There is nothing quite like South Shore bar pizza. The buttery, cracker-thin crust. The cheese — usually a mix of cheddar and mozzarella — that stretches all the way to the outer reaches of the dough and touches the pan as it cooks inside a deck oven to form a crispy, lacy edge. What used to be served in South Shore bars as a means to inspire more drinking has, over many decades, transformed into the main event. Everyone has their favorite spot, and like with any other regionally specific food, apocryphal origin stories abound. It doesn’t matter who invented bar pizza, though — it just matters that it exists.
Here are 12 great spots to try bar pizza on the South Shore and beyond. (Before getting angry that several non-South Shore restaurants are listed first, please note that the map is organized from north to south, not ranked. That said, those northern restaurants do offer solid renditions of the style, meriting their inclusion here.)
This map was originally published on October 21, 2021; it is updated periodically, and the date of the most recent update appears above.
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