FLORINA Pizzeria & Paninoteca

Florina Pizzeria & Paninoteca - Review - Beacon Hill - Boston - The Infatuation

"Florina feels like a place the characters in a Beacon Hill sitcom would meet up at every week to dissect their dating lives over arancini and chicken pesto pizza. In other words, it’s a neighborhood spot, where the staff seem both in cahoots with each other, and genuinely happy to crisp up a double-wide slice in the oven for you. You might walk in and order the Joey Snax Salad, only to learn that Joey Snax himself is sitting at the counter, eating his namesake blend of tuna, capers, tomatoes, red peppers, and mozzarella out of a big metal mixing bowl. The lunchtime crew pours in from the Statehouse for slices of hot honey and ricotta pie, and pillowy Sicilian slabs topped with burst cherry tomatoes, but don’t leave here without a sandwich. Try the Chicken & Rabe, where breaded cutlets are topped with a pile of garlicky broccoli rabe, the bitterness tamed with sharp pecorino and romano cheeses, or the gooey/crips alchemy that is the hand-held eggplant parmigiana." - Catherine Smart