One Day, 7 pizzas
So I was in Portland on Monday /Tues for business and I got a request to bring home pizza for my Boy's Birthday. My Tuesday morning meeting ended at 11:00 so I walked over to Otto Pizza and ordered a cheese pizza to go. Twenty minutes later I was sitting in my car destroying a hot slice. It was great, crispy bubbled edge, excellent fresh tasting tomato sauce, perfect amount of crust to topping. I felt bad though, I can't show up at home with a slice missing, so I called Otto's other location just up Congress Street and ordered a sausage pizza and a potato bacon pizza to-go. 20 minutes later after circling the block 10 times a space opened up. I walked in, grabbed my pies and got back to the car. "DON'T Eat any" I said to myself but the smell was killing me so I gave in and had a slice of each. Soooo good! I decided to put all 3 partially eaten pies in the trunk so I wouldn't be tempted any further. Now I'm cruising 95 south and you know what? I can smell those pies even from my trunk, so I pull over at the N.H. liquor store and grab just one slice of the white pie. Slam goes the trunk. Wife calls and says some neighbors are coming over could I grab a couple extra pizzas. I'm feeling guilty about bringing home partial pizzas so I called Santarpio's new location on Route 1. I figured heck it's right on the way home no harm no foul. "Twenty Minutes" she says, perfect I'm almost exactly 20 minutes away. Pull in, wait 1 minute, grab my Tomato-cheese and sausage pies and moments later I'm eating a slice of cheese in their parking lot. It's terrible! No crust, absolutely soggy center. Boring sauce. Maybe the sausage one is better? Nope, that one sucked too. I put the 2 Santarpio's pies on the back seat as they will be no temptation. Hmmm, now I'm determined to bring home some good pizza so while I'm in the Santarpio's parking lot I call Regina's (on Thatcher St. only) and order 2 "well done" pizza's. 1 cheese, 1 roni. "25 minutes" he says, perfect timing. I circle Thatcher 5 times and knowing this will be useless I asked two teens if they'll run in and bring out my pizzas. Problem solved, $5 tip. A half a block later while illegally parked in front of an alleyway I sink into my first slice of Regina's. Not bad. Way too much uncooked flour on the cornichon made the pie bone dry, sauce and cheese are good, well done as requested. Roni was also heavy on the flour crust.
Now I'm on my way home with 7 partially eaten pizzas. I reflected on my pizza day and all I wanted was another slice of Otto's. Their crust is delicious, you don't want to stop eating it.
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muscles_marinara
May 30, 2011 12:19 AM
The pizza at the Harvard Square Otto is delicious, but I just wish there was a garlic component to the cheese pizza. AFAIC it's otherwise a perfect pie.
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I have a suggestion: why not surprise everyone for dinner tonight. Just go out and get some good barbecued ribs somewhere. Your family, neighbors and friends will love them!
I agree. Geat Post
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re: T.Clark
opinionatedchef
May 28, 2011 04:59 PM
Great idea. You're a good writer! T, if you DO this, you might want to choose your pool from Rchudy's top burger strata, below. From what I've read of rich's many articulate reviews on his blog, choosing five w/in his top strata, 90+, will pretty much assure your working within the purview of excellence:
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re: T.Clark
uhockey
May 28, 2011 05:04 PM
...if you'd like, you can drive me around for 7 more pizzas when I'm in town. :-)
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re: Locutus
uhockey
May 29, 2011 03:44 PM
The question, then, from an outsider - Is Santarpio's worth the trip to East Boston?
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re: T.Clark
uhockey
May 29, 2011 05:01 PM
Not enough time for it - but considering Santarpio's and Regina despite not wanting a whole pie to myself. Figure Santarpio's is close to Rino and Regina close to Neptune. Trying to find a co-diner or two, and so far think I have a pair for Regina/Neptune.
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re: Locutus
StriperGuy
May 29, 2011 06:26 PM
Add Sabatino's in Artlington.
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Sabatino's Restaurant
735 Broadway, Malden, MA 02148 -
re: Locutus
KWagle
May 31, 2011 01:59 AM
I really enjoyed Sweet Tomatoes on many occasions in Newton Centre. I haven't been there since about '03 though.
I think if you want the Pizzeria Posto experience, you should get yourself a G3 Ferrari home pizza oven on eBay or Amazon instead. That thing really does make awesome Neapolitan style pies.
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re: phatchris
opinionatedchef
May 29, 2011 10:06 PM
VERY short list for me:
Regina
Otto
Stonehearth Belmont
Gran Gustolooks like i need to try Posto and Picco.
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Gran Gusto
90 Sherman St, Cambridge, MA 02140
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KWagle
May 27, 2011 07:42 PM
It's unclear to me why you *wouldn't* be expected to eat a slice from each pie to insure its quality before bringing it home to your family and friends. :D
Well, aside from the idea that a pizza is worth eating more than five minutes after it's removed from the oven.
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cannedmilkandfruitypebbles
May 26, 2011 06:51 AM
As someone who will eat a slice of pizza every day if possible, I'm jealous of this trip...
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opinionatedchef
May 21, 2011 09:40 AM
right choo ah!! and much appreciation for the tip.
Very impressed with Otto's product yesterday. For me, pizza's almost all about the crust and the marinara, and both of these were top notch.The crust is thin, blistered, crunchy, chewy in all the right ways. The marinara is, as in Rome, just top quality canned Marzano tomatoes. Toppings were high quality and well proportioned (except for skimpy bacon and spinach.) While I like a bit more tomato sauce on my pizza, we both agreed that they probably apply it as they do (in dabs, like toppings; not a thin coating over the whole pie) because most of their biz is slice, and the slice needs to be easy to eat (not wet and floppy) while one is standing/walking. Especially noteworthy is their well balanced use of seasoning such that none of that was needed on any of the pies we had.
Their 4 cheese blend is very flavorful (though we renigged on the ricotta so it was really their three cheese blend) and in the future we will request it on all our pizzas. What a difference it makes! Their sweet Italian sausage was noteworthy and the tasty chicken and basil slice had chicken not as badly overcooked/dry as it can be elsewhere. The butternut squash, ricotta, cranberry pizza was a novelty but too sweet for us. We thought it would be improved if mushroooms or bacon replaced the fruit component( I mean, doesn't bacon improve everything?) Interesting that Otto's does not include peppers, chevre or anchovy as topping options (as of yet.)
Pleasant helpful chefs/servers. Very good experience. Just wish there were some nearby picnic tables. We're psyched and will return soon.
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re: opinionatedchef
opinionatedchef
May 26, 2011 08:43 PM
went again yesterday. The 'pizza perfection solution' for us was to get extra tomato sauce on our pizzas, and three cheeses (asiago, mozzarella, fontina)on all our pizzas, and also caramelized onions instead of vidalia (they have caram. onions but they're not listed on the website). With these improvements, our pizzas were fabulOso. REALLY special crust.Crispy crunchy chewy.
And Tyler and Craig are very nice guys.
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OTTO Pizza
1432 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138 -
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re: cambridgedoctpr
opinionatedchef
Sep 11, 2011 09:13 PM
We went back this aftnoon for an Ital sausage, vidalia onion and 3 cheeses; and a chicken and basil and 3 cheeses. Still has terrific terrific crust. But I think Stonehearth Belmont will remain our go-to, alot because of the toppings they offer that Otto does not: chevre, pesto, caramelized onions, red peppers, white bean puree, bacon......; and comfy seating and atmosphere.I hope Otto will expand their offerings, but still, locals are very lucky to have Otto in their midst.That crust.......:-}
www.ottocambridge.com/-
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re: cambridgedoctpr
WineAG
Sep 21, 2011 08:03 AM
My first slice at Otto was vg about 2 months ago... but it struck me odd that all of the pies are displayed and then heated up. Most slice places cook pies and use them fresh, if possible, using cold pies as backups. Here, even if a pie comes right out of the oven, they just put it in the rack for later. When I inquired about this they said that since the pies are displayed on a slant, if it were put up there fresh the toppings would slide off. I realize that the space here is limited, but I don't like this idea. I think the quality suffers with this concept. I prefer fresh to heated up and have often waited for a fresh pie at places that had "a pie in the oven" rather than take a "warm up". Can't do that here.
So it didn't surprise me that the slice on my recent visit was poor... topping tasted a bit off.... had that sitting around too long taste... really a shame.
So, I won't be back to Otto for slices... will only go when I need a whole pie and can get it made to order.
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re: WineAG
KWagle
Sep 21, 2011 09:32 AM
Antonio's in Amherst reheats their slices as well. This allows them to produce a much crisper crust than would otherwise be possible with their equipment (and which is hard even in an oven hacked to run at 900dF.) I personally don't think this hurts their quality--I'd rather have a crisper reheated slice than the typical slice from a typical commercial pizza oven, which don't generally come close to being hot enough to produce a crisp crust. The quality is good enough that they're on my short list of about a dozen pizza places in New York and New England I'm willing to pay to eat at---you get spoiled when you can make pizza in an 800dF or hotter oven whenevr you want. :-)
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re: KWagle
Dave MP
Sep 26, 2011 08:56 AM
I was reminded of Antonio's when I ate at Otto in Harvard Square....and at Antonio's, the re-heating of slices works well. But I thought Otto wasn't as good as Antonio's - the crust wasn't as crisp, the slices were smaller, and the toppings seemed less generous (i.e. at Antonio's, if I order a slice with chicken, I feel like I end up eating a pretty generous piece of chicken, distributed over the entire slice).
But I know what WineAG means about the "sitting around too long taste" at Otto, and I never get this at Antonio's. Maybe the oven for reheating at Otto isn't as hot?
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re: Dave MP
opinionatedchef
Sep 26, 2011 11:28 AM
we only order whole pies but i do agree with you on the chintzy toppings at Otto -but not the crust. We decided last week that StoneHearth Belmont has pies with many more flavor dimensions (but Otto has the crispiest crust).
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uhockey
May 19, 2011 05:43 AM
Just did something similar in Brooklyn with 5 stops and a total of 8 different pizzas during a day - it was awesome. Wish I had time/a group to do this on my upcoming Boston trip.
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re: uhockey
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re: opinionatedchef
UHockey did write it up on Chowhound and on his blog page which includes pictures.
His posts are more polished than mine, I like reading his reviews.
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opinionatedchef
May 18, 2011 10:04 PM
menu:
http://ottoportland.com/menu.html
what a fun read, and the photos help a lot. thanks so much!
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C. Hamster
May 18, 2011 08:45 PM
I agree. One of the best posts in a long time!!
Almost made me turn off Top Chef and drive to HS.
Almost. But I surely will try Otto's soon.
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Otto Sausage, Otto Potato, Santarpio's Mess, Regina Cheese, Regina Sausage. Sorry last 3 taken with phone cam.
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re: T.Clark
Did the potato and bacon one taste as good as it looks? I am a sucker for any white pizza especially with bacon. I had a nice slice of a white pizza with short rib on it from the Crazy Dough in North Station last night before the Bruins game. It was pretty good and certainly far better than anything available inside the Garden although that is not saying much.
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re: bobbert
My smart phone is too smart for me so I'll start over. I average about 3 times a week at Otto in Portland - my biggest stretch was 6 days in a row. Last month while driving not-so-nearby, I decided to spin by Harvard Sq to compare. Made my wfe jump out of the car to pick up a few slices while I circled the block.
I can tell you that the pizza is exactly the same. Even the store is just like the original in Portland. I love the place for, not only the pizza, but the whole business model. First, they start with a great product. Then they basically make you take your slice and leave as there's no room to stay - this keeps the rent low. The prices: $3.00 per slice and $1.00 per drink - they don't even have to make change. On top of that, the vast majority of. customers (me included) believe $3 is a bargain but they are really selling pies at $24 each. How brillant is that? You really got to love the place. Did I mention they have a great product at a great price?
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Bob Dobalina
May 18, 2011 12:06 PM
My father used to chain-smoke cigarettes the way you are buying/eating pizzas!
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re: treb
It would not be out of the ordinary for me to have food on my face. I keep wet naps in the glovie, and I leave a raincoat on the back seat in case I get the urge to eat Lo-Main while stuck in traffic. I used the whole experience as an opportunity to teach my son about the 'pizza fairy' who steals a slice of pizza from children on their birthdays.
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re: okra
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re: T.Clark
opinionatedchef
May 19, 2011 09:02 AM
no, t, if you look below the write-up, the owner of Otto corrected the writer by saying that the Harv Sq ovens are gas.:
"Thanks for checking us out we appreciate the biz. Our ovens though are gas fired not electric, could you make that correction on your site? Thanks, mike
Mikeon at 11:31PM on 02/16/11 "
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Small Plates
May 18, 2011 11:22 AM
This is the best Chowhound post I have read in a long time! Next time in Portland, I am going to Otto's. You have made me crave pizza right now!!
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re: Small Plates
greenzebra
May 18, 2011 11:28 AM
Otto's recently opened a branch in Harvard Square, which is quite good.
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