For over a year now I have been wanting to try Otto Pizza in Harvard Square. Every time I walk by it I am reminded that I need to set aside a time to plan to dine there. Then something magical happened, I read online that Otto was planning to open a location in Coolidge Corner in Brookline!
Just about two weeks after Otto opened its doors in the space formerly occupied by Friendly's on Harvard St, my cousins and I headed there for dinner.
Beneath the arch of bricks, Otto has two cherry red doors welcoming guests. In the front window are pizza boxes with the restaurant's logo.
When taking a picture of the boxes I saw that Otto's was first established in Portland, Maine! I had no idea. I thought the Harvard Square location was their first.
Inside the restaurant the first thing you see is the take out counter. Otto has several specialty pies ready and waiting for you to order a slice or two. Normally pizza joints only have one or two flavors available by the slice, but Otto has at least eight!
On the left side of the restaurant is a bar, which seemed to be popular for parties of two who didn't want to wait for a table.
Behind the bar is a large group table and counter seating in the window that overlooks Harvard St. That is definitely the prime people watching spot!
The right side of the restaurant is the main dining room which has an industrial feel to it. As you can see, the night we went the sun was shining brightly and illuminating the whole room.
After a twenty five minute wait we were escorted to our table, which was at the far end of the dining room beneath this very fun, 1950s style portrait of a women making dinner.
Each table was numbered and ours was apparently number six! A very bubbly waitress popped over to deliver us menus.
The Otto menu is 99% pizza with a few salads. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the small pizzas ranged in price from $9 - $12. Very affordable!
Since it was our first time at Otto, we decided to try a few different flavors of pizza. Between the three of us, there are strongly varying preferences, so we wound up with a wide range of pies.
We eventually decided on the four cheese, the butternut squash with cranberry and ricotta, and the three cheese tortellini.
I was most excited to try the three cheese tortellini which was a cheese pizza topped with pasta! I've only seen pasta topped pizza in New York City (sometime around 4:00am) and I was dying to try it.
This pie was fantastic! In addition to the tortellini (which are delicious on their own, but even more delicious on top of pizza), this pie had juicy tomatoes and a perfectly crisped crust.
The four cheese pizza was underwhelming. Despite the medley of cheese, it tasted bland and in this case, desperately needed tomato sauce.
Our third pie was the butternut squash, cranberry and ricotta. I had high hopes for this one, but was disappointed. The squash was pureed instead of cubed, which made the texture of the pizza too mushy. The cranberries were great as was the herbed ricotta cheese, but overall, the pizza was too sweet.
Two days later I had the butternut squash pizza leftovers for lunch and honestly, it was better on day three!
I was so happy to finally make it to Otto and I am now madly in love with the tortellini pizza. Before we even left I was already thinking about when I could go back to have it again.
I will say, if you're planning to eat dinner at Otto, prepare to wait for a table. Also be advised that this location is crowded with families and as such, children are running around in between tables and in and out of the front door all night. Lastly, don't get attached to the first waiter or waitress who visits your table, as Otto seems to have a zone defense going on and you'll eventually make contact with the entire team.
Have you been to any of the Otto Pizza locations? What was your favorite pie?
