not try the Alsatian version as well? It comes with sauteed onions and shallots, garlic, creme fraiche, bacon, and Gruyere. Their fresh-made ice cream — in flavors like passionfruit and chocolate malt chip — is available for delivery, too.

Coppa

Jamie Bissonnette and Ken Oringer’s South End Italian restaurant is an ode to high-quality Italian food (the duo also runs critically acclaimed local restaurants Toro and Little Donkey). At Coppa, 11-inch pies come topped with unique ingredients like ’nduja, roasted eggplant, and fried artichokes, explaining why the place is known as a hangout for local chefs.

Regina Pizzeria

It’s impossible to discuss Boston pizza — or, more accurately, North End pizza — without discussing Regina, the brick-oven pizzeria that has held court in Boston’s Italian neighborhood since 1926. The meatball pomodoro fresco, made with homemade meatballs and the pizzeria’s iconic sauce, is just one of many crowd-pleasers here.

Benevento’s

Also located in Boston’s treasured North End, Benevento’s is known for their delicious Italian food and, yes, their pizzas. Specialty pies are the way to go. Try the namesake, which is adorned with caramelized onions, roasted peppers, eggplant, ricotta, tomato sauce, and mozzarella.

Mama Gina's Pizzeria

This casual Somerville spot has everything you want to eat when you’re really hungry: wings, jalapeño poppers, four kinds of fries, chicken cutlet sub sandwiches. There’s also their tasty 16- or 12-inch pizzas, topped with buffalo or BBQ chicken; order a calzone, too, which is really one of their giant pizzas folded in half and cut into six slices.

Crispy Dough Pizzeria

A modern pizzeria located in Roxbury’s Mission Hill neighborhood, Crispy Dough is probably most famous for their blue buffalo pie — a pizza topped with buffalo sauce, breaded chicken, and blue cheese or ranch. But they have plenty of other compelling, unique pies, including the Crispy Honey, which comes with banana peppers, fried chicken, and honey mustard.

Sulmona

Cambridge’s Kendall Square is home to Sulmona, an Italian restaurant named for an ancient city in Abruzzo. Pizzettes, which are available at dinner and brunch, push the boundaries of what is possible in pizza. Want Maine lobster on yours, replete with a lobster bisque béchamel? Ask and Sulmona shall deliver.

Rina’s Pizzeria & Café

This North End spot is known for its Neapolitan pies made in a brick oven. Temperatures reach 1,000 degrees, guaranteeing charred, chewy pizzas that are just right. Takeout pies come in 11- and 16-inch versions.

Charlie’s Pizza & Café

In Allston, Charlie’s Pizza & Café serves up hot, tasty pies for neighborhood patrons. The Charlie’s Special is the one to get here. It boasts pepperoni, sausage, meatballs, onions, green peppers, and mushrooms.

HotBox

The pizza at Somerville’s HotBox in Bow Market is Greek in style, with a thick, pillowy crust. Try the inventive pickle version, which comes with house tomato sauce, mozzarella and cheddar cheese, and dill pickles.

Night Shift Brewing

This Boston brewery has been serving up cold pints and hot pizza for the past ten years. Rectangular pan pies come topped with tasty combos like pepperoni and Calabrian chilis, or pesto and charred broccolini, or fig jam and prosciutto.