Boothbay Harbor House of Pizza in Boothbay Harbor, Maine

Boothbay Harbor House of Pizza is the kind of place where the Rigas family knows your name by year two. They sling straightforward pizza with a crust that regulars can't replicate anywhere else, plus sides like fried mushrooms with marinara and tuna salad with unexpected kalamata olives. It's not fancy. It's the neighborhood pizzeria people drive back to.

• Crust that regulars say can't be found elsewhere
• Fried mushrooms with marinara, crispy and flavorful
• Family knows regulars by name; genuinely welcoming
• Pizza piled with cheese, steak subs, solid sides

Start with the fried mushrooms and marinara. The pizza crust is what keeps people coming back year after year, so get a loaded chicken bacon ranch or a steak and cheese sub. The tuna salad comes with kalamata olives mixed in. Fries and chicken fingers round out a meal.

Clean and casual counter-service spot with no fuss. Relaxed enough that regulars feel like family.

If you want a steak and cheese sub or chicken bacon ranch pizza loaded with melted cheese, you're in the right place. The fries are solid, the chicken fingers work. Don't come looking for fine dining. Come for what tastes exactly like a good local pizza place should.

Twenty-year visitors call it an annual stop they can't skip. One recent visitor from out of state said the pizza is phenomenal and the Rigas family "absolutely amazing." Guests describe the place as well-loved by the community and true to what a local pizzeria should be.