Roast Beef & Pizza. Pizza & Roast Beef. Why?
August 14, 2013 2:38 PM
We moved to Massachusetts from upstate NY last year and this has been nagging at me ever since: Why are most of the pizza shops here pizza & roast beef shops? Roast beef is not paired with pizza in my mind. The roast beef isn't usually a pizza topping, and some of them don't really even seem to serve roast beef as a specialty (just one of many normal sub options). Can anyone offer an origin story?
It's also worth noting that the pizza served at those establishments is often Greek Pizza, a regional variation that is pan-baked in olive oil.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:03 PM on August 14, 2013
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:03 PM on August 14, 2013
The roast beef isn't a sub option, it is a hot sandwich on a bulkie roll with bbq sauce, James River brand. It is a North Shore specialty. Try Nick's in Beverly.
posted by bowbeacon at 5:22 PM on August 14, 2013
posted by bowbeacon at 5:22 PM on August 14, 2013
Just know that you also missed Nick Beef & Beer House, a.k.a. Nick's eef & Bee Ho (when enough lights had burned out) on Mass. Ave. *sigh*
posted by wenestvedt at 7:31 PM on August 14, 2013
posted by wenestvedt at 7:31 PM on August 14, 2013
A lot of regional food traditions like this arise for practical reasons connected to the specific space where the food is sold.
I can't speak to anything about pizza & roast beef specifically, but I know in New Orleans the po'boy became a phenomenon because it was a food item that could be served up in a shop rather than a full restaurant with a kitchen. Fried seafood po'boys happened because, like the cold cut version, the seafood could be fried out back, again, without a full restaurant kitchen. And the seafood would be picked up fresh on the day you planned to fry it, so no need to even have storage space for something like that.
Roast beef is another popular po'boy option, too -- so something that doesn't need to be cooked or stored onsite.
A lot of traditional diner menu items are built around the idea that a diner kitchen is centered around the grill.
Maybe the roast beef is cooked in the pizza oven? Or maybe, like the po'boy idea, it's something that's easy to cook elsewhere in large batches, then bring to a restaurant without a proper kitchen?
posted by Sara C. at 10:29 PM on August 14, 2013
I can't speak to anything about pizza & roast beef specifically, but I know in New Orleans the po'boy became a phenomenon because it was a food item that could be served up in a shop rather than a full restaurant with a kitchen. Fried seafood po'boys happened because, like the cold cut version, the seafood could be fried out back, again, without a full restaurant kitchen. And the seafood would be picked up fresh on the day you planned to fry it, so no need to even have storage space for something like that.
Roast beef is another popular po'boy option, too -- so something that doesn't need to be cooked or stored onsite.
A lot of traditional diner menu items are built around the idea that a diner kitchen is centered around the grill.
Maybe the roast beef is cooked in the pizza oven? Or maybe, like the po'boy idea, it's something that's easy to cook elsewhere in large batches, then bring to a restaurant without a proper kitchen?
posted by Sara C. at 10:29 PM on August 14, 2013
Where in MA? Maybe it's a Boston thing?
posted by Gringos Without Borders at 3:37 AM on August 15, 2013
posted by Gringos Without Borders at 3:37 AM on August 15, 2013
Where in MA? Maybe it's a Boston thing?
It seems to be more around Boston (maybe a 50 mile radius) than in Boston. In Boston proper, the pizza shops seem to be "normal". Possibly because there's more of an Italian population/history in the city itself?
posted by Kriesa at 6:17 AM on August 15, 2013
It seems to be more around Boston (maybe a 50 mile radius) than in Boston. In Boston proper, the pizza shops seem to be "normal". Possibly because there's more of an Italian population/history in the city itself?
posted by Kriesa at 6:17 AM on August 15, 2013
It seems to be more around Boston (maybe a 50 mile radius) than in Boston. In Boston proper, the pizza shops seem to be "normal". Possibly because there's more of an Italian population/history in the city itself?
I asked because I lived in the western part of MA for a few years and never saw this.
posted by Gringos Without Borders at 6:51 AM on August 15, 2013
I asked because I lived in the western part of MA for a few years and never saw this.
posted by Gringos Without Borders at 6:51 AM on August 15, 2013
Yeah, this is more of a North Shore thing than a Boston thing, but it does extend into Boston proper (say, Liberty Bell in South Boston, for example).
posted by kaszeta at 8:34 AM on August 15, 2013
posted by kaszeta at 8:34 AM on August 15, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
I dated a Greek guy who owned a pizza shop on the North Shore and he took to me dinner and then afterward, took me to meet his friend who owned a pizza beef shop on Route 1. He told me I had to try the beef. I said I was full, but they said I wouldn't be able to resist. It was pretty darned good beef.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 2:54 PM on August 14, 2013