National Pizza Week: Best Pies In MetroWest, Worcester

FRAMINGHAM, MA — As National Pizza Week approaches, pizzerias nationwide largely have not faced the same financial difficulties as restaurants that specialize in other items during the coronavirus pandemic.

In many cases, pizza shops — both local favorites and national chains — have seen a sharp uptick in business as more people remain home to slow the spread of the virus.

To help you celebrate the week, we asked local Patch readers to submit suggestions for the best local spots. This list is by no means meant to capture every great slice nearby, but may give you some leads if you're looking for a new spot to try this week. (And if you have a suggestion, email neal.mcnamara@patch.com.)

• Jack's Abby, Framingham — Although only open for takeout during the pandemic, this Framingham brewery's wood-fired pizzas have become a local favorite alongside the beer.
• Welly's Restaurant, Marlborough — This downtown Marlborough restaurant has a huge menu, but the pizza has been hailed as some of the best New York/New Jersey-style around.
• Gianni's Pizza & Subs, Framingham — Another well-loved spot serving north Framingham and Sudbury.
• Napoli Italian Deli, Shrewsbury — One of the best brick oven pizza places around. Unfortunately, Napoli is on winter break until Feb. 1.
• Square MFG Co., Natick — This restaurant along Route 9 just opened in December, but is getting great reviews for its unique Detroit-style pizza.
• Pizza Mine, Ashland — This reliable spot in downtown Ashland got good reviews for reliable New York-style pizza, and good prices.
• Framingham Baking Co. — If you know, you know. This bakery sells slices of pizza that are unlike any other in the area in terms of crust and cheese.
• Volturno, Worcester — A good choice if you're looking for Neapolitan-style in the Worcester area. Volturno's clay wood-fired oven was built in Italy.
• Giovannis Home of Pizza, Natick — This longtime favorite in Natick got a new owner over the summer and reopened in the Roche Bros. shopping plaza, and it's getting great reviews.
• Caffe Sorrento, Milford — A go-to for brick oven style pizza in Milford, but, like Welly's in Marlborough, also offers a full menu from prime rib to seafood.

Always held on the second full week of January, National Pizza Week has no known origin. The similar “National Pizza Day” is set for Feb. 9, according to the National Day Calendar.

Pizzerias have not been hit as hard by the pandemic as the restaurant industry as a whole, statistics show. While 60 percent of pizza places have seen an increase in sales, 50 percent of those across the country that did see growth had an increase in sales by 16 percent or more, according to a special report from Pizza Today released in November.

The increased demand for delivery, which the industry already had a prime focus on, has mostly helped the nation’s largest pizza chains during pandemic-related stay-at-home orders.

Domino’s brought in the most money among pizza chains during the first half of 2020, generating $240 million in net income, a 30 percent increase from the previous year, Fortune reported, citing data from Bloomberg Intelligence. Papa John’s and Pizza Hut are among the others reporting the next highest financial gains during the pandemic.

For many, pizza has been a comfort food as the world struggles through both the virus-spurred health and economic crises.

“Not too messy, hard to mess up, good whether it’s hot or cold, and I don’t need silverware,” Brandi Johnson said in an August report from Fortune. “It’s just a perfect guaranteed meal to have during such uncertain times.”

Financial analyst Lauren Silberman told Fortune that Domino’s has outperformed the industry over the past 10 years with “strong execution.”

“Domino’s has an industry-leading digital and delivery infrastructure, which we view as the most powerful asset it has,” Silberman said.

Smaller, locally owned pizza restaurants have made some gains, too.

Independent pizza operators on Slice — an online ordering marketplace for pizzerias — doubled their weekly sales during the first six months of the pandemic, according to a RestaurantDive.com report citing research from BTIG, a global financial services firm. Slice was on pace to generate about $600 million in food sales and aspired to reach $1 billion in 2021.

Update: An earlier version of this story included the Worcester restaurant Corner Grille, but the beloved restaurant sadly closed in June.