Maynard Pizza & Bar: Where creative cocktails and pizza are on the menu

Sitting on a stool at her brand new bar, a photo of her 1-year-old son hanging on the wall behind her, Vanessa DePaula is excited and more than a little anxious about her new business venture.

As manager and part owner of the revamped and renamed Maynard Pizza and Bar, formerly Maynard Pizza House, she has a lot resting on her shoulders.

DePaula and her family have owned the restaurant for 10 years, selling pizza, sandwiches and salads. Two years ago she decided to expand, so she secured a liquor license and approval from the Maynard Select Board.

Shortly after, the pandemic struck, and while takeout service at the pizza shop was robust, few people wanted to eat indoors. When it was time to renew the liquor license she let it expire.

As restrictions began to ease she reapplied for the liquor license and finished renovating the restaurant, pushing back the kitchen to allow for more tables and a new bar. Even the logo is new.

“The whole process since we came up with the idea of opening up a bar has been over two years. So it’s been a while to actually get to this point,” said the Maynard resident.

The restaurant held a soft opening Sept. 24-30, with a planned grand opening Oct. 1.

Some items hard to come by

Roughly 75 pounds of flour and more cheese than she can calculate go into making pizza at the restaurant every day, DePaula said. So far, these items have been readily available during the pandemic, but they have not been so lucky with other items.

"There are items we can’t find anymore. Random things. Like broccoli puffs that were originally on our menu and were a top seller – we can’t find them anymore – they have absolutely gone. Chicken wings are also hard to find,” she said.

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They have changed their brand of pepperoni several times because their usual brands have not been available. Corona beer is only available in cans, but all other beer has come in bottles, she said. And the list goes on.

Food prices have also skyrocketed. The cost of chicken tenders has doubled, forcing her to increase her prices. She no longer gives out paper takeout menus, opting instead to post the menu online,  because it was impossible to keep up with the price changes.

Most concerning, however, is the scarcity of pizza boxes.

“We literally cannot live without pizza boxes and we’ve had to go to several places to find them because the distributors can’t find them,” DePaula said.

Trouble finding workers

The restaurant employs about seven people, but most work part time. Three more employees would be ideal, but DePaula has had little success in finding them. 

She had hoped the bartender position would draw more people, but said it has been difficult even getting people to show up for an interview.

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“Staff is always the hardest problem. We hope now people will be more motivated to get back to work and they will find it interesting to be able to grow with this company,” DePaula said. “We’ve asked all of our customers to be patient because this is all new for us.

Plans for now and for the future

Despite the struggles, DePaula is looking forward to what the future will bring.

She and her staff have been experimenting with alcoholic beverages, drawing on their Brazilian background to create unique libations.

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Drinks like Aperol Spritz, a bright orange drink, made with aperol, soda water, proseco and orange juice and the Carprinha with freshly squeezed limes and Brazilian cachaca are now on the menu. Their signature cocktail is the purple Dolcezza D'ast, made with lavender.

“So the drinks are absolutely stunning and they are different,” DePaula said. “For the past two weeks we’ve been doing tests, trying to see what the best combination is.”

Not content to stop at cocktails, she also plans to expand the menu, and add some appetizers, more pasta dishes and perhaps burgers.

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The focus will always be pizza, she said, but she wants to make sure the restaurant appeals to anyone who wants to come for dinner and a cocktail. They are looking to be creative and a little bit different, and perhaps bring in some family recipes to share their Brazilian heritage.

“So we’re going to experiment and see what people in Maynard like,” she said.

Maynard Pizza and Bar is at 149 Main St. in Maynard. The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Saturday. Visit maynardpizzabar.com/ for information.