West-End Outlier Max's Pizza Serve Up Surprisingly Strong Pizza Options

Picture this: you're a savvy Beijinger living in Babaoshan. No, that's not facetious, because even though that far-flung, west- end Line 1 subway station is far from the F&B action in Dongcheng and Chaoyang, it's far cheaper and sleepier than those frequently, overwhelmingly bustling locales. But there's only one problem – despite the money you're saving and the stress you're avoiding in that sleepier haunt, you're still strapped for solid Western eats. Luckily, you now have somewhere like Max's Pizza, one of the few independent/local pizza chains with branches in Beijing boondocks like Babaoshan.

Is Max's Babaoshan branch good enough to lure pizza lovers from other neighborhoods? No. But will it suffice in a pinch for people living on Beijing's west end? When we stopped by to have a try, our first impression left us dubious to say the least. The restaurant is situated on the second floor of a strip about a five-minute walk from the Babaoshan subway station. The decor is drab, with phony leaves and vine strung up on one wall, and the service is lackluster, with unenthused staff dragging their feet after taking your order. The menu has no trace of English, save for a few phrases like barbecue, but with our rudimentary Chinese we were able to order a meat lover's pie.

When that pizza arrived, however, it was surprisingly good enough to quell our other gripes, at least temporarily. We were bracing ourselves for Pizza Hut-esque slices, but instead, Max's meat lover's pizza boasted a pillowy, textured crust that was nourishing in a homemade way. The toppings weren't exceptional, but they were flavorful, meaty and abundant enough to please our taste buds, though the sauce could've used an added oumph to make it more memorable.

Good as it was, the dough of course doesn't compare to Max's wood-fired Italian competitors in Chaoyang, and the restaurant's other flaws really do need to be addressed if it ever hopes to open branches successfully in more competitive neighborhoods. And yet the pizza at this fringe neighborhood restaurant was better than it had any right to be, for which discerning customers in this quiet neighborhood will be grateful, and which left us rooting for this offbeat underdog to better realize its potential and try to make it with more branches in livelier locales.

Max's Pizza
Daily, 10am -10pm. 1/F, 11 Bldg, C2 Beijing Taiwan Street off of 2 Shijingshan Road
北京石景山路2号北京台湾街C2区11号楼1楼

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Photos: Kyle Mullin