Mackie’s Oven in Bear: Fast, fresh-made goodness

There are lots of decent pasta places around, places where they'll make a proper fuss over you. Problem is, sometimes we don't want to cause a fuss.

Sometimes, we want quick. We want uncomplicated. We don't want to deal with a waitress, or worry about calculating a tip, or go through the whole rigamarole of waiting, ordering, waiting, eating, waiting, asking-for-the-check, then waiting some more.

What we want is more places that offer the convenience of quick counter service and the promise of decent food, but go beyond the rickety tables and minimalistic comforts of most pizza shops. In the sandwich sector, Panera Bread has this shtick down pat. And at least one local independent is making a decent stab at what I'll call the Cushiony Counter Service Concept.

Mackie's Oven was born after the owner of the original restaurant in this space -- California Pizza Kitchen -- ditched his franchise and went his own way. Today, the menu still heeds the pizza-and-pasta-and-sandwiches scheme, but is studded with some pleasant surprises and blessed with a kitchen that shows a knack for freshly executed dishes.

More restaurants ought to come up with creations as lively and well-crafted as the Jerk chicken medley ($9.99), sort of a stir-fry with a Caribbean attitude and the fresh additions of bell peppers and pineapples. Some impudent sandwich creations -- spicy roast beef with roasted red peppers ($7.50); and barbecued pulled-chicken panini ($7.25) -- sound as if they'd lift us out of a rut or two.

It's that kind of sassiness -- or rather the lack of it -- that keeps Mackie's from truly setting itself apart. Pizzas here are nicely conceived and decent enough for the price, but could be so much more with some salt, some seasoning, some sexy execution. Pasta dishes like the creamy, fulfilling penne with chicken marsala ($8.99) prove the cooks here are crafting them to order (as they should), but also cry out for more lushness, more attitude -- and less-overcooked pasta.

There's certainly far better pasta available around here - Trattoria di Napoli still stands as the standard-bearer. But give Mackie's credit. Not many places allow you to grab some fresh-made goodness so quickly, comfortably and cheaply. That's the true strength of this little place.

Though with some effort and invention and daring, I'd bet Mackie's could find strengths we never knew it had.

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