I’m not sure when the word “maker” made it into our lexicon. I mean, it’s been a term for hundreds of years, I’m sure, but it seems to have taken on a certain meaning in the YouTube age. In the world of social media. Hey, what do you do for a living? I’m a maker. Great, I’m a typer. A spreadsheeter. A Teamser. Point being, it’s a thing that tells me nothing, but tells me everything at the same time. This joint makes pizza. We get it. But are they also “makers” who make pizza? I don’t like it. Especially rising from the ashes of the much more charismatically named Ruthie’s Bar-B-Q & Pizza. That’s how you do a confusing and impossible-to-remember moniker! Bar-B-Q? Really? Anyway, this isn’t about that. Just a bugaboo of mine.
Honestly, what else could this place be but a pizza restaurant? This seems to be the move, where pizza eateries close and a new one opens in its place. Ten times out of ten. I assume this is because pizza ovens are gigantic and really hard to move. And, most likely, really expensive and probably added value in taking over a lease or buying a property. Our inability to move it is your win! So, Ruthie’s — honestly a legacy community hub with its live music evenings and constant flow of lunching kids from the high school — packs up and skedaddles and in comes Maker. That’s Maker. Not great, right? It’s like saying out loud that your favorite band is Hoobastank. Okay, I promise I’m done picking on the name. But, after much time and much speculation, Maker came into our lives. I’d like to say it’s a crowded pizza landscape here in NJ, but, weirdly, we happily welcome a new kid in town. Even if it was replacing one of the old kids. One that had an actually pretty decent slice.
So, we ordered online. The experience overall was a pleasant one. The pizza was done relatively quickly, the pickup process orderly and friendly. They certainly cleaned up the inside of the store. Gone are the downhome touches. The nods to their barbecue past with the more rustic, almost Brother Jimmy’s style Southern decor. This feels more like a minimalistic West Elm catalog AI makeover. Which is totally fine, just not particularly interesting. Their menu has gone pretty much straight-ahead pizza joint. Pizza, calzones, wings and a Caeser salad for people with no friends. They’ve leaned into the pizza thing, offering grandma pies and Detroit style, in addition to more traditional pizzas. Note that Detroit, along with Chicago-style pizza, is not pizza. One looks like weird Texas toast and the other is basically a casserole.
We went with the standard round cheese pie. It was down-the-middle pizza. Not a bar pie. Not NYC style. Not any particular style, really. Which, as it turns out, is kind of just what this part of Jersey does when not specifically coal-fired, wood-fired or otherwise called out as a specific type of pizza. I’d call it personalityless. It reminded me of the 99-cent slice joints in NYC, with a pretty bready consistency and an overly-dry crust. Hipster Jr. Jr. said of it, “It’s not satisfying to eat.” She’s a wordsmith. But I don’t disagree with her. I think — based on their menu — that perhaps they are focusing on their different types of pies. Both in style and in toppings. They have a hot pizza. And a General Tso’s pizza. And a chicken, turkey bacon ranch pizza. But I say, focus less on relying on wacky toppings to add flavor and intrigue and concentrate on getting the basic pies to a place you’re happy with — or at least Hipster Jr. Jr. is happy with. Do a plain pie and tweak, tweak, tweak. I realize Maker is still in its relative infancy, so things may improve — and also pizza cooks are not necessarily 100% consistent night to night — and I’m more than happy to try again in the future given what I take is a genuine effort to establish themselves in the community. After all, it’s pizza. And it’s an almost perfect food — even when it’s not terrific.
171 Forest St. – Montclair
973/440-1055
makerspizza.com
