Beach pizza is insanely popular in Northern New England

There's a solid chance that if you live anywhere in the radius between Boston and Portland, you're very familiar with the term "beach pizza." And essentially, beach pizza comes down to two geographic locations -- Salisbury Beach in Mass and Hampton Beach in New Hampshire -- and two businesses -- Tripoli's Pizza and Cristy's Pizza.

The combination of the slight crispiness of the crust, the sweetness of the sauce, and the cheese is the thing dreams are made of.

Beach pizza, as we know it here in the above-mentioned radius, consists of massive rectangular pies that are cut into smaller rectangular pieces and served one of three ways: regular cheese, pepperoni, or extra cheese, which involves a slice of provolone melted on top. The combination of the slight crispiness of the crust -- regardless of whether you get an end piece or a middle piece -- the sweetness of the sauce, and the cheese (with or without pepperoni) is the thing dreams are made of.

Julia Rose
Julia McLaughlin
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New England beach pizza now exists in San Diego, California

The owners of Square Pizza Co, which is located in the Pacific Beach suburb of San Diego, actually grew up in the North Shore of Boston (more specifically, in the Merrimack Valley). And if you needed proof that they know their pizza, they both used to work for the family that owns Tripoli Bakery in Lawrence, Mass, plus one of the owners owned Sal's Pizza on Salisbury Beach!

Their "thin crust" pizza selections are all different takes on beach pizza, and are all titled after towns that make up the Merrimack Valley.

Back in 2016, they decided to open Square Pizza and, not forgetting where they came from, dedicated an entire section to not only producing the deliciousness of their take on beach pizza learned from years of working at Tripoli's, but also give a nod to the Merrimack Valley. Their "thin crust" pizza selections are all different takes on beach pizza, and are all titled after towns that make up the Merrimack Valley.

Julia Rose
Julia McLaughlin
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And based on Julia McLaughlin's post in the Merrimack Valley Eats group on Facebook, it seems like not only are there tons of Northern New Englanders that are equal parts impressed and proud, but now have a reason to make the trip out to San Diego to get a slice of home. And speaking of Julia, who was out in San Diego on vacation and tried Square Pizza first-hand, here are her thoughts on her experience:

"The Methuen was really good but the Amesbury was probably my favorite! It was cool to have beach pizza with more than the traditional toppings we see around here. The pizza itself was very good. The crust was probably a little bit thicker than what we would get around here, but personally I’m more of a Tripoli’s girl and they have thinner crust. I would say the sauce was a perfect mix between Tripoli‘s and Christy’s because it wasn’t too sweet but it also wasn’t too salty."

Speaking of beach pizza, here are the best places to grab a slice in Maine's Old Orchard Beach

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