By Megan Harman
Popular Toronto pizza joint Maker Pizza has opened its second location in the city as the company strives to keep up with steadily growing demand.
The pizza company, which opened its first location in 2015 on Cameron Street, near Queen and Spadina, recently opened a second location on Avenue Road near Lawrence Ave. West.
“From the moment we opened the Cameron location doors, the response has been overwhelming,” says Dave Smulowitz, partner at Maker Pizza. “After moving into the Avenue space, we are so appreciative of the local community there for welcoming us with open arms.”
Maker Pizza offers a selection of pizzas made with high quality ingredients, including three-day aged pizza dough, organic California Bianco DiNapoli Rustic Crush tomato sauce and fresh cheeses. The most popular item on the menu is called ‘Dr. Pepperoni’ – a pizza that includes double pepperoni, fior di latte, parmesan and toasted fennel oil.
“The concept was to create the best delivery pizza in the city by elevating standards and quality of ingredients,” Smulowitz says. After having observed a heavy emphasis in the broader pizza delivery market on fast delivery and affordability, Smulowitz says it became clear that there was an opportunity to focus on quality.
“We will never sacrifice the quality of the product to speed up delivery times,” he says. “That’s what makes Maker unique amongst a sea of delivery pizza shops in Toronto.”
Maker Pizza’s restaurants are designed primarily to cater to delivery, with a small selection of seats for customers who would like to eat in-store. Both locations were designed by advertising agency The Community Agency.
The new Avenue Road location is approximately 2,000 square feet in size. Design elements include a modern and minimalist approach, with clean lines and plenty of aluminum and chrome.
“Our approach was to highlight the pizza maker,” says Jenny Vivar, creative director at Community. “We borrowed visual cues from the restaurant’s industrial brick facade and carried that through the interior.”
The company plans to open additional locations as demand continues to trend higher, however Maker Pizza is taking a measured approach to growth.
“Like any business, location is key – Maker won’t move into an area without vetting the space and area properly,” Smulowitz says. “As for which area of Toronto you’ll see us next, that’s a surprise!”
Maker Pizza is working with David Wedemire and Stan Vyriotes of DWSV Remax Ultimate Realty Inc. as it explores other potential locations.
Megan Harman is a business reporter based in Toronto. She writes about topics including retail, financial services and technology. Megan covers Toronto’s retail industry through her blog Retail Realm (torontoretail.wordpress.com). Follow her on Twitter at @meganmharman.
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