Only Mass. restaurant on Yelp’s top 100 is Newbury St. pizza place

Restaurants

Union Park Pizza was highlighted by Yelpers for its use of fresh ingredients on both classic and modern pies.

One Newbury Street pizzeria was among the top 100 restaurants in the U.S., according to Yelpers — and it was the only Massachusetts restaurant that showed up on the list. 

Union Park Pizza, which serves up the classics and specialty pizza pies or slices, ranked No. 90 on a list that featured a variety of restaurants across the country. 

Owned and operated by husband and wife Joe and Maggie Sylva, they originally opened the space in the South End in 2018. Joe said they moved their shop to the busy Newbury Street in late 2022.

“We were lucky to make a quick transition to our new location just as Newbury Street started coming back to life,” he said. 

As some Yelpers will point out, their favorite part about their Union Park dining experience is the “super fresh” ingredients. Joe said they focus on using quality ingredients in their pies, from local mushrooms that top the Neighborhood Veg to their house-made ranch sauce that comes drizzled on the Buffalo Chicken or as a side for dipping crust. 

The pie that comes highly recommended from Joe is the Mags Supreme, named after wife Maggie and Union Park’s take on the supreme pizza. Joe said this pizza is topped with “fresh veggies, homemade sausage, and the best pepperoni out there that we source from a family-owned salumeria in Brooklyn and slice fresh in-house.”

Yelp puts together its annual top-100 list by using a combination of metrics, such as restaurant ratings, the number of reviews from Yelpers, and volume of submissions. 

Though Union Park Pizza was the only Massachusetts eatery on the list, there were a few New England joints that made the cut. 

Shannon’s Unshelled, a lobster shack in Boothbay, Maine, took the No. 42 spot for its lobster rolls. A note about this restaurant: It closes for the winter months and will reopen come spring. 

And at No. 46, Maple Soul in Rochester, Vermont, got some love from Yelpers who love this menu of New England and Southern mashups and staple dishes.