The Inexplicable Joys of Beach Pizza

Who doesn’t like pizza? Pizza is a one-dish meal that is just so versatile and so satisfying. Everybody has their own favorite style and ingredients, and everybody seems to have their own memory of their first pizza, not to mention their favorite pizza joint – or joints. My own pizza odyssey had a slow start. The Midwest farmland where I grew up was filled with Scandinavians, making finding an Italian pizza parlor fairly rare. The first pizzas I remember, in fact, didn’t come from a pizza shop, but rather were courtesy of a Chef Boyardee mix purchased at the local Piggly Wiggly supermarket. Not exactly authentic, nor was it the kind of experience that creates a food tradition for a young palate.

Like most young people, I became a frequent pizza consumer when I went to college. Ames, Iowa in the 1960s would not be considered a mecca for pizza, but it did have its share of pizza operations that delivered hot pies to the dorms. When delivered, they were still hot enough to burn the top of my mouth as I eagerly gobbled a few slices with my football player’s appetite. Even given my rate of consumption, however, I was by no means a pizza connoisseur.

When I moved to Boston in the late 1960s, I experienced real pizza. And over the years in New England, I sampled a variety of styles and toppings. Meanwhile, pizza outlets continued to up their game. Nearby where we live now are a spectrum of choices, including a number of pubs and restaurants with wood-fired pizza ovens.

But it wasn’t until recently that I learned about beach pizza. Despite living just down the coast for three decades, I was not aware that beach pizza is a “thing” on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Two nearby establishments in Salisbury, Massachusetts are apparently the mecca for this particular pizza style, which is popular in the beach communities from Salisbury up through coastal New Hampshire. Somewhat akin to Rhode Island–style “bakery pizza,” beach pizza is a rectangular pie with a crunchy, thin crust topped with a spare, slightly sweet tomato sauce and a light sprinkling of mozzarella. Many fans recommend asking for extra cheese, which means placing a thin slice of provolone on a pizza hot out of the oven.

On Salisbury Beach, Tripoli Pizza and Christy’s Pizza are the two biggest beach pizza draws, according to fans. Virtually neighbors on Broadway, both are just a short hundred yards from the beach. This past midweek at noon under a partly cloudy sky with 80-degree temperatures, they were actively serving a noon lunch to beach-goers and others who made a special trip for some hot pie. Writing in “Eater,” Hannah Selinger, who was raised in Newburyport (next-door to Salisbury) and now lives on eastern Long Island, New York, admits that while it may not be great pizza, “somehow it is.” And she notes that certain foods available in the local area where you grew up burrow into your memory, and that when she thinks of home, she pines for beach pizza. Those rectangular pies, she says, “…are now the heritage of every northern New England kid unleashed into the world on a Saturday night with nothing better to do than eat a slice in the sea-brisk air.”

So, what’s your pizza journey of taste? And has it changed over the years? Please share here.

To comment, please click on “Read in Browser” or on the headline to view the blog on the website. You can log in and comment at the end of the blog to share your thoughts and start a discussion.

If you’d like to share the blog, click on the Facebook icon or one of the others. Thanks!