Let me start out by saying I am not one for tours. Nothing frustrates/bores me more than walking through a museum or historical landmark and having a stranger explain its significance to me. However, when I stumbled upon the concept of a tour centered around food I figured I couldn't pass up an opportunity like that.
Boston Pizza Tours is a company that mixes Boston's rich history with pizza. When I realized this concept existed I was stoked and so freakin ready to try.
Prior to the Tour
If I'm being honest, I didn't really read the website about the pizza tours much before buying my ticket. The idea of a pizza tour was so exciting to me that I didn't really care how much I was spending or what we'd actually be doing on the tour.
Tickets to the tour were $40, which I actually thought was pretty expensive, especially given that the website says you get to try 3 slices of pizza. I could probably buy 3 slices of pizza on my own for like ten bucks, so I felt like I was kind of getting ripped off.
The tour started at the heart of the North End by the historic Tony DeMarco statue. We met up with our tour group (a really cute couple, a fun family, and us, a couple of foodies) and immediately dove into slices of pizza and tidbits of North End history.
First Stop: Ernesto's
Ernesto's is definitely a hole in the wall. It was the first stop on our tour because the line can get outrageously long, so our pizza guru naturally knew how to beat the crowds. The slice itself had a thin crust, slighter sweeter sauce. These pizzas are HUGE, the slice pictured above was half of a normal slice. There's limited seating here but there's def high turnover. TBH, if I didn't know that this would be arguably the best slice of pizza I've ever had, I probably wouldn't have given this shop the time of day. But now I've learned better and I know not to judge a pizza shop by its appearance. You can count on me going back to Ernesto's in the very near future.
Tour group vote: unanimously the best slice
Second slice: Galleria Umberto
This family run pizza haven also can get lines out the door. The family gets up at 3 am to bake the bread, and then it closes whenever they run out of pizza. This slice is a little different because they use bakery sheets to cook the pizza (they used to be a bakery, go figure). There is ONLY cheese pizza here, so the menu is limited but you CAN call ahead to reserve your slices before they sell out. The actual pizza itself is a Sicilian style (yes there are different styles of pizza), definitely more cheesy than the previous one, and you use a fork and a knife. BUT each slice is only $1.85, so broke college kids, this is your place. The slice looks small but it is so rich and delicious and amazing that one slice may fill you up, or you can use the excuse of small slices to go back for more and more and more and more.
Third Stop: Modern Underground
If I'm being honest, this stop was kind of a let down. Don't get me wrong, the food was amazing, but it didn't feel like I was getting a great North End experience. You walk into Modern Pastry, go downstairs, and feel like you're entering a sports bar. Don't get me wrong, this sports bar also makes amazing pizza. We got to taste multiple small pizzas, which were very cheesy with a thin crust. But as far as authentic, North End Pizza goes, that's not really what you're getting here. The cool thing about this stop, however, was that we had no idea what we were getting. The chef brought out 3 pizzas to our group, one pepperoni, one buffalo chicken, and one vegetable. It was nice to get some new flavors, but again, not really what I had in mind when I expected North End pizza.
#SpoonTip: Their buffalo chicken pizza was the bomb. So if you go to the North End and don't really like your classic cheese slice, hit this place up!
Historical Sh*t
There was definitely a decent amount of historical stops on this tour. If you're a Boston native you've probably done walked the Freedom Trail many times, so this may bore you. However, I personally had never walked the Freedom Trail or seen the North End in daylight, so the history ended up being extremely interesting. It was just enough that the you weren't bored af if you've done all that touristy stuff before, and even if you were a local you would probably be entertained. Plus, we stopped and learned about the history of chocolate for a few minutes and even gotten to sample some.
In Conclusion
I would absolutely recommend this tour. It was a great way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon in the city. I ended up eating about 5 slices and was offered left-overs (I decided five was enough so I passed on those) and really enjoyed the history, so the price was completely worth it for me. Next time you're looking for something to do, or maybe a great date for a significant other, definitely take a Boston Pizza Tour. And if you don't have time for a tour, at least check out Ernesto's because that slice was UNREAL.