Colony Grill May Be Coming to the Boston Area

A landmark pizza spot in the southwestern corner of Connecticut that is expanding through that state may be looking at the Boston area as a part of their expansion plans.

According to the Avon Patch, the Colony Grill in Stamford, which opened a second location in nearby Fairfield last year and is in the process of opening other spots in Avon and Danbury, is in "preliminary talks" for a possible outlet somewhere in the Boston area. The article states that the original Colonial Grill first opened in Stamford in 1935 as a bar, introducing thin-crust pizza to the place in 1941. The restaurant and bar only offers pizza on its menu, with one size only (a 12-inch pie), and includes toppings such as a jalapeno pepper infused olive oil, according to the Patch.

The Colony Grill in Fairfield is owned by several partners, including Chris Drury, a recently-retired NHL hockey player who was on the New York Rangers for the past four years.

The website for the Colony Grill can be found at http://colonygrill.com/

Tweet

Mississippi Man Purchases 150 Town Spa Pizzas to Take Home with Him

A man who grew up in Stoughton but now lives in Mississippi is in the process of bringing a literal truckload of pizza back to his family from his former hometown, driving a total of nearly 3,000 miles in the process.

According to The Patriot Ledger, David Schuler of Jackson, Mississippi is on his way back home after driving from Jackson all the way to Stoughton, picking up 150 pizzas from Town Spa in Stoughton on August 13. The pizzas include 50 plain, 50 with pepper and onion, and 50 with linguica and onion, which he is transporting by placing the partially-cooked vacuum-sealed pizzas on their sides inside large coolers with ice packs along the top of the coolers. The total cost of the pizzas was $1,200, according to Yahoo News and the Associated Press.

The Patriot Ledger article mentions that this is probably the largest single-person carry-out order in the 50-plus-year history of Town Spa, which is known mainly for their classic South Shore bar pies.

The address for Town Spa is: Town Spa Pizza, 1119 Washington Street (Route 138), Stoughton, MA, 02072. The phone number is (781) 344-2030. And their website can be found at http://townspapizza.com/

Tweet

The New Brown Jug in Chelsea Is Moving

A restaurant and watering hole in Chelsea that is known for its bar pizza will soon be in a new location. According to their website, the New Brown Jug on Adams Street will be moving a few hundred feet away to the old El Pollo Loco space on the Revere Beach Parkway. (El Pollo Loco was a flamed-grilled chicken place that closed this past winter.) The New Brown Jug site states that the restaurant should be in their new spot sometime around August 28.

A classic old-school eatery and bar that has been in business for more than 20 years, the New Brown Jug features pizza and calzones, as well as beer, wine, and mixed drinks. Our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants) has a featured review on the restaurant, which can be found here:

http://www.hiddenboston.com/NewBrownJug.html

Currently, the New Brown Jug is located at 24 Adams Street, just off the Revere Beach Parkway near the Route 1 intersection. The new address will be 1014 Revere Beach Parkway. (For updates on the move, check their website at http://www.brownjugchelsea.com/)

Tweet This!

Results of Twitter Pizza Poll

The informal pizza poll that we had on Twitter this week is now closed, and we have the results. Based on those who voted, the top places for pizza in the Boston area are:

1) Santarpio's, East Boston (11%)
2) Pizzeria Regina, North End (8%)
3) Ernesto's, North End (5%)
3) Picco, South End (5%)
3) City Slicker Cafe, Somerville (5%)
3) Upper Crust Pizzeria, various locations (5%)

Many other places were also mentioned in the poll, including Armando's (Cambridge), BHOP (Boston), Big Daddy's (Brighton), Bravo (Allston), Cambridge 1 (Cambridge), CBS Scene (Foxborough), Dedham House of Pizza (Dedham), DeVille Lounge (Back Bay), Emilio's (South End), Gran Gusto (Cambridge), Halftime Pizza (Boston), Hi-Fi Pizza (Cambridge), Hot Tomatoes (North End), Mandee's (Salem), New Brown Jug (Chelsea), Peace o' Pie (Allston), Pinocchio's (Cambridge), Real Deal (West Roxbury), Stella (Watertown), Woody's (Boston), and Zing (Cambridge).

Thanks to everyone for participating in the Twitter pizza poll. We will have more polls going on soon, so keep checking back with us either here or at http://twitter.com/hiddenboston.

Santarpio's Pizza Opening a Second Location in Peabody

[Ed note: This article has gone through several updates, including on January 19, 2010, May 27, 2010, August 3, and September 16, 2010.]

A classic old-school pizza joint in East Boston will soon have a second location.

According to both The Hubster and Grub Street Boston, Santarpio's Pizza is looking at moving into the former Bennigan's spot on Route 1 in Peabody (the Bennigan's in Peabody closed last year after the chain filed for bankruptcy). The Hubster states that if all goes as planned, the new Santarpio's might open in the spring of 2010. [January 19 update: According to a Boston Herald article, Santarpio's gained court approval last week to buy the old Bennigan's spot. The article goes on to say that the restaurant will have a capacity of 300.]

[May 27 update: According to the Salem News, it looks like Santarpio's will open its new Peabody location in July.]

[August 3 update: According to an article on the Boston.com site, the opening of Santarpio's in Peabody has been delayed for at least a month. The article mentions that nearly everything is complete, but a delay in the arrival of the rotary ovens means that the new Santarpio's probably won't open until September at the earliest.]

[September 16 update: According to boston.com, the new Santarpio's in Peabody is now open for business.]

Santarpio's first opened as a bakery in East Boston more than a hundred years ago, with the pizzeria opening in the 1930s. The Chelsea Street restaurant and bar has become a local institution over the years, and is considered by many to have the best pizza in the Greater Boston area. In addition to pizza, Santarpio's also offers sausage and lamb skewers, as well as beer and wine.

For more information on the opening of a second Santarpio's in Peabody, please go to The Boston Herald link below, as well as the earlier Hubster and Grub Street Boston links.

Santarpio's, the next generation [Boston Herald]

Santarpio's North? [Hubster]

Santarpio's Eyes Peabody [Grub Street Boston]

Tweet This!

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana Opens Friday (July 1) at Mohegan Sun

Bobby's Burger Palace isn't the only new restaurant opening at the Mohegan Sun Casino on Friday, July 1. Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, a New Haven institution that is considered by some to have the best pizza in all of New England, is also opening a new location at the Connecticut casino. According to Pepe's Web site, the new restaurant will open in the Earth Casino by the Winter Entrance escalator.

Thanks to the Greater New Haven Convention and Visitors Bureau at http://www.visitnewhaven.com/ for bringing the opening of Pepe's at Mohegan Sun to our attention via Twitter.

Review: Prince Pizzeria, Saugus

As most Bostonians know, the stretch of Route 1 that goes through Saugus is almost legendary in its tackiness and cheesiness. And amidst all the cheese is some really good stuff, including a pizza joint near the Lynn Fells Parkway intersection that has been around forever, and still serves up some very tasty pies. Sure, Prince Pizzeria might initially look a bit over-the-top with its "leaning tower of pizza," but it is a friendly, comfortable place that is extremely popular with locals, big groups, and families.

A group of us went to Prince Pizzeria over the past weekend for a late lunch/early dinner. We went up to the counter and ordered a variety of items, including Caesar salads, an antipasto, chicken tenders, and, of course, pizza. I always order a pizza that isn't even on the menu at Prince--the margherita pizza--and this day was no exception, as I love the mixture of tastes coming from the basil, oregano, romano cheese, zesty tomato sauce, and crisp, greasy (but not too greasy) crust. Everything else we ordered was terrific as well, with the antipasto being a meal in itself, and both the pepperoni/mushroom pizza and the veggie pizza appeared to be big hits, though I didn't get to try either of them. We took our time eating, soaking up the rustic atmosphere that has seen little in the way of changes over the years (there are still wagon wheels on the ceiling and cans of olive oil along the walls). Eventually, we made our way out of the place with full stomachs and smiles on our faces, vowing to return to this Saugus institution as soon as we possibly can.

The address for Prince Pizzeria is 517 Broadway (Route 1) in Saugus. The phone number is (781) 233-9950.

Latest Review: Virgilio's Echo Bridge Restaurant, Newton

The latest review on the Boston's Hidden Restaurants Web site is for a neighborhood townie spot in the Newton Upper Falls section of Newton called Virgilio's Echo Bridge Restaurant. Located on Chestnut Street in the heart of this charming old working- and middle-class Newton neighborhood, Virgilio's Echo Bridge Restaurant is a classic neighborhood dining spot and watering hole, complete with wood paneling, vinyl booths, and good food, cheap. The pizza at Virgilio's is one of the main draws here, as it is an excellent thin-crust pie that is bigger than your typical individual bar pizza. To read more about Virgilio's Echo Bridge Restaurant in the Newton Upper Falls section of Newton, please click on the link above.

Pizzeria Regina to Open Six New Locations

Pizzeria Regina, a classic Boston pizza joint that has slowly expanded from its original North End location over the years, will apparently be expanding much more in the near future. According to a couple of recent postings from Regina's on Craigslist, the pizzeria will be opening new branches in Watertown, Peabody, Danvers, North Attleboro, Hyannis, and Manchester, NH.

Regina's started out in 1926 in the North End of Boston, eventually being taking over by Polcari's Restaurant in 1946. Since then they have expanded to a number of locations, including Auburn, Boston (Faneuil Hall, Prudential Center, and South Station), Braintree, Burlington, Holyoke, Kingston, Marlborough, and Medford, as well as Providence, RI, and Paramus, NJ. The pizza at the North End location is seen by many as perhaps the best in the Boston area.

Highland Cafe in Malden Closes Its Doors

The Highland Cafe, a Malden institution that served pizza and Italian food for many years, had closed.

An old-school neighborhood place and Malden's oldest restaurant, the Highland Cafe served countless meals mostly to a loyal working-class crowd over the years, with one of the specialties at the Highland being its simple thin-crust Italian pizza.

No word as of yet on what might be going into the Highland Cafe, which closed around the New Year. Once we hear anything, we will post an update here.