Pauli’s
Being Italian, I just grew up in the business .I was born into it and went right into the kitchen that's how I learned to cook and I really developed a love for it. Hi, I'm Pauli and welcome to Pauli’s in the North End. If you’re from Boston, people know Polly's. My family started in 1966 and I knew that at early age that I wanted to have my own place and not just any old place, I wanted a place that was going to be iconic. Pauli’s is the place to go to for lobster rolls and incredible sandwiches and we’re known as sandwich heaven.
We have almost 50 different types of sandwiches and we'll actually customize services for you. People love sandwiches because they’re simple, they’re tasty and they're easy to make. People come in, they know what they want, and they know what they like and at Pauli’s, we give them what they like. I think it all starts with the freshness, everything has to be fresh and our crew is busy at work making homemade marinades, sauces and soups, just to get ready for you to come in to Pauli’s.
There are two components in every sandwich: we have the bread and what goes inside of the bread and if you don't have the right bread as Donnie Brasco says ‘forget about it’. We have our bread made for us fresh every morning and trucks come rolling in around five or six as the most delicious bread, you could smell the flavor coming through the air. So I bread is a little crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. It's the perfect bread for what we do hereb to fill the ingredients that we fill Paulis, whether it's lobster, chicken, beef, deli meats, it's delicious.
I’m the lobster king. Our lobster comes from Gloucester and Maine or just right up the coast and it's fresh delivered every day and every week and it's like that's what we're known for, our lobster. So if you're low lobster king, you have to have fresh lobster. You can have them two ways, you can have a cold, or you can hot tossed in butter. People asked me , ‘Pauli, which one should I have?’ And I say you can take the taste test but mostly it's 50/50, it's a toss up.
We have a seven ounce lobster roll, a 14 ounce which is a sub, we have the USS Lobstitution. This is a 28 ounce lobster roll and then we have the Lobzilla - over 15 pounds a lobster which feeds about 45 to 50 people and about 50 lobsters go into that. The hit of the party is the food. They push me aside, they go right for the Lobzilla.
Lobster grilled cheese is incredible. We came up with this, it was just a hit. We take our lobster, wheat or white bread, however you like it, and it’s grilled to perfection with a cheese oozing over the lobster. It's buttery crispy on the outside with the lobster in the middle hot and cold. It's fantastic with the cheese coming over the lobster. It's a fan favorite here. Oh my god, you're gonna love our lobster grilled cheese.
If you're feeling hungry, you need to have the lobster mac and cheese. We make our own cheese sauce here. I've just got four cheeses in it, fresh lobster meat, the pasta, and then we use homemade crumbled garlic croutons on the top. It's one of our big sellers.
The Big Boy burger is an invention of my staff which is a decadent, delicious burger. You need both hands to tackle that boy, so it has everything you want on it. Cheeseburger layered with bacon, onion rings, barbecue sauce, can add lettuce and tomato if you like. Onion rings give you that crunch, our barbecue sauce which is delicious gets a little bit messy. It's really big.
Felix is one of my best friends. He came up with his idea and he named it after himself. It's our traditional steak and cheese which is three quarters of a pound of meat, has peppers, onions, and mushrooms. On top of that, we put crispy cheese fries smashed into the top of it and then sprinkled that with a bunch of bacon. So you got bacon, your cheese, you got fries and you got steak and cheese. There’s nothing like that, come in and I could see the smile on their faces. They love it. Sometimes they'll say ‘Hey Pauli, look, I finished’ like that's great. That's what we want you to do.
Vito is named after Vito from the Sopranos. The actor Joe Gannascoli came in and helped me make that sandwich. He starts with beautiful braided seeded rolls, our fresh chicken cutlets, ham, provolone, roasted red peppers, lettuce, tomato and chipotle mayo and it's to die for. You just want to eat that and play some Sinatra music in the back and watch the Sopranos.
The Pauli-Tician is a sandwich that we came up with around the election time. That has chicken cutlets, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, basil, a little bit of olive oil. It's one of our most popular sandwiches many people have tried to duplicate it but nobody's perfected the way Polly's has. Hey, I'm Pauli and I approve the sandwich.
Super Mario is supersize meatball sandwich that has provolone cheese, grated cheese and mozzarella sticks jammed into it and when you bite into it, you get the provolone, the sauce, the meatballs but you also get a crunchy mozzarella sticks. There's nothing like cheese. It's easier the better I always say. People should come to Pauli’s because we have the most authentic best lobster rolls in the city of Boston and the most delicious sandwiches and if you haven't been to Pauli’s, you haven't been to Boston.
