Pickle, pineapple, pepperoni: Braintree's Bosss Bah Pizza is S. Shore bar pizza hot spot
BRAINTREE – Joe Keegan's love for barroom pizza goes way back.
His first job was at D'Ann's Restaurant in Holbrook, where he worked as a teenager alongside his brothers and dad making bar pizza in the 1970s. Before that, his father worked at Lynwood Café in Randolph, one of the area's better-known bar pizza spots.
Keegan went on to work other jobs, but he never lost his knack for spinning up bar-style pizza. He had the pans, spent years perfecting his recipes and made countless pizzas at home with his family.
"When other families are sitting around at the end of the night and decide to make some hot dogs and hamburgers, we make pizzas," Keegan, of Abington, said.
Bar pizzas differ from a standard New York or Boston pie in that the dough is thinner underneath, the cheese and toppings go nearly to the edge of the crust, and the pizza itself is small and cooked in a pan.
Keegan said he always felt deep down that he should have opened a bar pizza spot. So when the pandemic hit, his son, Andrew Keegan, saw an opportunity to finally help his dad pursue his dream. The father and son both left their jobs and set out to open their own bar-style pizza joint.
In January, they opened Bosss (Bos for Boston and SS for South Shore) Bah Pizza in South Braintree Square.
"This area is saturated with bar pizza places, but Braintree didn't have one," Joe Keegan said.
The restaurant serves bar pizza, and bar pizza alone. They offer more than two dozen toppings and five chicken flavors, including Carolina gold, Korean and Nashville hot. Some of their popular specialty pizzas are jalapeno popper, spinach and feta and cheeseburger.
They serve it between two round cardboard plates and wrapped in a brown paper bag, rather than a box, which Joe Keegan said is part of the "romance" of barroom pizza.
He said barroom pizza is perfect for families with a range of preferences, since the pizzas are small and almost personal sized.
The family says business has been amazing, especially as football season starts to pick up. On a recent Sunday, they sold 100 pizzas for lunch alone, compared to the 20 or so they'd do during a typical lunch.
Andrew Keegan said it's been great seeing his dad's dream become a reality and such a big hit.
"My mom worked evenings, so at 8 or 9 years old we'd be making pizzas with dad on a Friday night," he said.
Joe Keegan said the best compliment is being compared some of the "big guys" in the barroom pizza scene.
"Some customers have said we're better, which is humbling. It's a good feeling," he said. "We're proud to be included in the conversation."
If you go
What: Bosss Bah Pizza
Where: 915 Washington St., Braintree
Hours: 11:30 a.m. p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday; takeout only
Contact: 781-859-3555; https://bosssbah.com/
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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: New option for South Shore Bar pizza in Braintree at Bosss Bah Pizza
