Bricco has a dark little secret..or .. Im-so-tired-of-phonese-bolognese-italian-joints-nam-sayin-they-no-speako-the-bricco-nam-eeen

(A repotting from the now defunkt smoke.io)

The relatively ancient city of Boston has a very long, complicated, and interesting history

In the mid 1800s the city grew about 3 times in size. It did this primarily by adding landfill (from the nearby town of Needham Ma as well as the majority of the actual hill known as Beacon Hill) to the vast marsh connecting Boston to neighboring Roxbury.

image from walkbostonhistory.com

The neighboring city of Quincy still has a significant amount of this Marshland in the Neponset watershed area.

photos by Joey SLLiks unless otherwise noted

Much of Boston's landscape was marshy wetlands until this giant landfill project from the mid 1800s. It wasn't long after this time that The city also began importing Italians into the Neighborhood.

image from historyofmassachusetts

As the story goes the Genoans came first, then the Campanians, Sicilians, Neapolitans and Abruzzesians among others. It has been said that the population of North End Italians went from 14000 in 1900 to 44,000 in 1930. The 1930's population had transitioned to a 99% Italian immigrant residency, in the formerly Jewish then Irish, North End of Boston.

It was also around this time that Italy was first unified and nationalized, and Pasta drowned in meaty, traditional Bolognesian gravy, had somehow became the national dish. The North End was home to a number of spaghetti houses such as the Prince Spaghetti House ,

image from

located on Prince Street, which is probably the most well known of seemingly hundreds, of restaurant ghosts of the past(a). To this day the Prince house noodles have yet to relinquish their highly coveted status as "household brand", especially after the iconic 1970's television commercial which featured supposed first generation American, " the late Anthony Martignetti" running through the local bocce court to get some Weednesday night Spaghetti.

Currently, most of the Italian families have left the North End. In place of the former shoe stores, grocery markets and barber salons, are restaurants....

Lots and lots of restaurants. Boston's North End has so many great restaurants and because it is one of the older parts of town, has a very distinct colonial appearance.

image from thefreedomtrail.org

Paul Revere's House is here as is the famous Old North Church of the Revolutionary war.

image from

So are the 2 bakeries most involved in the Cannoli War. Mike's and Modern are both bakeries on Hanover st and are hard places to gain access to without running the gauntlet of waiting in line outdoors here, in the typically chilly, ocean front part of town.

Also on Hanover Street is the very popular restaurant Bricco.

Bricco is a very well respected restaurant and one typically needs a reservation

to get in on a Friday or Saturday night,

especially now.

Let it be known ...Bricco has a dark little secret.

It's this alley way that leads to their bakery

Well it's not exactly a secret

but it is awesome

at the end of the most fragrant alley of bread in the world you come to

an award winning bakery and a quaint authentic Italian groceria, the Bricco Salumaria

As good as the actual Bricco restaurant is

The Bricco Salumaria is no slouch either.

I love this place. No reservation needed and the whole corridor smells of freshly backed artisan breads.

Usually there is not much of a line but while you're waiting for your giant sandwich it's fun to look around at all of the imported items.

The subs here are out of control.

For like 10 bucks it's enough to feed 2 people

or 1 who is super baked, making bad volume of consumption decisions.

Also a great place to get grated cheese, hard salamis,

and imported products from boot nation.

Plus you can't pahk a cah here so you are almost forced to walk off that sub on Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway,

the most obvious place to smoke some time honored cannabis on the way back to your car in preparation for that Boston Traffic.

image from reddit
Bricco and it's Salumeria....highly Recomended