After a late night out, there tends to be one place on students’ minds for a quick but satisfactory bite: Crispy Dough. Well-known by students from universities all across the city, the iconic Crispy Dough Pizzeria located on Tremont Street in the heart of Mission Hill has served students for over 10 years with a taste of international pizza.
Carter Gramiak, a political science master’s student at Northeastern University, moved to Mission Hill, affectionately known as “The Hill,” at the beginning of his third year of undergraduate studies and has been a resident for the past two years.
“I’d never thought of it as like an important cultural or social part of living on The Hill. But it absolutely is,” Gramiak said. “Everybody knows where it is. Everyone knows how to get there. Everybody has an order. I could tell you what my roommates would order before we would get up to the counter. It’s just kind of that vibe. It’s cool. I love it there.”
Yousef Irziqat, owner of Crispy Dough Pizzeria, grew up in Hebron, Palestine in the West Bank. After receiving a law degree from Applied Science Private University in Amman, Jordan, he moved back to Palestine, where he found it difficult to implement his studies.
Striving for better opportunities, Irziqat moved to the United States in November 2006, where he worked for his brother’s pizza shop, Il Mondo Pizzeria, on Huntington Avenue. He found himself managing the shop just after six months, and within a year, daily sales at Il Mondo had increased by 6%.
Witnessing this success, Irziqat decided to start a pizzeria of his own, opening Crispy Dough’s doors March 15, 2011.
“I know the area, it has potential. It’s growing with the students, because there are colleges around, and they will never shut down,” Irziqat said. “We’ll stay for hundreds of years, and [so will the] universit[ies] and college[s], universities and hospitals. I said this is a good place.”
After just five years of business, Irziqat received a license from the city to stay open until 2 a.m., solidifying Crispy Dough as the nighttime hot spot it is today.
“I think [Crispy Dough] draws a crowd, just because everyone knows it. It’s made a name for itself. It’s a great place to meet up, at the end of an evening, and you can see everyone and kind of just calm down and chill before going home,” said Tumi Mosiah, a fifth-year journalism major.
For Gramiak, a hot slice at Crispy Dough never disappoints.
“I definitely appreciated the consistency, especially sometimes coming back from a long night out, it was kind of nice to know, ‘Alright, I’m going to spend $5 right now, I’m going to get the same slice of pizza that I know and love, and it’s going to be quick and easy and perfect,’” Gramiak said.
Although he is the boss, Irziqat often works behind the counter just like his employees. He goes into Crispy Dough almost every day to do anything from maintenance to cooking and customer service.
“Equality is very important. [I] treat [my employees] as a family. I do work like them. You know, I clean the corners. I clean the trash. No problem with me,” he said.
Irziqat has created strong relationships with his employees, gaining loyalty and trust to keep efficient operations. Some of his employees have worked for him for nearly 12 years.
“I love the staff there. It’s really young staff as well. I have lots of memories with them,” Mosiah said.
As a devout Muslim himself, Irziqat is dedicated to sharing his culture through his menu, hoping to give the Muslim community in Mission Hill a taste of home.
All of his menu items are halal, a specific preparation of meat and animal slaughter that adheres to Islamic law. Before halal products became more available, Irziqat had his halal meats imported from Canada to adhere to his religious practices.
In 2015, the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center recognized Crispy Dough Pizza for its commitment to the community in their annual report.
Beyond the Crispy Dough kitchen, Irziqat continues to bring Islamic food to the Mission Hill community. In March 2024, he opened Hebron Market just two doors down from Crispy Dough, filling the shelves with food items from all over the world.
“There are internationally, from Turkey, from Syria, from Lebanon, from everywhere, from Palestine olive oils and stuff,” Irziqat said.
Lillian Rafidi, a third-year psychology major, is a loyal customer of Hebron Market. She often goes on Fridays to get her favorite Khobis Arabic bread right after it gets delivered. Growing up Palestinian and halal, it was important to find the food and spices familiar to her.
“It’s really amazing because it’s the inclusivity, especially [during] this time, Palestinian culture is really important to have right there,” Rafidi said. “I go in there and I speak Arabic to these people and they know me, but it’s just really great to have that community in an essentially foreign place to a lot of Palestinian or Arab people. So for that to be right there, readily available, and everybody in there [is] so nice, it’s just really welcoming.”
Irziqat and his businesses have served other community hubs within Mission Hill. He has donated extra fish and meat inventory from the market to Mission Hill Main Streets and The Boston Center for Youth and Families. He also connected with the local high school and the Mission Hill Grammar School to provide food from the restaurant.
As one of seven brothers and six sisters, family has always been important to Irziqat in keeping his business alive.
“Family is very important to have in a business like this, because you need a family who cares about the business,” he said. And for many Crispy Dough customers, they are a part of the family, too.
“It’s [a] place you meet people at after [a] night out. It’s [a] place you plan to go before your night out, or a place you want to go to for dinner,” Gramiak said. “In 10 years from now… I am going to remember Crispy Dough.”
