2 weeks Ago By Maya Shavit
By Maya Shavit If you went to school or grew up in Massachusetts, chances are you know where to find a local House of Pizza. With extensive menus and loaded pies, House of Pizzas are familiar family-operated joints that are frequented by many in the Bay State. Whether it be your university staple or favorite lunch-break sanctuary, a House of Pizza is a welcoming no-frills atmosphere guaranteed.
Boston.com compiled a list of all Mass. businesses with the words “Pizza” and “House” in their registered license.
From that list, we mapped out all the “House of Pizza” and “Pizza House” restaurants, and counted approximately 106 across Massachusetts. The approximation is due to an additional 20 restaurants we discovered that were formerly a “House of Pizza” or “Pizza House,” and still serve up pies. According to pizza guru and food tour guide Colin M.
Caplan, a “House of Pizza” serves New England Greek-style pizza. The slices combine elements of a traditional form of pizza, known as ladenia , a foccacia-like bread with tomatoes served on the Greek islands like Milos and Kimolos. The first Greek-style pizza in the U.
S. was recorded in New London, Connecticut where a Greek immigrant Costas Kitsatis, opened up a Pizza House in 1952, Caplan told Boston.com.
The Greek-style was melded with the already established Italian-American pizza influence and thus the New England Greek pizza was born. “[Kitsatis] and other Greek businessmen began teaching fellow Greek entrepreneurs and restaurant owners their style of making pizza and their business model, all being named Pizza House,” Caplan said. The Pizza House was a hit, and more restaurants opened across the East Coast with a concentration in states like Massachusetts.
While you’re not likely to stumble across a House of Pizza in the South, it is possible as Kitsatis had his pizza missionaries go as far as Florida, according to Caplan. A House of Pizza menu typically has the Italian pizza counter options with a helping of Greek dishes alongside them like falafel or spanikopita. Gyros and Greek salad have also found their way onto menus.
Additionally, the preset specialty pizza options often have names influenced by Greek culture. For example, at Boston House of Pizza you can order an “Athens Pizza” with feta and olives to go with a plain pie. On defining the pizza style, Alexandros Christakis, whose family owns George’s Pizza House on Cape Cod, said the pan pizza crust is buttery and thick with a resemblance to a pita, while the cheese is “nine times out of ten” made with cheddar instead of mozzarella to resemble kefalotyri.
More than 400,000 Greek immigrants came to the U.S. in the early 1900s, but the wave abruptly ended with the Immigration Act of 1924 , according to Megan Elias, director of gastronomy and food historian at Boston University.
Caps for Greek immigrants eased after World War II, and a second wave of more than 200,000 Greek people came to the U.S. Many Italian immigrants had already settled into the U.
S. and adjusted to the language, Elias said. Their children were ready to move into higher paid jobs.
The House of Pizzas emerged as a hybrid of the tools that were left by the Italian immigrants and the ingredients of the Greek immigrants entering the U.S. workforce.
Greek food and Italian food had enough similarities to create restaurants merging the cuisines. Nick Papadopoulos’s family was one that rooted themselves in the New England pizza style. Their family is tied to Upham’s House of Pizza , where they have continue to make Greek-style pizza since they purchased the restaurant from another Greek owner in the late 1980s.
“Greek-style pizza is something unique to the Northeast,” said Papadopoulos. “I think the name came from a really limited language ability. They would purchase a restaurant in a particular neighborhood, and it was just easy for them to name it.
” Regardless of the name, Christakis said people will always want pizza no matter who is behind the counter. “Everyone loves pizza and even if the economy is down, pizza goes up,” he said. Below find an interactive map showing the closest House of Pizza near you.
For the sake of this article’s definition, a restaurant formerly named House of Pizza or Pizza House was excluded from our map. Sign up for The Dish Stay up to date on the latest food and drink news from Boston.com.
Be civil. Be kind..
