If you’re a fan of Pinocchio’s square pies, this film slice just might fill you up
One by one, Harvard Square’s old-school haunts are slipping into memory. Whitney’s closed in December 2024, and Charlie’s Kitchen, which shuttered after a devastating flood in January, has confirmed it will not reopen. Over in Inman Square, S&S Deli closed this spring after 107 years.
Pinocchio’s, the modest pizza-and-sub shop tucked away on Winthrop Street, remains. Now, the longtime purveyor of the square slice gets its turn on the screen in “Pinocchio’s Harvard,” a 20-minute documentary by Albanian filmmaker Valmir Tertini. You can catch the film Sunday afternoon at Harvard’s Boylston Hall, where Tertini will be on hand. The event, presented by the Harvard Albanian Students Association and Tertini’s production company, vivFilms, aims to shift attention from the university’s celebrated classrooms to the nearby gathering place where a mouthwatering slice and a casual conversation might provide their own education.
The film frames the snug pizzeria, which has been feeding Harvard and its surrounding community since 1966, as an essential cornerstone of life in the square. Known as “Noch’s” to regulars, its fan list includes Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Matt Damon, Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu; some of their photos hang on the walls.
We’ve penned our appreciation in the past. Sixty years in business is a substantial run for any restaurant, especially in a neighborhood where each departure prompts another round of reckonings about what the square is becoming.
Tertini discovered Pinocchio’s by chance when he and his wife, Enxhi, walked around Harvard Square. She mentioned a well-known pizzeria nearby, and the name rang a bell: He’d heard it on the television series “Suits.” (The clip makes it into the film.) While Tertini enjoyed a slice, he met owner Adam DiCenso and asked whether anyone had made a documentary about the place. DiCenso said there had been multiple newspaper stories and television segments, but no documentary.
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