What could be better than a table by the Mill Creek Fountain in the North End Greenway Park and a box full of pizza and arancini from Galleria Umberto Rosticceria?
Fans of this Boston treasure know that their official hours are short (Mon-Sat: 11:30am-2:30pm) and get even shorter as things begin to run out. When the dough is gone, they shut down. And, they take the month of July off. This year's posted dates for the Galleria Umberto vacation are 6/29-7/28. That means you need to get there in the next couple of weeks or wait until August.
We used one of our recent picture perfect spring days to walk to the North End and enjoy the simple but delicious food from this longtime Boston favorite. The pizza is Sicilian style with thick crust and an abundance of sauce and cheese. It's filling but suprisingly lighter than it would seem.
The arancini are filled with a mixture of meat, cheese, and peas and are about the size of a softball. They are fried but with a skillful hand that assures they are not greasy.
There are other items on the menu. We'll get around to covering those on another day. This visit was about the two items that most of the people in those lines-out-the-door are ordering.
Calzones in the warming case never stay there long. Everything is in a constant flow as food moves from the cooks in the back room into boxes for takeout or trays for dining-in that are handed to customers.
There is a really great piece of writing over on Serious Eats about Galleria Umberto's pizza. Carey Jones wrote, "Pizza flies out from the kitchen, enormous pans appearing every three or four minutes, smacked down on the counter, slices scooped up so quickly the cheese hardly has time to ooze over the side."
Simple, old world, fresh, ready, hearty, warm describes the food and the people. If you're a regular, you may get a hug or a conversation in Italian with your order. Regulars also have cash in hand because this is a "cash only" establishment.
Many locals also know that you can phone ahead with your order and go to the left of the main line, pull out your cash, and pick up your order. You'll see lots of locals picking up boxes of 10, 15, or 20 slices of pizza and a stash of other goodies.
You can dine in, if you choose, and have beer or wine in a paper cup with your food. But our crowd often has dogs in tow so we do this on really nice days and we eat in the park. Part of the clan finds a table on the Greenway or at least they stand ready to pounce on a table the moment one is free.
We keep a photo of the menu on our phones to put together our order. With decisions made and cash gathered, we make the call and tell them yes we do need napkins, forks, knives, and plates. They generously add those to your order. (And, they do supply ample napkins – they know their food.)
Then, one or two of you can walk down Hanover Street, pick up your feast, and return to the park for an outstanding picnic by the fountains.
Galleria Umberto
289 Hanover Street, Boston, MA 02113 (map)
617-227-5709
Cash Only!
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny Cherubino