Regina Pizzeria reaches its centennial in 2026, marking 100 years since Luigi D’Auria opened the Thacher Street pizza shop that became a Boston institution. Its history spans immigrant neighborhood dining, a transfer to the Polcari family and expansion beyond the North End — while the original restaurant retained much of its early character.
Tasting Table identified Regina as Boston’s oldest pizzeria in its 2024 account. In 2023, Boston.com reported that it also appeared to be the North End’s oldest Italian restaurant, citing Tom Damigella of the North End Historical Society. Both accounts place its founding in 1926.
At 11½ Thacher St., that history is reflected in more than the address. Boston.com reported that the booths remained in their original arrangement and the oven had never been relocated. Tasting Table described a corner doorway opening into a wood-paneled room furnished with booths and Formica tables.
A neighborhood beginning
D’Auria was an Italian immigrant who had reached the United States four years before opening Regina at age 45, according to Tasting Table. The publication found little information about his earlier work or what led him to start the restaurant.
The surrounding neighborhood was then heavily populated by Italian immigrants. Robert Shimp, a research and programming director at the Paul Revere House, described the North End’s close family and community connections to Boston.com. Food tour operator Bobby Agrippino told the outlet that restaurants were relatively few and dining out was beyond the regular budgets of many families.
Regina initially drew immigrants who already knew pizza and lighter Italian dishes, restaurant spokesperson Stuart Thompson told Boston.com. Other enduring neighborhood businesses followed: Caffé Vittoria opened in 1929, and Cantina Italiana began serving customers in 1931.
Ownership changed, but the basics endured
The published accounts differ on how Regina passed from its founder to the Polcaris. Boston.com described an inheritance followed by a sale in the 1940s. Tasting Table questioned that chronology and outlined competing versions, including a direct sale by D’Auria. The precise sequence remains unresolved in those reports.
Both accounts agree that the Polcari family took ownership. Tasting Table reported that the family had operated the neighborhood grocery where D’Auria purchased supplies. It also dated Regina’s second location to 1975. The 2023 Boston.com and 2024 Tasting Table reports each counted 12 Regina locations.
At the original shop, continuity extended to the equipment and recipes. Tasting Table dated the oven to about 1888 and reported that its fuel changed from coal to gas during the 1930s. Thompson told Boston.com that the thin-crust recipe had been handed down and that aging the dough helped develop its flavor.
Both publications named cheese and pepperoni among Regina’s leading sellers. Thompson acknowledged that access to more ingredients had likely changed the toppings substantially, even as the menu remained centered on pizza. His explanation for the restaurant’s longevity emphasized that limited focus and a familiar operation — features that connect the regional business to its beginnings in a small North End parlor.
