You’re newly arrived in Suburbia. Like, so new that you haven’t even unpacked your boxes yet. You can’t find your plates and silverware, and you certainly can’t find the monogrammed cloth napkins Auntie Margaret sent over for your wedding. (They’re still in the box, along with your fine china). But you’re starving, and only a meal fit for your hungover, twenty-two-year-old self will do.
Take-out, it is.
Sure, Hingham is paradise. But it’s a paradise with limited take-out options. Around here, when you’ve just come from pure Barre and you don’t have time to whip anything up before carpool duty, you have two choices… pizza? …or subs? Lucky for you, in New England sub shops, you can get both!
Who You Gonna Call?
Sub Galley:
Get the steak and cheese; you’ll thank me. Plus, they deliver- a must when you’re dusty from unpacking and your favorite Sail to Sable tunic is nowhere to be found. Friends raised in Hingham 20 years ago cite Sub Galley as the unanimous favorite from summers spent bike riding and dreaming of subs and second base. Current grown-up residents cite the “great quality and even better price point”. Oh, to be a teenager again.
Peel Pizza:
With outposts in Hingham, Cohasset, Duxbury and Milton, it’s hard to find yourself far from delicious artisan pizza on the South Shore. Offering delivery, catering and everything from calzones and lasagnas to salads and wings, this ** joint has something for everyone. Try the Tailgate or the Grate Outdoors -or go out on a limb and try the specialty slice of the day.
Crow Point Pizzeria:
Five years ago, Elite ’18 Yelper Jonathan C. from Kingston arrived at Crow Point, sweaty from biking, covered in mud, and hungry for pizza. For posterity, he duly recorded his visit on Yelp (you’ve gotta put in WERK to make it to the Elite ’18). He didn’t order the buffalo chicken calzone and I’d bet he still regrets it. Get it, so you won’t. If you’ve gone keto or are counting macros*, try the Greek salad topped with grilled chicken.
*To be fair, I don’t actually know what either of these things mean. But hopefully, you do, especially if you’re attempting some sort of healthy eating situation. It may be too late for me to point this out, but if that’s the case, this might not be the article for you.
Hingham House of Pizza:
The “House of Pizza” moniker means that they’re Greek. So they serve Greek pizza**, which is similar to bar pizza but also, somehow, different, in ways best explained in a highly nuanced glossary. I digress- Yelp isn’t wild about HHoP, but they make a tasty buffalo chicken calzone that, according to Sean Marshall, tech VP and Hingham sub shop aficionado, is “easier on a lactose-intolerant stomach than Crow Point’s” (I’m paraphrasing here). And they deliver.
Victoria’s:
Sandwiched (pun intended) between Hingham, Hull and Cohasset, Victoria’s does a great steak sub and a top-notch Italian. They don’t have pizza, but to make it up to you, they sell beer to-go. And bring your dolla dolla bills, y’all. It’s cash only.
If you’re anything like me, unpacking will take at least a few weeks and you’ll have ample opportunity to sample the finest sub shops the South Shore has to offer.
And if you need help choosing a paint color for your new kitchen, try the gals at Hingham Lumber.
**Glossary
Mostly for those (interlopers!) among us who aren’t South Shore natives
- Bar Pizza: Unique to the South Shore, this 10” pizza is crispy, cheesy, saucy, and cooked in a cast-iron skillet. Akin to a Mama Celeste pizza, but much, much tastier. Popularized locally by Lynwood Cafe in Randolph and the confusingly-named Town Spa Pizza in Stoughton (disappointingly notan actual spa serving pizzas)
- Greek Pizza: Cooked in a skillet yet somehow alternately crispy and pillowy, this crust masquerades as focaccia bread. Maybe it isactually focaccia bread? You know, on second thought, it very well could be. But in any event, it’s greasy-so don’t skimp on the napkins.
- Italian Pizza: The crust is hand-tossed, but overall, this pizza is less consistent from place to place than a Greek pizza. Comes with all the toppings or without them: Choose your own adventure. Italian pizza can be cooked in wood ovens, “regular ovens”, on grills- you name it.