Haute Top 5: The Best Pizza in Boston 2017

This no-frills North End staple has been a longtime favorite of those who love Sicilian style pizza. The cash-only restaurant is open until they sell out of arancini, sheet pan slices and calzones all served on paper plates. They don't have set hours or even a website for that matter, but that doesn’t defray the crowds that flood this tiny gem with lines out the door daily. Simply arrive on the earlier side of lunchtime (around 11:30 a.m. or so) to ensure a slice of their famous square slices. We can't decide what makes this pizza so good - whether it's the buttery crust that is as crunchy as it is fluffy, or just the right amount of tomato sauce, or the gooey cheese melted to a golden perfection.

Located in the Fenway neighborhood, the open kitchen at Tapestry turns out pie after glorious shishito pepper and potato pie. Sure, you will find traditional Neapolitan pizzas like the simply prepared margherita, but why not try something like the pancetta and broccoli rabe red sauce with Calabrian chili or the four cheese made even better with the addition of truffle oil and roasted garlic? You can even take the indulgence a step further with one (or two) add ons like a sunny side egg, hot peppers, anchovies or arugula. We know you’ll be glad you did.

The Fort Point neighborhood welcomed Pastoral with open arms when it first arrived here a few years ago as a standout artisan pizza restaurant. Since then, they have taken classic Neopolitan pizzas to a new level with super fresh toppings like the Sicilian featuring smashed eggplant, buffalo mozzarella and pine nuts; or the spiced up Pomodoro topped with tomatoes, garlic, oregano and chili and olive oil. Unusually delicious finds include the lemon mozzarella specialty with jalapeño, arugula and bonito as well as the veal meatball with rabe leaves, crushed tomato and mozzarella.

Mission Hill might not be where you would expect to find a great pizza spot, but Penguin serves up some of the most creative topped pies in town. Think the “ULTIMATE” Penguin, a meat lover’s dream come true overflowing with bacon, ham, meatball, duck confit, sweet sausage, roasted potato, hot cherry peppers, sauerkraut and caramelized onions. Other standouts here include the Duck L'Orange, a white pizza with confit duck leg, orange glaze sauce, goat cheese, roast potatoes and roast onion; The Bolognese, which tastes almost as good as your grandmother’s traditional Bolognese meat sauce recipe topped with portabella mushrooms, tomato sauce and a gooey mozzarella cheese blend. If you are looking for something more adventurous, take a culinary journey to Greece with the Aegean featuring tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese blend, spinach, sliced tomato, Kalamata olives and feta cheese or the Honolulu topped with pineapple, bacon, caramelized onions and tomato sauce. Our favorite is the Pork Pie layered with pulled pork, bacon, sauerkraut, Dijon mustard sauce, caramelized onions and fried sage.

Just steps from Downtown Crossing and Beacon Hill, MAST' is a secret find (consider yourself now in the know) where pizza takes on different shapes and flavors. We recommend the Calzone Classico, a folded pizza stuffed with ricotta, salame, fior di latte and San Marzano tomatoes or the Quattro Sapori pizza, four equally divided sections of zucchini, ricotta e salami, cherry tomato, and arugula and sausage. There is even a fried pizza on the menu here topped with ricotta, prosciutto cotto ham and San Marzano tomatoes. The pizza oven that creates these specialties came to Boston from Naples and each pie here is cooked for just one minute at 900 degrees. Be sure to save room for the Nutella pizza - warm Nutella is spread over a honey buttered pizza crust that is then topped with a sweet mascarpone cream cheese, strawberries and walnuts. Trust us, you’ll be glad you did as there is nothing quite like it in the city.