OTTO/Rising Tide Spring Collaboration Launch Parties in ME and MA

1609996_1190159957662599_4654903827232278965_nPlease join us on Wednesday, March 30th as we launch OTTO and Rising Tide Brewing Company‘s spring collaboration, Oscar Tango Tango Oscar — a crisp, snappy, and sessionable pale ale brewed with rice.

The celebration will be happening simultaneously in Portland and Massachusetts, with launch parties at two OTTO locations on Wednesday, March 30. Join OTTO and Rising Tide team members at 225 Congress Street in Portland’s Munjoy Hill neighborhood or 289 Harvard Street in Brookline’s Coolidge Corner from 6-8pm, as we start pouring this delicious brew. Lucky attendees will receive Rising Tide and OTTO schwag!

This limited special collaboration will be available exclusively at OTTO.

12745742_1171284872883441_949013297044290465_nThe brewing process kicked off on February 23rd, with OTTO team members on site. This is the second year of this annual spring collaboration, which currently holds a respectable 3.71 rating (with 218 check-ins) on the popular social drinking service Untappd.

Oscar Tango Tango Oscar’s citrusy snap goes perfect on our sunny patios while sharing one of OTTO’s spring pies — eggplant, ricotta and basil, or roasted chicken, caramelized pears and fontina.

Oscar Tango Tango Oscar’s profile is sure to provoke an onset of Spring Fever. Proceed with caution.

Aroma: tangerine, orange peel, grapefruit, rose
Taste: tangerine, grapefruit, cereal, crisp with a snappy bitterness
Malts: 2-row, flaked rice, carapils
Hops: amarillo, mandarina, cascade
Yeast: house american ale
Specifics: 4.4% abv, 1.044 o.g., 4 srm, 25 ibu

Cheers!12144691_1171284999550095_5301404358084709220_n

The 1st OTTO Oscars! Submit your OTTO-themed Movie Poster and Win $100 Worth of Pizza Delivered to your Door on Oscar Night

It’s that time of year again – Oscar season! In honor of the 88th Academy Awards, we inviteTheShining you to post your own versions of OTTO-themed movie posters on our Facebook timeline and WIN!

Submit your movie poster by Thursday, February 25th. On Friday, February 26th we will choose the three best entries and award the following prizes:

1st place: A pizza party of $100 worth of pizza delivered to your home on Oscar Night* OR a $100 gift card & an OTTO T-shirt
2nd place: $50 OTTO gift card & an OTTO T-shirt
3rd place: $25 OTTO gift card & an OTTO T-shirt

A couple of rules to follow:

  1. You must incorporate one or both of the following: A photo of OTTO pizza AND/ORSpottolight the word ‘OTTO’ (Otto’s or Otto’s Pizza will not be accepted)
  2. Please use an existing film poster for your entry (see the Facebook gallery for examples)

Entries may be posted on our Facebook timeline or emailed to contactus@ottoportland.com. Winners will be contacted via Facebook or email on 2/26.

OTTO reserves the right to remove and/or disqualify entries that are not suitable for all ages, or which are otherwise not aligned with OTTO’s good taste.

We will add the very best entries to our ‘OTTO Oscars’ Facebook gallery, and elsewhere.

Get to it and good luck!

*The address must be within delivery range of one our locations in Maine or Massachusetts to qualify for an Oscar Night delivery

 

OTTO Gift Cards: The Gift That Gives Back

The hardest thing about buying an OTTO gift card for someone is not keeping it for yourself.

Don’t worry. We have a special Buy One Get One offer to soften the blow.

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From now through January 7, 2016, buy a $25 gift card, get a FREE $5 gift card of your very own! Buy a $50 gift card, get $10. Buy a $100, get $20. 

Buy one for everyone on your list, and you may not have to buy dinner in 2016!

Keep in mind that this offer is only available in-store.

Each gift card can be used at each of OTTO’s locations throughout Maine and Massachusetts, as well as at OCHO, our new burrito restaurant on Congress Street in Portland.

OTTO’s gift cards can also be used for online orders, phone-in orders, take-out, or delivery.  They can be stored in your OTTO mobile app, they can be reloaded, and you can check your gift card balance at any time!

Stop by any OTTO location and knock out your holiday shopping today!

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Boston’s ‘Chronicle’ Showcases OTTO’s Coolidge Corner Location

Chronicle, the long-running Boston newsmagazine featured OTTO last night in its showcase of several new choices in the Boston restaurant scene.

OTTO was featured alongside Empire, City Landing, 75 On Liberty Wharf, and others. Chronicle host Shayna Seymour and her crew spent some time at the Coolidge Corner OTTO, speaking with co-owners Mike Keon and Anthony Allen, and sampling some of our signature pies.

If you missed the show’s original airing, you can view the OTTO segment here (sorry, no embedded video available yet).

(Note: The OTTO segment begins at the 2:12 mark — following the segment on Prime Roast Beef & Seafood)

Who is Elliott Brood? And Why Should You Care?

Elliott Brood is on tour and playing a bunch of shows in the northeast before heading over to Europe.

Music is an important ingredient at OTTO Pizza – we listen to it all the time. We listen to music while we’re setting up shop in the morning; it’s playing during the day when we’re taking care of our customers, and we crank it up at night while we’re cleaning up the shop to do it all over again the next day.

Some of the folks who work at OTTO Pizza are musicians themselves, and there are a ton of local bands that we love as well, but every once in a while, a band comes along that really grabs us and maybe we go a little crazy.

Elliott Brood is such a band. These guys are amazing. But don’t take our word for it. Check ’em out for yourself.

And apparently, Elliott Brood is on tour right now, which is great. Anybody else really like Elliott Brood? Why don’t you drop us a line at ottopizza668@gmail.com?

In Case You Missed It: OTTO on The Phantom Gourmet

This weekend, The Phantom Gourmet re-aired their segment on OTTO Pizza. If you didn’t get a chance to see it, we’ve got you covered.

The segment was filmed in July at our Coolidge Corner location, and features OTTO co-founders Mike Keon and Anthony Allen, who dish out some pizza secrets, including the origin story for our beloved Butternut Squash, Ricotta and Cranberry pie.

WARNING: The footage is ridiculously hunger-inducing.

Watch:

The Best Lines From OTTO Pizza Online Customer Reviews

One of the greatest things about the internet is the ability to cut through the crap and read actual first-hand comments about the food you’re thinking about eating. We can think of many times we’ve dodged a potential bullet by checking Yelp!, UrbanSpoon, etc., and learned first-hand about awful culinary experiences.

Here at OTTO, where we strive to always provide our customers with uniquely delicious pizza, a clean and cozy atmosphere, and great service, we make a point to monitor our online reviews. We’re pleased to report that they are overwhelmingly positive.

Some of these reviews are so great, that it seems criminal to not showcase them elsewhere.

Here are some snippets from the many wonderful online reviews of the OTTO experience:

From Steff, at UrbanSpoon (there is no best line — the whole thing is tremendous):

Dear Boyfriend,

I think you know this, but I’m having a love affair. With Otto’s. Oh, I know the three of us (you, me, and Otto’s) have had many randez-vous (sometimes multiple times a night), but you should know that when I leave your place . . . I stop for a quickie at Otto’s. When we’re kissing . . . I wish your beard had Otto’s crumbs in it. While you seasonally change your facial hair . . . they hourly change their options. They please me in a deep, thrilling way that no other man . . . or pizza joint . . . ever has. When I feel like I need to be loved safely and reliably, it’s their tomato-basil pizza that comforts me. When I desire that earthy, gritty kind of affection, I turn to their mushroom-cauliflower pizza. When I’m craving something a little more daring, a little more exotic and sexy, I have the white bean, roasted tomato, herb, and red flake (which is a mouthful . . . if you know what I mean). Yes, sometimes you are the more consistent lover; and, Otto’s has the tendency of teasing me so (oh, butternut-squash-cranberry, why can’t you always be there for me like I want to be for you?!). But it’s a small sin when their huge, heaping triangles of love are so reasonably priced. With their prices, it’s like they’re telling me: “from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish ’till death do us part, I hereby pledge you my faithfulness.”

I do, too, Ottos. I do, too.

Oh, boyfriend, it was only a matter of time before you realized with them it’s never forced. It’s never fake. It’s always the real deal: they are one of the best mouthgasm’s I have.

Please don’t be jealous,

Steff

From Rachel at Yelp!:

The ricotta, butternut & cranberry slice at Otto is merely a flatbread mechanism used to transport holiday cheer to my mouth, and that’s not pizza. That’s revolutionary. A $3.50 hit of “Thanksgiving essence” is now available during all seasons, forever.

From Sharkey at UrbanSpoon:

Just to be able to walk down Congress and grab a slice makes living here even sweeter. I love seeing smiley, happy faces walking the street, noshing on a slice from Otto’s. Best advertising there is!

From Matt at Yelp!:

When we get the call that there’s a meteor headed for Earth, many people will choose to be with family I’m sure.

I’ll be at Ottos Brookline (maybe I’ll invite the family along).

From Emily at Yelp!:

I need to find this Otto and have a talk with him. Who is he? What makes him tick? Most importantly, how did he become so awesome at making delicious slices of pizza?

From Christine at Yelp!:

I live in the North End of Boston and I am considering going to Harvard Square in the snow to get a slice. Its THAT GOOD.

Having a Party? A Meeting? Just Plain Hungry? Try OTTO’s ‘Buy 10 Get 1 Free’ Deal!

Otto To Go - Buy 10 Pizzas, Get 1 Free!Pizza has always been a communal food. It’s the first thing we think of when we need food for a baseball team, a birthday party, or a business meeting.

The problem is that most pizza out there is pretty interchangeable. And boring.

Enter OTTO. Imagine the look on the faces of your guests when you serve up a stack of our signature pies: Pulled pork and mango. Eggplant, ricotta and basil. Apple, bacon, and red onion. Mashed Potato, Bacon and Scallion.

If you order 10 OTTO pizzas, we throw one in for free. Pretty simple. The hardest thing is deciding which of our mouth-watering combinations to choose.

All you need to do is call in to your local OTTO Pizza location and tell them you want in on the ‘Buy 10 get 1 free’ deal.

And yes, in Portland, we will deliver at no charge (stay tuned for OTTO To Go at our Boston locations).

And don’t forget. OTTO also does catering. Whether it’s a gameday party, a business meeting, or a campus event, OTTO has you covered.

A Baker’s Dozen: 13 Mouth-Watering OTTO Pizza Instagram Pics

Nothing makes us happier than knowing our customers love our pizza. While we love your praise when you’re in the shop, we also know that a picture’s worth a thousand words.

When our customers tweet or post pictures of our pizza (or our signature sodas and salads), we know they don’t just love it, they want others to love it too.

Here are 13 of our favorite OTTO shares on Instagram. Try not to drool on the keyboard, please.

1. From italianinboston:
otto pizza

2. From stretchandmayo:
otto pizza

3. From adewomol:
otto pizza

4. From constantlyconstance:
otto pizza

5. From just_me__just_em:
otto pizza

6. From shnrl:
otto pizza

7. From truestorycory:
otto pizza

8. From craigalansmalls:
otto pizza

9. From dibbee:
otto pizza

10. From bostontweet:
otto pizza

11. From mschafer87:
otto pizza

12. Also from from mschafer87:
otto pizza

13. And once again, mschafer87 (you really love us, don’t you?):
otto pizza

Ready for Our Closeup: OTTO Pizza’s Gonna Be on TV!

We’re gonna be on TV! The Phantom Gourmet is going to run a segment on OTTO Pizza this Saturday at 11 a.m. on myTV38.

Regular readers of the OTTO Blog may recall that a few months ago, a crew from the Phantom Gourmet stopped by to see first-hand how the OTTO PIzza magic happens.

For those of you who don’t live in the Boston area, the Phantom Gourmet is a legendary television show that consistently features the best the Boston food scene has to offer. It airs on myTV38 on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. You can catch the show in Maine now, too, on WPME-TV on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Earlier this summer, the Phantom Gourmet crew spent an afternoon at the OTTO Pizza shop in Coolidge Corner, talking with co-owners Anthony Allen and Mike Keon and shooting footage that will give their viewers an up-close and personal take on the backstory behind our award-winning pies.

Catch the Phantom Gourmet – and the segment about OTTO Pizza – on Saturday and Sunday morning at 11 a.m on myTV38.

They took a good look at one of our most popular slices: The Masher, which features mashed Maine potatoes, bacon and scallions, learned about a couple of other OTTO Pizza specialties, including the Pulled Pork & Mango and the Butternut Squash, Ricotta and Cranberry, and it was great hanging out with them, too.

We can’t wait to see what airs.

You can catch our segment this Saturday morning at 11 a.m.