Vegetarian in Boston

Pizza craving hits me while passing through Boston’s blooming and stylish Beacon Hill. I am on my way from North Station to inspirational photo adventures involving blossoms in the city, and maybe lanterns and red brick buildings with fire escapes. I barely have the time to articulate this important and carby urgency, as my partner almost instantly comes across this beautiful and delicious place, first on his phone, and then, somehow, we’re already there.

Although planned as a pit stop, Florina proved to be part and parcel of the sought-for aesthetic experience, delighting our taste buds to an unexpectedly high degree of pure yumminess.

Florina’s modern and dynamic decor has for inhabitants welcoming folks and sincerely great-tasting pizzas. The cheerful lettering of the menu on the walls also features pasta, salads, paninis, and possibly more. The yellow and black decoration with a hint of wood and gently industrial details is casually cinematic, functional, and inviting. I love this aesthetic and asked if I could keep a sticker. (I realize how fangirl this sounds but I was really happy to get one!)

We got an upside-down Sicilian veggie pizza square with incredibly tasteful tomato sauce. It felt like the tomatoes had been hand-plucked in the morning sunshine and cooked with care. And I happened to find a slice of spinach and red peppers pizza with a crust one could eat without a thing on top of it, so good it was.

It’s not all vegetarian, but pizzas can be customized (with a gluten-free option in the mix), and the 4.7 stars on Google (and the 4.5 stars this place inspired traditionally much more dubious Yelp reviewers) should speak for themselves. Florina restaurant also delivers (this links to their website I found online), but the in-person experience was lively and warm, filled with wanderers and neighbors, some with their families and even a stroller.

Florina is like a long-lost friend, authentic, stylish, breezy, and cheerful. Everyone seems to like her; even the evening light embraced her yesterday. I honestly said “best pizza ever”. But don’t just take my chronically hungry and beauty-deprived words for it,and go visit her in Boston’s Beacon Hill. Florina lives at 16 Derne Street.