Family-run since 1987, Maria’s Pizza & Subs has been serving the Milltown community for over 35 years and now appears to go by the name: “Maria’s Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen,” according to their website. Sadly, there are a bunch of fugazy 10s and other artificially inflated scores bolstering the overall rating of this joint, placing unfair expectations upon their pizza. Doughy, cheesy, thickish, fairly basic, though not as typically heavy, but very standard and uninspiring football pizza just about sums it up. While the dough is mostly soft, the undercarriage is firmish with quality char, particularly atop the crust, which isn’t crunchy or crispy but definitely tasty and firmer than the rest of the dough. The shredded mozzarella blend is also pretty standard, tasty enough but rather plain, just a notch above generic. The cheese is also a little on the thick side, outweighing the amount of sauce significantly. Unfortunately, the sauce is a bit of an issue; lacking any real zip or pizzazz, it comes across as bland and boring, not enough volume or flavor. The sauce isn’t bad by any means; it just needs some more zest and spice. Maybe boost the quantity of the sauce as well; it’s far too underwhelming, really leaves the rest of the ingredients hanging. Perhaps try adding some garlic powder, crushed red pepper, grated Parmesan or a topping of your choosing to inject some life into this pie. The pedestrian flavor of the sauce really dulls the entire pizza, wasting very solid dough and cheese components. Maybe I was expecting more from this pie because of the fraudulent scores pushing the rating towards the 8s; but all in all, this is dime-a-dozen, run-of-the-mill, disappointingly average football pizza.
