The Riverview

The Riverview in Ipswich Has Been Serving Great Bar Pizza for Decades | Eater Boston

"This North Shore bar-pizza institution has been turning out one of the state’s best versions since 1947, serving thin, personal-sized pies with soft interiors and cracker-like bottoms and edges that are perfect for eating at the bar with a cheap domestic lager. The signature is the meatball pizza—each pie piled with what seems like four meatballs’ worth of tender, salty meat paired with a slightly sweet sauce—while a green pepper-and-onion pie is a good sharing option, with the vegetables slid beneath the cheese so nothing falls onto the plate. The building’s unassuming exterior of vinyl siding, concrete stairs, and steel handrails belies a retro, wood-paneled interior of beige-and-gray marbled formica tables, blood-red vinyl benches, neon and mirrored beer signs (including a model Budweiser Clydesdales), and yellow-and-red fluorescent lighting that gives the room a soft, surreal glow. Pizzas arrive on aluminum pans and guests get deli paper rectangles instead of plates; two people can eat and drink comfortably for about $35 with a generous tip, and High Life is notably cheap (about $3.50), making it easy to order a second. Longtime fixtures like the jukebox remain—though the old arcade cabinet appears to be gone—and the place’s close, roughly 90-second walk to the commuter rail makes it a convenient stop for locals and visitors alike." - Terrence Doyle