Panelli’s Pizza & Parm

Sad to see this place go. Great pizzas and parm. Best of luck guys in your future endeavors!

Ugh, there’s SO much wasted potential here.
Bread = Iggy’s chewy, well-​kneaded and raised ciabatta. Great.
Eggplant = well seasoned, some herbs, well breaded, a bit greasy but in a good way
Mozarella = fresh… Sauce = pretty good.
Problem is that the proportion is WAY off. There’s 2x too much fried eggplant, so all I can taste is the frying oil and herbed breadcrumbs. Oh, wait there was moz there? It’s fresh? I couldn’t tell until I picked it off and ate it with a single layer of eggplant. Wait, the bread is chewy and crusty and has an amazing flour/​yeast aroma? Noooo wayyyy! On top of that, there is nowhere near enough tangy tomato sauce to balance out the grease.
Would love to see halving of eggplant layers (from 5 – 6 to 3), slight amping of mozarella (~15%), and a tablespoon more of the tomato sauce. Now THAT would be yummy.

Glad I checked this place out — it’s pretty small and can be easy to miss but the slice of chicken parm pizza I got there was great! I thought it was a bit pricey at first at over $ 4 a slice but the slices are huge. The crust is pretty thin, I really liked the sauce, and the pieces of chicken were breaded and tasty.

I debated between giving this place three stars vs four stars. Settled on three because of their relatively steep price for slices: 3.25 for cheese and 4.25 for specials.
I got the cheese and gardener. To be honest I found them rather dry. I wish the cheese pizza had more sauce. Gardener had so many veggies on it, it was excellent.
Service is fast. There’s ample seating with long and short wooden tables inside. Pretty clean.

My 100^th review!!!
I wanted to try this place since it opened. And I’m surprised I hadn’t tried it sooner since its a 5 minute walk from my apartment. Dangerously close.
My roommate and I ordered the Piccante pizza. Pretty much a really spicy pepperoni pizza, and it was delicious! $ 19.00 for a MASSIVE pizza — literally one slice makes you full. Eat 2 slices and you will feel like you are about to burst. TL;DR — pizza is very filling. And definitely worth the price (I think).
And for those of you that are wondering about the crust — it’s not super thick, but it’s not thin. It’s delicious, not super chewy, but definitely made with love!
The store looks really cute. Definitely will be back to try their other options. We still have another half of the pizza waiting to be eaten — and I can’t wait to dig in again!

Pannelli’s makes the best pizza I’ve ever had. I’ve traveled from Framingham, Burlington, and Waltham just to visit this place!
They only do 20″ pizzas which almost guarantees a second meal the next day which tastes equally as good! Don’t let the high prices scare you– its definitely worth a try!
I’ve only gotten the Piccante pizza and add roasted mushrooms to it. The calabria chilis, pepperoni and chili oil on this pizza elevate the flavor to a whole new level. The spice seems to get hotter and hotter while maintaining good flavor and is definitely not for people with a lower tolerance for heat. The pizzas come out super hot and steamy, the cheese is perfectly melted and the crust is perfectly cooked every time.
My little (5 and 9 year old) niece and nephew always rave about Pannelli’s Chicken Parm as well but I have yet to try it. Will definitely do next time!
The shop itself is very industrial and modern but very hard to find. Definitely worth the search though! There is ample street parking and plenty of seating.
Definitely worth a visit or two… every week.

Love this place! I am a pizza snob and this is the only pizza nearby that reminds me of ny/​nj pizza. The pepperoni pizza is my favorite, never disappoints! The buffalo chicken pizza is also great.

Excellent quality pizza. Best slices in the area. Reasonably priced and fast, quality service. Just off Coolidge Corner T stop. Will be eating here regularly.
Would give it a 5 if there was a broader selection of drinks.

Not a typical consumer of subs/​hoagies/​grinders, whatever you may call them, however, Panelli’s Pizza & Parm on the far end of Coolidge Corner in Brookline is a real treat. Serving a modest selection of red and white pizzas, Panelli’s also offers two common parm sandwiches — chicken and eggplant. The sandwiches do not get soggy which is a pitfall of other subs. Take out or dine in, with a few tables.
The eggplant parm is incredibly light yet hearty with the always delicious Iggy’s bread (ciabatta roll), perfectly breaded eggplant (bread crumbs made in house), enough fresh mozzarella to satisfy without overwhelming the palate, mixed with a not-​too-​chunky tomato sauce that is delightful to say the least. The size of the sandwich is the perfect meal without feeling stuffed.
The chicken parm is equally well-​balanced with thin slices of tender breaded chicken.

It’s a little hard to find but based on my eggplant Parmesan sandwich I wholly recommend seeking it out! As it was only 11:30am on a weekday the place was completely empty. I got the eggplant parm sandwich and my husband had the chicken parm sandwich. Both were delicious but we agreed the the eggplant was superior — excellent crunch and delicious marinara sauce.
Staff were a bit surly but hey, worth it for freshly prepared sandwiches. Highly recommend this place!

Food was fresh and delicious for both the hero’s and slices. Décor is clean and funky. Friendly staff. Food took substantial time, so next time I’ll call in the order.

I just went here the other day for the first time. The alarming thing on their menu is the $ 14 chicken parm sandwich. I had heard that it was huge and costly.
Well, apparently this all just changed. When I was looking at the menu, the guy told me the subs are now smaller and cheaper. So, instead of a longer sub roll type, the sandwich is now on a square ciabatta roll. The new price is $ 9.95.
I am a huge ciabatta fan and this was a good holding device for the sandwich. It was very stable and I had no mess while eating it. I got extra cheese as well, because I heard the regular amount could be a bit light. The extra cheese was a great amount for me and using fresh mozzarella is a nice plus. The sauce quantity is light, which some people may or may not like. I like the sauce on the lighter side to avoid a mess, but I got a side dipping cup as well. The sauce is tasty and not too sweet.
Finally, let’s talk about the chicken. They battered and fried it right before making, so there was no stale or microwaved chicken here. That is a nice touch. The chicken was tender and made well. However for me, the chicken taste was not my favorite. I am not really sure how to describe it, but perhaps it was a little too «healthy» tasting if that makes sense. I am sure some people love this style and others won’t like it as much.
Anyway, overall, a good experience. Great/​friendly service and freshly made sandwiches. The inside is super classy for a sub shop. I will likely go again next time I am out that way.

I drove by the the place 3 times. The sign is placed inside the doorway not visible unless you walk by looking for it.
You can taste the fresh ingredients in the pizza and sandwiches. The chicken parm very good but needed more gravy you get fresh chicken breast cooked to order on a nice roll you get a lot of chicken, 3 nice cutlets maybe that’s why price is $ 14. I wish them all the best get a sign up so people can see you.

This new pizza place needs better signage, something to make it stand out because the slice of pizza I’ve eaten three times now is absolutely D E L I C I O US and deserves to be placed among the BEST IN THE CITY. They have large slices (a good variety here to please everyone) ready and waiting for you to come and gobble them down. I chose, as I usually do, the veggie, layered with baby spinach, thin slices of onion, peppers and minced mushrooms. The crust is perfect, seriously, perfect. Very thin, cracker crisp, mighty tasty, with just the right amount of cheese and rich sauce. This pizza is better than Otto’s and the Upper Crust.
Why is it always empty? Because no one seems to know it is there. Place a sign out on the sidewalk. REPLACE your nondescript tarp sign. It does not stand out, just the opposite. Consider adding a splash of color, make the place a little more inviting, too neutral and it disappears. The place needs more «energy,» too laid back feels detached. You have to have passion to make pizza this good, let your customers feel some of it.
The front wall/​window opens up so you can really enjoy these perfect spring days.
Panelli’s also makes fried oreos, not something I’d eat but your kids would love them (or the kid in you). I haven’t eaten the other options but you try them when you come in to get that slice.

The eggplant parm was soooo good. We came in a bit late, and apparently they stopped making/​selling pizza by the slice around 8:30pm. I suppose I’ll have to drop by and try the pizza sometime soon to really make this review complete.
They did take a while to make the parm and it was $ 13, but we found it was big enough for 2 people to share.
Also has a pretty chill ambiance which I really liked.

Pizza and eggplant or chicken Parmesan only. A couple of salads. And soda.
Parm is expensive ($ 13.50) but well worth every penny. Crisp breading thickly coats tender pieces of chicken that remain juicy while managing to be stringy and dry at the same time — an odd sensation.
A milky, stringy mozzarella coats the meat as does a thick but rich marinara sauce.
Incredibly soft yet hearty ciabatta bread holds the entire sandwich together.
A worthy combination of ingredients prepared well.
Stool seating for 12 is convenient and slices are available for $ 2.50-$ 3.50. Whole pizzas are available for $ 20 and up.

They have mastered the art of the chicken parm sandwich! Perfectly cooked chicken, crisp but not greasy, and lots of it piled high. Excellent sauce and cheese, and the bread… oh, the bread! It is perfect for this type of sandwich as it is soft enough that it is easy to bite into and not make a mess of the sandwich, but has a firm outside that holds up to the heavy weight of the other ingredients inside.
The place is very small and we were the only customers dining in. The others who came in got takeout and left with it. The workers were fine but could have been friendlier– it doesn’t hurt to smile! I would definitely come back but more likely for takeout rather than eat-​in.

Excellent pizza here, glad to see Otto now has some company. Panelli’s flavorful thin-​style crust pizza only comes in one size (which is ginormous), but you can split your pie. We ordered half Bianco/​half chicken BBQ, which with one draft root beer (yum) put us out about $ 24, and was filling enough for one meal between two of us plus leftovers for lunch the next day (note: their delivery boxes are huge and unwieldy, so be warned).
I was psyched for their Bianco because it was topped with pistachio, and it was tasty with lots of thinly shaved red onions and rosemary scattered everywhere; but I could definitely have used a ton more pistachio, and the flavors are on the subtle side as compared with some of the other options they have, so take that into account when ordering.
The BBQ chicken was the real star: it’s a typical cheese pizza (red sauce and all) covered in caramelized onions, drizzles of BBQ sauce, and small chunks of (what I assume is) their fresh homemade juicy breaded chicken breast. I thought the red sauce in combo with the BBQ was a great idea since sometimes a base of just BBQ can get a little too much IMO, and the toppings were a lot more plentiful and widespread than at a lot of places (looking at you, Otto), but the best part was that chicken on top– so fresh and flavorful, probably what they use in their parm sandwiches everyone’s raving about, and definitely worth trying. (Plus it made for better leftovers than the Bianco the next day.)
Panelli’s is a bit on the expensive side for pizza, but I think it’s worth it both in quality and quantity of food. I wish they had A) a website, B) delivery, C) different pizza sizes, and D) a door that doesn’t completely bring in the cold, but they’re new so who knows, maybe some of those things are in the works for the future.

I saw the great reviews and figured, as a New Yorker, I had to try it. I’ve been on the hunt for actual pizza ever since moving to Coolidge Corner and have had ZERO luck finding a great cheese pie.
Panelli’s definitely hit the spot the day I got it and, while I originally balked at the price, I have to say you definitely get your money’s worth. The pie is huge! The crust was delightfully thin and crispy.
So, why three stars?
The crust was thin and crispy but the slice itself sagged when picked up… and, when heating it up in the toaster oven a day later, it got worse, not better.
Also, no delivery.
…and they were out of salads when I ordered at 7pm. In its stead I was offered fried oreos. I hear that they might be good but, uh, wrong direction dude. Maybe try to upsell me on some veggie toppings or something.
Hoping that they are still putting the finishing touches on their dough and delivery. We’ll give Panelli’s another try then.

Chicken parm is a must order. Huge portion of perfectly moist chicken covered in crispy flavorful breading. Bread, cheese and sauce were all high quality. Competes for best parm I’ve ever had.
Loved the hot honey pizza! Great subtle sweetness from the honey with a little spice. Crust was perfect.
We will definitely be back!