Best Pizza in Boston is in Cambridge

Best of Boston is in Cambridge

This was our conclusion tonight eating a hot sausage, carmelized onion and kalamata olive pie at Emma’s. The number 12, I think it was. Enjoy an IBC or a seasonal beer or good ol’ Red Stripe. Watch the guys in the kitchen in their constant ballet of pizza prep. Celtics cap on left, head down, prepping. BoSox cap on right, head down, prepping.Tall red bandana in the middle working the peel: slipping pies in, slipping pies out. Occasionally punctuated by a salad brought to the pass from some unseen cold station, off stage left. (Salads are wonderful here too, not an afterthought.)

Best of Boston awards in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 and Phantom Gourmet 2004.

Their motto is: “Eat here and you’ll be happy. We’ll shim your wobbly tables for free.” Gotta love it.

Art is a-peeling here too. With painted, decoupaged and otherwise tarted up pizza peels adorning the walls.

Why would people line up on rainy night to wait for a table? Because it’s that good. A small take out window and counter serve as a waiting area. Happily, there are benches outside, too. The wait on this Friday night around 7:30 was estimated at 20-25 minutes and we were seated promptly at that time.

Emma’s

40 Hampshire Street * Kendall Square * Cambridge MA 02139
Phone (617) 864-8534
Open Monday – Friday 11:30-10, Saturday 4-10

Other Boston Pizza to Try

Cambridge 1 – in Harvard Square consistently produce excellent thin crust pizza. Lucky for Bostonian’s this side of the river, a second location has opened in Fenway. Try it on a non-game day for a great relaxed lunch. Robert Nadeau’s witty review concludes the guys behind Cambridge 1 have “it”.

I can’t even tell you what ” it ” is, but they have more of it than anyone. Cambridge 1 is beyond demographics. It is hot, cool, hep, hip, mod, kewl, and pomo all at once.

Haven’t been to the Cambridge (original) location but the Fenway spot was a welcome find when an errand took us to that forlorn stretch of Boylston Street between Fenway Park and Star Market.

Picco in the South End is actually in Boston. It’s also very good. Without wood fire, it still has an incredibly hot, custom oven and bakers who know the value of a good crust. Read about it here (Pizza, that’s Amore! article includes links to Picco, to Slice and other resources.)