Mamma Lisa’s Pizza House

I dropped by after some bizness on the hill
Wow – this pizza tasted like pizza from the NorthEnd over 30 years back. Price was good, pizza was hot and the staff on a weekday (Wed.) were friendly.
You can call it North End Pizza or Italian or New York Style (it’s their slice – Mamma Lisa style) but it’s go thin crunchy crust with doughy end, tangy tomato and the right amount of chees.
Totally great!

Literally the worst eggplant parm calzone I’ve ever had. The eggplant parm was thick, hard and bitter… it tasted like dish soap. Had to pull it out of the calzone and eat just the bread.

Tried to make a delivery order, after asking what condiments they had; the dude that was taking my order got angry and frustrated and started yelling rudely over the phone «WE HAVE EVERYTHING JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT!!».
The way he spoke to me got me angry and I told him sarcastically «GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! I’m ordering somewhere else, GOODBYE!». He was very quick to lose his cool and snap at me. He was very rude, unprofessional and incompetent. I don’t know why people gave it such great reviews, the staff there is not very friendly at all. I ended up ordering at Alfredo’s Italian Kitchen instead!!!

I consider myself to be a pizza snob, and I really love Mamma Lisa’s pizza. It’s a perfect balance of sauce and cheese, and the crust is superb — you can hold a slice in your hand without it collapsing from the weight of the toppings, yet it’s not thick. Also, I really love the flavor of the sauce; tasty! Their pizza is very different from that of Leone’s next door, but I honestly think these are the best two pizza places in Somerville, and at the top of the list of great pizza in the greater Boston area. Excellent customer service as well.

Incredibly rude and incompetent staff. I ordered a sub, and after realizing it would take some time to get to my order, I started browsing the news on my phone. Five minutes later, the cook yells in a voice you would call across a freeway with, «HEY HELLO». Apparently saying hey once was too many times. I get it must be annoying to deal with people looking at their phones, but most people aren’t going to pay rapt attention to you for fifteen minutes while you put together a basic sub. A more gentle ‘hey’ a second time would have done the job.
To top it all off, the cook wasn’t using gloves while he handled the food.
I could excuse all of that if the sub had been good, but it was okay at best. Head down the road to Leones instead. Nice people, great subs, better experience.

As someone with a very large number of extended family residing in New York the topic of Pizza superiority often comes up at family parties. That all ended when i made a trip down to the Big Apple to a family function with a few of Mama Lisa’s calzones. It took minutes for word to spread about the delicious decadent crusty salty offering. As my cousins gathered around the open boxes it was a matter of seconds before they were trying to figure out what NY eatery had provided this tasty treat. It was with immense pride that i loudly announced that it had come all the way from the great city of Somerville. In the now immortal words of my cousin Andrew «New York might have pizza but dam if Boston doesn’t have Calzone» Mamma Lisa’s has now become the most requested party pleaser requested by my extended family.

Love this place!
It’s so simple and so good. The food is of quality and the prices are very reasonable.
I love the pizza here and the slices are big.
The subs are also really good. They don’t skimp.
Calzones here are a winner!
I think they are cash only so be prepared.
Local joint. A little attitude. Good eats.

I gave Mama Lisa’s 4 stars for their OG plain pizza. Their sauce and crust were excellent. The pizza was also HUGE, which was great for leftovers. Not to mention, they delivered in a snow storm!
I think Mama Lisa’s is a decent spot for delivery!

I have gone here a couple of times but have not been impressed by their pizza. My last delivery took forever and I understand things happen but that day I was so hungry that I just regretted even bothering with them. For that reason I will not return.

We get delivery and the amazing thing is if they say half an hour they actually mean it! Nice crust, I like that there is only one size pizza available and the menu encourages you to make it simple and stick to one topping.
The only reason not five stars is the pizza is slightly greasy. However it is super yummy and what our family settled on after trying a ton of other delivery places in Somerville. Overall, this is great pizza!

Serviceable pizza. Cheap.

Best standard pizza in Somerville. The staff is your typical, friendly and laid back Somervillain. I miss living down the street from this place!

Found two pieces, I repeat two pieces of hair in my steak n cheese. Bought it to the owners attention he stated he would make me another sandwich but I decided to just leave.
Customer service sucks papa Gino’s is better than this place.

Ordered my first pizza from here. Large roni. it is italian style pizza with true home made features. The dough has that true italian bland flavor and is chewy. The sauce is out of this world. i think it had an actual chunk of tomato in it! The bad was the grease. VERY greasy even for a roni. i’ll probably just do a cheese next time. if a cheese pizza is «grease city» i’ll probably wont return.
The goods… people, delivery, the sauce, the size.
The bads… extremely greasy.

Hands down, the best pizza in Somerville.
No really, I tried them all.
The calzones are excellent as well.
I will say, though, we weren’t impressed with anything else on the menu that we tried, so stick with the pizza, and you’ll be fine.

Not bad at all. I lived right around the area for a while, and ate here fairly often.
Their appetizers aren’t great, so I’d avoid those. Their plates are… decent. I got the cheeseburger plate a few times, and it was pretty good. I would probably get one again if I were in the mood.
I only got their pizza few times, but I liked it. The Buffalo Chicken pizza isn’t spectacular, so I wouldn’t go for that (pretty dry). I made one with green peppers, meatball, and mushroom, and it was quite good. Creating your own is likely a better option than going with their specials.
I tried many of their subs, but nothing was particularly great. Everything was good, but nothing really stood out. I’d say their best is the straightforward meatball. I seem to remember their Italian being pretty decent, too.

The rating:
Five stars, each and every one of them earned as they would be by a Five Star General, by years of outstanding, dedicated service.
Why I chose to eat here:
Luckily for me I never had a choice since this has always been my parents go to spot for pizza delivery.
The food:
My family has been ordering food from Mama Lisa’s for as long as I can remember. In fact this may very well have been my first slice of pizza delivery, and from day one they have almost never let me down.
Let me qualify the «almost». In my humble opinion, and the opinion of many of the people I have introduced to this humble hole in the wall pizza place, they serve some of the best pizza, calzones and subs you will ever eat, however, if you stray into the side orders or salads you may be left wanting. With that qualifier out of the way, on to the good stuff.
The pizza is phenomenal, the sauce has a tomato flavor unspoiled by over zealous seasoning with a perfect ratio of sauce to cheese (if you opt for extra cheese, be aware, they mean it). The thin crust has a slightly yeasty taste that I adore. It is never too crisp nor soggy, but cooked the way God intended. For toppings they pretty much stick to the classics but there is a Buffalo Chicken Pizza thrown in, though I have never tried it myself. My recommendation; get the meatball pizza, you have never seen or tasted a meatball pizza like this before, and you will be blown away. Edge to edge meatball coverage, deftly seasoned, you must try this pizza. That being said, I have never been disappointed by any choice I have made in the 20 plus years I have been ordering from them, so order your hearts desire with peace of mind.
The subs; two words, chicken Parmesan. Order it, love it, send me a Christmas card. Loads of cheese, the right amount of sauce, not dry but not dripping, real chicken cutlets fried golden brown and delicious, soft Italian bun, really the best chicken parm ever. Beyond the chicken Parmesan every sub I have gotten is good if not great, including a stellar Italian sub. The only tiny gripe I have is that they put a piece of tin foil over the subs before wrapping them, which is fine for cold subs, but when it is a fresh hot chicken parm with melted cheese on top, the cheese tends to come off in the foil. It’s fixed easily enough with a little scraping but I can’t help but think it might be easier to just skip the foil altogether.
The calzones are once again, you guessed it, the best. Spinach and cheese (my sisters personal favorite), the Italian cold cut, and the chicken parm will knock your socks off. And if you don’t feel like ordering a huge calzone, opt for a single but substantial piece of the calzones from the counter. They don’t have every flavor available at all times, but regardless of what you get, your taste buds will be dancing.
The service:
Delivery is always spot on, usually arriving within minutes of the eta you are quoted, if not earlier. They have been doing this a long time and it shows. They don’t need no stinking computer that tells them who is on the line before you even say hello, just a dupe pad and a professionalism that can only come with years of experience. I cannot remember one botched order or one forgotten delivery; they are just that good.
The final rundown:
Mamma Lisa’s is as old school as it gets, just walk in and see for yourself, and while you are there waiting for your food, check out the lineup of awards accumulated on is walls. This place is for people in the know, guys and gals who have been eating here before the days of Unilocal,or the Internet, or even computers. It is the quintessential neighborhood pizza joint that has stood the test of time on the consistent quality of its exceptional food. You owe it to yourself to eat here, but don’t forget my Christmas card.

This is one of my favorite pizzas in the world – growing up, it was the prototype for pizza. My favorite pie to order is pepperoni and onion. They slice the onions super-​thin so that every bite has just enough delicious onion flavor. The crust is thin (but not really New York style) and the sauce is sweet. Mmm. I also like the house special and pretty much every topping combination I’ve tried.
Honestly, it’s easier for me to provide don’ts since I like their pizza so much:
1. Don’t get extra cheese. It’s just too much. They take extra cheese very seriously at Mamma Lisa’s. It gets out of control.
2. I don’t really like their green peppers. They sauté them before adding them to the pizza, and I think it gives them a bitter taste. My mom actually specifically loves Mamma Lisa’s green peppers for the same reason, so your mileage may vary.
Parking is not easy for carry out. I recommend going with a friend so one person can drive and one can run in. They also deliver and typically stick to the time frame quoted on the phone.

I ordered a hawiian with bacon. It arrived within the stated 30mins and was still warm. The pizza its self wasnt great. The sauce is bland, crust is basic pizza dough, kinda thin and not crisp… the toppings were plentiful but just not quality… the cheese was greasy, cheap, cheese and the bacon was all fat… and it wasnt even crisp… raw pieces of fatty bacon is just gross.
I wouldnt order from here again.

The day that glossy trifold menu was unceremoniously shoved through the handle of my storm door by some lumbering dude driving a rusted out 1988 Corolla with a pizza sign half-​cocked on top… well, that day, my friends, turned out to be one of the best days of my life.
Medford/​Somerville Winter Hill lacks in the «good take-​out» section (in my oh-​so-​humble opinion) — however, Mamma Lisa’s is a shining beacon of light for Sunday football games, late-​night «i’m so drunk if I don’t eat eleven slices of pizza I will puke» delivery, or just about any other occasion that calls for pizza (which occasion DOESN’T call for pizza??)
Try the White Roman or the plain cheese. Also amazing is ordering the tomatos, spinach and fresh garlic (my favorite combo) pizza. Never disappointed by the pizza here. Not my favorite place for a grinder (or sub, or hoagie… whatever you all call it here… it’s a grinder, btw).