Fast Food


Online poker is to live games, as fast food is to gourmet fare.

How online poker and fast food are alike:
  • They both are quick options.
  • You think they are satisfying till afterwards.
  • They are addicting.
  • Afterwards, you'll be thinking, "why did I indulge?".
That being said, although I do play my fair share of online poker, I do NOT eat fast food regularly.  Maybe once every 4 months at most.  Unless you count pizza, and I do not!

Mmmmm pizza.....as much as I love pizza I don't have it very often either.  When I do have it, it's to be social at lunch time at work. 

I work at the edge of the North End of Boston, which is Italian, Italian, Italian.  I am a 2 minute walk from the famous Pizzeria Regina, but most of the people at work get their pizza at Ernesto's.  First time I went to Ernesto's I ordered 2 slices of pizza and was handed 2 thirds of a large pie.  I didn't know that when you order one slice, you get 2 very large slices.  Those Italians are generous, which is why everyone in the office goes there - quantity not quality.

The bestest pizza in The North End (hence in Massachusetts) can be found at Galleria Umberto's on Hanover Street.


Umberto's

Oh my God, is it good!  It's soooo goood....that you have to wait in line to get pizza, huge line, unless you get there before noon.  And NO you can't call your order in.  They don't allow that. It's hard though, because if you have an hour for lunch, you can expect to spend half of that hour waiting in a line that usually spills out onto the sidewalk.

And it's not like they will sell pizza all afternoon.  They make so much dough - enough for the day, and when they run out of dough, the restaurant (I'm using that term loosely) closes.  I dunno that I'd call it a restaurant.  It's an open hall, which is needed for the huge line, and there are seats on either side of the hall. 

Oh and you want pepperoni on your pizza? NO! They don't do that. They sell ONE kind of pizza. Cheese pizza. And it's unfrigging believeable. They sell maybe 5 items.....pizza, 2 kinds of calzone, aranciata and maybe one other thing, but I wouldn't really know because if I'm there I'm getting pizza.

Slices are small, square and only a buck each.  Everything there is super cheap although all the "trattorias" that surround Umberto's are anything but cheap.  But they don't care about competition, progess or raising their prices.  I just checked to see if they have a website and of course they don't, but check out this link: http://www.hiddenboston.com/GalleriaUmberto.html

I know they're been there for at least 40 years.  Because my mom would take us kids there when we were very little.

We lived in the suburbs but once in a while my Mom would go to The North End on the weekend to shop at Haymarket - which was an open air market that sold produce and fish, and everyone spoke Italian.  Anyway she brought all of us kids, so we could carry all the stuff she bought.  Produce is heavy!  If we did as we were told we'd each get a slice of pizza from Umberto's.

I had completely forgotten about the place till I started working in the area and someone told me I should go to this "secret hole in the wall" and it was a Russian woman who mentioned it.  I told her I'd been there before but I'd love to go!

Mmmmm pizza.

Can you tell I'm back on my diet?  This post was intended to be about online poker but c'e la vie.

Play smart.

Josie











Comments

Memphis MOJO said…
I love pizza, too. What kind of crust do you like. Most of my friends like the thick kind, but I'm a thin and crusty kinda guy (does that make me a bad person?). I bet you like thick, too.
Josie said…
You would've lost that bet. Although I like all pizza my absolute fave is thin and crispy. And I do not like it when there are a ton of toppings piled on.
lightning36 said…
I grew up outside Chicago, which is famous for deep dish pizza. The place we got pizza, however, was a family-owned place that sold great thin crust. Years later when I found out that my wife's brothers worked at Pizza Hut, I wondered who actually ate there.

My kids favor thin crust and sneer at deep dish. Me? Virtually any pizza is oaky with me, preferably with tons of toppings. Load up the pepperoni, green peppers, onions, olives, anchovies, jalapenos, ...
Josie said…
Jeez you're killing me. I want some pizza NOW. Deep dish is okay but can't compare to thin and crispy. My homemade pizza is ALWAYS thin and crispy, and usually with no toppings than cheese.

And if pizza is my fave food, lightning, you mentioned my 2nd favorite. Olives. Love them all. Green, black, greek, oil cured, stuffed. Mmmmm
Which reminds me of a funny olive story. Another time perhaps.

Here are my fave pizza combos.

Cheese
Onion and pepper
Olives
Garlic
Pepperoni

But like not all of them on one pizza!
Littleacornman said…
Mouth watering post! I like pizza crunch too.( deep fried) Probably one of the reasons the West of Scotland has the highest rate of heart disease in Europe... but tasty!

Oh and I do hope Sugar Bear is playing Black Op's by now... ;-)
Josie said…
Deep fried pizza? That's a new one!

Sugar Bear is playing black ops - but is on punishment and cannot play video games during the week. Weekends he can because I'm a softie. Even still, he tells me he's up to level 32 - What level are you on???
Littleacornman said…
I'm at level 31 and have just started shooting down air support!

There's a secret game in Black Ops too.When the game loads up,hit start then look down.( at the bit where it lets you choose between the Campaign,Multiplayer,Zombies etc) Your character is tied to a chair.Mash the trigger buttons to release the shackles.Just behind the seat you've sprung out of is a computer.When it prompts you to "use computer" enter "doa" and that opens the new game.( it's like an 80's arcade type game)

SB probably knows about it ( kids know everything!)but if not I thought it was quite cool!
Josie said…
Oh I don't think he knows about THAT. He's going to love it.

I did see him watching all the credits go up - like for hours - he said that if you don't skip it you get something - I forget what.

Thanks for the info - I am gonna be one popular mom.

Oh, and a 12 yr old boy ON PUNISHMENT has gotten further than you!
PokahDave said…
I'm going to have to try this pizza next time I go to the North End...

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