Lin at Lunch: Penguin Pizza

Posted: 8:45 am, June 26, 2012 by Lin

Stop #2 in my lunch quest while spending a week at the Harvard School of Public Health was Penguin Pizza. I had a full 90 minutes for lunch on this day, so again, wanting to take full advantage of being out of our training room, I did not record a timeline and enjoyed a leisurely lunch.

Penguin Pizza is my kind of pizza joint. Casual, lots of tables, full bar. A chalkboard hung on the wall as soon as you enter the restaurant lists the slices of the day, boasting that $3.45 will get you a slice as big as a quarter of a pizza. I wasn’t going to have dinner until 8 pm that night, and since I had a lot of time for lunch, I decided to order a salad and one slice.

Greek Salad with romaine, cherry tomatoes, red onions, kalamata olives, feta and Greek dressing ($6.99)

The salad was great! After a week of eating sandwiches and fries at The Squealing Pig, greens and vegetables were just what my body needed. The Greek dressing was light and served on the side, allowing you to control the amount. Kalamata olives were fresh and salty, forever a good combination with feta cheese.

Daily Slice with steak, onions and peppers ($3.45)

A blackboard filled with slice of the day options caught my eye with a steak, onion and pepper slice. Although I don’t usually do it, I read a few online reviews of Penguin Pizza and everyone seemed to rave about their nontraditional combinations. When my slice arrived, I noticed it had an underwhelming amount of toppings, although perhaps this is how they are able to keep the cost of a slice to $3.45. The steak lacked any kind of flavor and there weren’t enough other vegetables to make up for it. The guest next to me ordered a simple margarita pizza with fresh basil and it looked divine, reminding me that sometimes simpler is better.

Penguin Pizza is located at 735 Huntington Ave, easily accessible from the Fenwood Road station on the Heath Street green line (E).

Related posts: Lin at Lunch: Squealing Pig

Do you like interesting pizza toppings, or do you stick with traditional ones?