HOBOKEN — After six months of “will-they-won’t-they” speculation over whether Maxwell’s, Hoboken’s iconic rock club, would be sold after ending musical operations in July and continuing solely as a restaurant, news broke on Monday that the Washington Street eatery will soon reopen as a pizzeria, according to NJ.com.
The new owners, Evan Dean and Pete Carr, attended an informal gathering at the restaurant hosted by its longtime owners, Dave and Jackie Post, and announced their plans to open a family style restaurant which will retain the historic Maxwell’s name.
“Hoboken is changing, and it’s time for Maxwell’s to change,” Dean told NJ.com. “It won’t be a pizzeria, but pizza will be a specialty. We want to be local, friendly, and affordable.”
He also said the new space is going to be a family establishment.
“You can’t help but notice all the baby strollers on Washington Street these days. Those young families need a comfortable place to have dinner. And afterwards if people want to hang around a watch a game and have a beer, we’ll do that too,” he said.
The move could be a wise business strategy, as one of the reasons former owner Todd Abramson said Maxwell’s announced its closing in July was the changing Hoboken landscape. Another reason was ongoing parking issues in town.
Dean was ambiguous as to whether the new Maxwell’s will incorporate live music.
“[It] doesn’t exclude the possibility of live music. We’ll see how it goes. Obviously it won’t be a rock club anymore but we’ll definitely be open to the idea of having live entertainment.”
The Wiggles, perhaps? The Fuzzy Lemons? — Dean DeChiaro
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