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Best Pizza in 11 Cities

A Post-IPO Boots-On-the-Ground Assessment of Shake Shack

Dallas Loves Al’s Beef

Dozen Best Pizzas of Boston

Best Pizza in 11 Cities

From Zagat comes the single best pizza joint in each of 11 U.S. cities. The selections are apparently those pizza places that have the highest Zagat food ratings in each city. Galleria Umberto was chosen in Boston, Pizzeria Mozza in L.A., and Veraci in Seattle. For the complete list, click here.

A Post-IPO Boots-On-the-Ground Assessment of Shake Shack

Shake Shack burger

Shake Shack burger

It’s one thing to inspect the reams of charts and figures, and another to visit the business and try ’em out. That’s what Terry Ponick, and his wife, decided to do recently: pay a post-IPO first visit to Shake Shack and see what the fuss is about. Their closest Shack was in D.C. and they found the burgers, fries, and service clearly superior to McD’s, loved the availability of good beer, and balked a bit at the tab. In a future article they’ll compare it to Five Guys.

Dallas Loves Al’s Beef

Italian beef at Al's #1, now in Dallas

Italian beef at Al’s #1, now in Dallas

The first Lone Star State Al’s #1 Italian Beef shop has been open about a week and the people of Dallas have fallen in love. Al’s has proven to be so popular that the restaurant has had to repeatedly close early after running out of food! Read more here.

Dozen Best Pizzas of Boston

A special pie at Somerville's A4: smoked pork belly, pecorino, arugula, corn, pickled green tomatoes,  and cherry bomb peppers

A special pie at Somerville’s A4: smoked pork belly, pecorino, arugula, corn, pickled green tomatoes, and cherry bomb peppers

The Boston Globe has named Boston’s top 12 pizzerias, from Somerville’s cutting-edge A4 Pizza (“Pies . . . take three minutes to bake in a wood-fired oven”) to the East Boston old-timer Santarpio’s (“Old-school pizza comes out crunchy on the edges, painted with tomato sauce, and topped with just enough melted cheese”).