Charles Village residents now have a new neighborhood joint to get their mozzarella and pepperoni fix. Maxie's Pizza Bar Grille, a 110-seat casual restaurant, opened in April at 3003 N. Charles Street.
The 2,800-square-foot restaurant sells pizza, pasta and salads. And hopefully later in June, Maxie's will also have a full bar downstairs once it gets its liquor license, says Luigi Romano , co-owner.Romano and his partner Luigi Coppola have invested about $400,000 to open the restaurant.
Romano moved from Philadelphia to Baltimore nine months ago after a cousin who operates several restaurants told Romano he thought his pizza skills could make some dough in Charm City.
Romano chose Charles Village because there wasn't another pizza shop like it in the area. (Ledo Pizza, however, will soon open a store about a block away).
Just across the street from Johns Hopkins University campus, Maxie's will hopefully fill students' craving for cheap and filling fare, Romano says. He has operated a similar restaurant near Temple University in Philadelphia and found that pizza plus college students are like mozzarella and tomato sauce -- a perfect match.
Romano also thought that a casual restaurant, rather than a pricey eatery, was the way to go. "The way the economy has been going, I thought of going back to pizza," Romano says. He has also operated an upscale restaurant in Doylestown, Pa. called Rustico.
Pizza by the slice runs between $2.25 and $3.50, while pasta dishes are a little pricier at about $11. Maxie's serves as many as 20 varieties at once, including Buffalo chicken, bacon and tomatoes, chicken pesto and cheesesteak pizza.
"There's always something going on," Romano says of Charles Village. Romano also likes the fact that the area attracts a variety of people from all over the country working at Johns Hopkins.
Check out what else is happening in
Charles Village!
Source: Luigi Romano, Maxie's
Writer: Julekha Dash