Go early and get ready..
Monday, February 13, 2006
Located on a quaint, hidden corner in the North End of Boston, this historic and well-known hole is about the best pizza you will find anywhere. Yeah, it's one of those restaurants where they only serve one menu item, but they do it right. Man, do they ever.
It's very small inside, about a dozen tables, and although the weather can be brutal, there always seems to be a line of people waiting just to get inside. Once inside, you realize from the dated pictures on the wall that this place looks the same as when it was serving Boston's best pizza in the 1800s. Only the help has changed.
You won't see a fancy menu here.. only a greasy listing of beer and pizza toppings. Short and simple, nothing fancy. There's the usual selection of meats, veggies and cheeses for toppings and your pizza can be doughy, medium or burn: your choice. They warn you that everything is made fresh, so if it's crowded you might have to wait a while. However, on a recent (and very crowded) Saturday night visit, the wait for our pizza was less than 10 minutes.. not bad.
We managed to get a booth near the kitchen window where we were tortured with the smells of diner's delights until our order hit the window. We saw several different varieties of Pizzeria Regina's creations, but my favorite is still thin-crust cheese pizza. It's basic, but so good! It makes you wonder how Pizzeria Regina gets it right and everyone else doesn't.