Anzio’s Brick Oven Pizza

If you build it, pizza-lovers will come.   And for Anzio's restaurant.  They sure did.

"We started in Grafton in 2012, very small space. Just a couple of tables.  But things really took off for us. An opening came up in Northborough and it gave us tripled our seating. It also gave us the ability to have a full bar, much bigger staff and additional food trucks as well. So it's been a great move for us to be in Northborough."

And you'll find pizza, pasta and a whole lot of personality at the new Anzio's Restaurant.

When Todd Harrington made his move from Grafton to Northborough, Mass, he wanted to create a space that truly transports customers to another place.

"We kind of want to take a little trip to Italy here in Massachusetts. So when you walk in, we have a big dining room. And then you have more of the bar area.  We have a nice patio out there with a fire pit for night time seating as well."

But the best seats in the house have to be the ones located near Anzio's imported pizza oven.

"The oven is from Italy. It's dual fuel.  It's gas and wood.  You can definitely you can smell the smoke. You can see it when you walk in.   People can kind of sit on the high tops here, they can see the action and the dough and flipped in the air the pizzas going in and out of the oven.  It's a little bit different than most kitchens that are closed off, you can actually see and hear everything that's going on. "

When you think pizza, the Margherita is usually the first thing that comes to mind.

"I think our Margherita is the best around. We use San Marzano tomatoes. We use a buffalo mozzarella on top and then we also use micro basil as our garnish. It looks cool. It tastes great.  It's fantastic."

Todd and his team like to mix it up with specials like the Vesuvius Pizza- topped with buffalo ricotta, pepperoni and Mike's hot honey and for a pizza with an Italian appetizer twist, try the Chicken Bruschetta Pizza.

"It's fantastic. It's our pizza crust A little bit of garlic oil. It's got a little bit of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, grilled chicken, and then we hit it with a balsamic glaze at the end.   It just really pops in your mouth."

Beyond pizza, the Anzio's menu is lined with Italian specialties, like mouth watering meatballs made with a classic so they're moist and juicy every time.

"When you cut into the meatballs, it's very moist, very tender. You get a little bit of the beef, the pork, the veal, and just with the San Marzano tomato sauce that we use on top there, they're excellent."

There’s also an interactive app not found much outside of Italy called Coccoli.

"So coccoli is a very authentic Italian recipe. It's our pizza dough that we cut quarter and we deep fry it. We dust it with a little grana padana and then it served with prosciutto di Parma and buffalo mozzarella with a little balsamic glaze on top.  You open up the coccoli, you put a little prosciutto de parma in there and you just make a little sandwich."

And for a starter that's frankly not Italian at all, you can opt for their always fresh, never-frozen, hand-breaded chicken fingers.

"Everything's made fresh to order. And you can tell the difference when you bite into them."

Chicken is also a highlight of the entree selections, with options like the Tuscan Chicken Sandwich topped with sliced tomatoes and chipotle aioli, perfect Chicken Marsala, or practically everybody's favorite, the chicken parm.

"Chicken parm is obviously a fan favorite, and probably every restaurant. This is one of the items that we really wanted to do better than everybody else.  When you cut into it, it's super moist. There's a little bit of crunch on the outside from the bread crumbs. We top it with our  with our hand crushed San Marzano tomato sauce and a little bit of buffalo mozzarella on top and it's honestly probably the best chicken parm I've had. "

There are tremendous plates of pasta- like this Ricotta Cavatelli with Sausage and tender steak tips served alongside slow-simmered risotto.

"We marinate them and then we grill them and they're served over the risotto and they're fantastic, nice and tender as soon as we cut it into them.  And it's just a great compliment to the risotto."

And for something truly unique, try the Cotoletta Alla Bolognese.

"It's a milk fed veal. And it's done in an Alfredo marsala cream sauce. It's not your typical Bolognese.  It’'s actually completely different. But when people order it, they've never had anything like it before."

And at dessert, you can find a rotation of sweets made by Todds business partner and wife, Lupe Harrington.

"So Lupe makes all of our desserts. This particular weekend she's doing a lemon blueberry cheesecake.   It's fantastic.  You got the lemon, the blueberry and then in New York style cheesecake.  Just those flavors in your mouth is fantastic."

Yeah, pretty much everything you'll put in your mouth here is fantastic.  Which is why you need to GO to Anzio's.