Review of Stone Hearth Pizza in Porter Square

One of the biggest challenges I face living gluten-free is where to go, and what to eat when I’m out and about.

Typically when I go out to dinner, my attempts for finding gluten-free options usually involves nitpicking various ingredients from multiple dishes on the menu to concoct my own hodgepodge plate of protein and vegetables, that I’m sure annoys the waitstaff, and costs way more than what it’s actually worth.

However, since I’ve lived moved into the city, I’ve stumbled upon some awesome local eateries that cater’s to Boston’s gluten sensitive population.

It being a Friday night, pizza and beer sounded like the perfect fit, so I headed over to Stone Hearth Pizza Co. with a couple co-workers for week-end chow down at their Porter Square location.

The restaurant which is located right on Mass Ave., had that really cute, and local, tiny restaurant that makes awesome food feel.

The atmosphere was very laid-back, somewhat rustic, but homey, and the lighting in the restaurant was warm and soothing…

…with cozy seating arrangements (and by cozy I mean…cozy.)

There was a tiny wait for seating, as every chair in the restaurant was filled with after work colleagues sharing a couple of pizza’s re-capping the weeks events.

Not only did I totally dig the fact that you can make any of their pizza’s gluten-free, but they also support our local farmers by using locally grown and organic ingredients whenever possible….which is totally cool.

The menu had a wide selection of pizza toppings ranging from prosciutto, goat cheese, and artichokes.

This made making your own pizza a process of elimination, as you could very easily end up putting about 14 toppings on a single pie.

Aside from pizza, they also had a yummy selection of salads, sandwiches and pasta, which included this avocado and grapefruit salad that served as a great starter to our pizza.

They also had a great selection of wine and beer, which yes, included a gluten-free option, Bard’s Beer, made from sorghum.

I am far from a beer drinker, and probably haven’t had a beer in over 4 years, but it just didn’t feel right to have a pizza last night without one.

 

The waitstaff was awesome, and after noticing that one of our pizza’s was missing pepperoni, they quickly took the pizza and brought us out a new one with a very sincere apology.

 

My toppings of the night included: Gluten-free crust, tomato sauce, homemade sausage, goat cheese, spinach, artichokes and sauteed red onions.

Their thin crust pizza which is cooked between 700-900 degree in a stone hearth stove (according to their website), had just the right balance of char and crisp.

After consuming my entire 12″ pizza, and downing my beer, it only seemed fitting to order the gluten-free brownie hot fudge sunday with caramalized walnuts to top it off.

Friday night feasting….one of my secrets to staying fit and lean.

With these restaurant reviews, I want to be as scrutinizing as possible, however, I really couldn’t find anything wrong with this place.

The location was accessible (just a few minutes walk from the Porter Square T-stop), the atmosphere was cool and laidback, the staff was super friendly, and the food was AWESOME.

Price was decent with a selection of apps ranging from $3-6, and pizzas (8, 12 or 16 inch) ranging from $8 – $18.

With 3 gluten-free beers, 3-12 inch gluten-free pizzas (cost an extra $2 to make any of their pizza’s gluten-free), a salad and dessert, the total came out to about $75, which, I thought wasn’t bad.

Add a Buy With Me coupon I purchased ($30 for only $15), and it was a decently priced meal.

Whether or not Stone Hearth has the best gluten-free pizza in Boston, is still up for negotiation (any more Friday night reviews), but nonetheless, I give Stone Hearth a cyber-high five. Well-done.

And perhaps…this can lead to a city-wide search to find the best gluten-free pizza in Boston?