Pizza Powering Music Education

Music has fueled what we do since we opened the first OTTO in Portland’s Arts District in 2009.  We have employed, supported, and fed creative types for the past 14 years. We’ve hosted live music, sponsored live music events, and we personally program the music we play in our restaurants every day. Music is an essential ingredient for us.  We’ve seen first-hand how music can foster creative collaboration, encourage the exchange of ideas, and build community, and in 2023 we are committed to making an impact, at a time when music education funding is being reduced or eliminated. 

Maine Academy of Modern Music

Starting April 1, $1 from every Seasonal Special pizza sold in Maine and Massachusetts will be donated to local non-profit organizations working to make quality music education available to students. 

In Maine, $1 from every Seasonal Special pie sold will be donated to the Maine Academy of Modern Music, a nonprofit organization serving over 2000 students statewide – over 1600 of which access quality music programming at a free or reduced cost. Additionally, MAMM regularly provides music education programs to schools, civic organizations and other non-profit organizations throughout Maine. 

In Massachusetts, $1 from every Seasonal Special pie will go to Berklee’s City Music Boston, a nonprofit program that provides music education to 4th-12th graders in underserved communities in Greater Boston (and beyond).  

City Music Boston

OTTO’s Seasonal Specials rotate on a quarterly basis, often utilizing a creative mix of fresh, in-season toppings.  Many of these quarterly signature pizzas have become customer favorites over the years, eventually finding their way onto our year-round menu. Our current special is Asparagus, Prosciutto & Pesto, available through May 31, 2023, with a new special announced June 1. 

We are excited to kick off this partnership with MAMM and City Music Boston.  Next time you order one of our Seasonal Specials, know that you are helping to power music education, one pie at a time. 

Place your order today!
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Feeding the Frontline has hit $100K!

At OTTO, giving back to our communities has always been a priority. In the past year, we’ve begun two ongoing programs: our monthly specials donations, in which we’ve partnered with Cooking Matters in MA and FEED Kids in ME to donate $1 from every monthly special pizza sold, and Feeding the Frontline, where we’ve turned customer contributions into countless deliveries, feeding thousands of healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic.

We are so excited to announce that, as of this month, we’ve reached $100,000 in donations to our Feeding the Frontline program! We’re so grateful to our incredible customers for making this initiative so successful. Both Feeding the Frontline and our monthly donations program would not be possible without your support. We can also say firsthand how appreciative the frontline workers we’ve delivered to have been to benefit from this program.

Because of your generous donations, we’ve been able to make deliveries to over 75 healthcare facilities in Maine and Massachusetts, including:

  • Maine Medical Center
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
  • Boston Children’s Hospital
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Tufts Medical Center
  • Maine General Hospital
  • Mercy Hospital
  • Boston Medical Center
  • Fenway Health
  • Beverly Hospital
  • Mid Coast Hospital
  • Mount Auburn Hospital
  • Emerson Hospital

Although we have reached an amazing milestone, we’re not out of the woods yet. If you’re able, please consider making a donation with your next order, so we may continue to support our healthcare heroes and fuel them through their shifts as they work tirelessly to keep our communities safe.

Tips for Kids: OTTO’s Southie, South End, and Beverly locations to donate tips to local children’s organizations

As part of the ongoing Tips For Kids initiative, OTTO’s Southie and South End locations have selected The Tierney Learning Center to be the recipient of all customer tips from September 1, 2021 through November 30, 2021. (OTTO’s new Beverly location will be announcing their recipient in the coming days.)

Located in the heart of Old Colony in South Boston, The Tierney Learning Center serves youth and families living in affordable housing communities by providing a safe, caring, and welcoming environment with an array of programming geared towards improving the wellbeing of individuals and families in the community.

We owe a ton of thanks to our Southie, South End, and Beverly staff and the generosity of our customers for making these donations possible. We know that, now more than ever, charities and community organizations need additional support to continue offering the services they provide.




2014: A Year of Giving Back

Since opening its first little slice shop on Congress Street in Portland in 2009, giving back has been an big part of what OTTO does. From day one, co-owners Anthony Allen and Mike Keon believed that it was important to better the communities in which OTTO does business, and this sentiment reverberates through the growing independent chain today.

10414491_806020339409898_4134071848483003687_nIt is not lost on us that without having been embraced and supported over the past 5+ years by our communities, we would not be able to grow this sentiment into an integral part of the chain’s culture.

We are now running weekly fundraiser series in four locations in two states. In addition to these, we provide many in-kind donations to many deserving charities and community organizations throughout the year.

OTTO has been fortunate enough to have donated to over 250 organizations in Maine, Massachusetts and beyond in 2014. We are extremely grateful to be in a position to do so. Perhaps more so, we are thankful for the many wonderful organizations (and those who keep them operating) who tirelessly work to better our communities in so many ways.

As we look back on 2014, we want to acknowledge some of the great organizations that we have had the pleasure of working with in some capacity.

Thank you for all you do.

MAINE:
48hour Film Festival10491185_10154228467515464_5172975192474676961_n
American Diabetes Association
American Red Cross
An Evening of Promise
Animal Refuge League
Art Play Nursery School
Barbara Bush Cures for Kids
Bayside Community Health Fair
Borgen Project
Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine
Camp Twitch & Shout
Cape Elizabeth Girl’s Volleyball
Cape Elizabeth High School Baseball
Cape Elizabeth High School’s Mock Trial Team
Cape Elizabeth Project Graduation
Children’s Association for Maximum Potential
Children’s Museum of Maine
Co-op Nursery School1979493_879431622068769_3191938351394253805_n
Coastal Studies for Girls
Cultivating Community
Deering High School
Easter Seals ME
Empowering Young Women
Environmental Health Strategy Center
Family Crisis Services
Florence House
Free The Children
Freeze out Hunger
Friends of Feral Felines
Gorham High School Girl Up
GLSEN
Hall School
Hardy Girls Healthy Women
Holy Cross School10174868_10152261591462839_5044234833510577421_n
Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership
Husky Harvest
Junior League of Portland
King Middle School
Knights of Columbus Cheverus Council
Learning Works
Levy Day School
Longfellow Elementary School
Love, People
Lucy K Fund
Lucky Pup Rescue
Lyric Music Theater
Magic Matinee
Mahoney Middle School
Maine Books for Maine Kids
Maine Cancer Foundation10155329_770606132951319_527890677_n
Maine Children’s Cancer Fund
Maine Freedom Project
Maine Island Trail Association
Maine Military Museum
Maine Narrow Gauge
Make A Wish Maine
March of Dimes
Maine Children’s Cancer Program
Mechanics Hall
Michael Pecha Cancer Fund
Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Musica De Filia
National Tourette Syndrome Association
Parkside Neighborhood Association
Pets for Vets10310591_793342390677693_2702114172873646891_n
Planned Parenthood
Port Resources
Portland Buy Local
Portland Education Foundation
Portland High School
Portland Public Library
Portland Stage Company
Portland Sunshine Rotary
Portland Trails
Portland Veterans Acupuncture Clinic
Portland Youth Dance
Preble Street Teen Center
SailMaine
SealsFit
Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine
Silent Sidekicks
South Portland Food Cupboard1545826_738917119453554_1571773475_n
South Portland High School
South Portland High School Robotics
South Portland High School Soccer
South Portland Swim Boosters
South Portland High School Project Graduation
SPACE Gallery
Spindleworks
The Children’s Trust
The South Portland Historical Society
The Telling Room
UNE Medication Collection
Voter Education Brigade
Winship Memorial Fund
WMPG
Women in Harmony
YMCA for Adaptive Services

MASSACHUSETTS:
Alzheimer Association’s RunTriRide
American Red Cross10276025_437417973060256_6145661167063435402_n
Amphibious Achievements
Boston Children’s Hospital
Boston College Relay for Life
Boston Collegiate Charter School
Boston Minstrels
Boston University China Care Fund
Boston University Occupational Therapy
Boston Workman’s Circle
Brian D. Silver Memorial Fun
Brookline Boys Basketball
Brookline Early Education Project
Brookline Food Coop
Brookline High School
Brookline Teen Center
BU 85 Broads
BU Center for Gender Sexuality
BU China Care Fund10367818_794314320580500_6700202918988191713_n
BU College of Fine Arts
BU Ellevate
BU Global Water Brigades
BU Law Public Interest Project
BU Marketing Club
BU Outing Club
BU Pre-Law Review
BU Relay for Life
BU Sargent College- Ghana Volunteer Trip
BU Senior Theatre Arts Majors Productions
BU Sigma Beta Rho
BU Unite for Sight10168161_788494334495832_2633235171370483254_n
BU Water Polo
Cambridge Community Chorus
Children’s Center for Communication
Congregation Kehillath Israel
Coolidge Corner Community Chorus
Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation
Cross Keys Retreat
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Destination ImagiNation- Lynnfield HS
Edward Devotion School
EMARC
Engineers Without Borders
Evening with Champions
FairTrade (Harvard U.)
Family Equality Council
Fenway Health
Friends of Buker
Friends of Lynnfield Library
Gathering Change
Global Water Brigades
Greenwood Elementary
Harvard China Care
Helping Hands for Homeless
Huckleberry Hill Elementary School
Humanist Community at Harvard
Lawrence School PTO10267777_784309914914274_5710944405256697106_n
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Lynnfield High School
Lynnfield Pioneer Football Club
Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress
Massmouth
Melrose Humane Sociaty
Morse Elementary School
Nashoba Learning Group
NEADS (Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans)
Newbury College Alumni Committee
Newburyport River Run
North Shore Scleroderma
Northeast Parent Advisory Council
Omega Phi Alpha
Pan-Mass Challenge Team Paul & Eve
Partners in Health10525905_761604797231921_5668220597958144632_n
River Relay for Real Lives
Rodman Ride for Kids
Safe Passage
Science Club for Girls
Sinclair Firefighters Benefit
Smart Woman Securities
St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital
Stock Our Shelves
Summer St. Elementary PTO
Temple Ohabei Shalom
Unite for Sight
WGBH
With Certainty Project
Wounded Warrior Project