The line between subtle and bland can be small. As I ate pizza from Maxie's in Charles Village, my mind kept jumping back and forth between the two adjectives.

The pizzas have thin, well-made crusts, but it was the toppings that gave me pause. Sometimes they had delicate flavors, while other times they were dull.

The white eggplant pizza ($18.95 for a large), with baked eggplant, spinach, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, plus garlic and seasoning, had distinct spinach and garlic notes. It was the most pleasing of the three types of pizza I tried.

The flavors of the chicken pesto pizza ($19.95 for a large), however, seemed to get lost in its ricotta and mozzarella. The pizza tasted more of cheese than of chicken and pesto.

So, too, with the Hawaiian pizza ($3.50 a slice): good crust, good cheese, but the pineapple and ham flavors were meek.

Sitting across Charles Street from the Homewood campus of the Johns Hopkins University, Maxie's is in a prime pizza location. Moving into a space that was formerly occupied by Xando coffee house and cafe, Maxie's draws a steady stream of students.

While it offers whole pizza pies, it also offers an array of pizzas by the slice. Indeed, as soon as customers step inside the restaurant, they are greeted with a display of about 20 pizzas enclosed in glass. Customers point at the slice that catches their fancy, and it goes to the oven to warm up. Slices range from $2.12 to $3.50

There are a few booths and a big-screen television inside Maxie's, but the best seats are outside, under the umbrellas atop the tables that line the sidewalk along 31st Street.

It was soothing to sit there, in the shade, watching pedestrians amble past and the traffic scoot up Charles Street. It would be a great place to sip a beer. Maxie's has applied for a liquor license, but the day I was there, it was still serving soda.

There are hot and cold sandwiches on the menu, as well as salads, calzones and pastas. I tried the chicken-filled tortelloni ($11.95), chicken and pasta cooked in roasted garlic and spinach Alfredo sauce. It, too, presented that subtle-versus-bland conundrum.

Maxie's has a winning location, and the staff is accommodating. The pizza has a winning, crispy thin crust, but most of the toppings need a flavor boost.

Maxie's

What: 3003 N. Charles St.

Call: 410-889-1113

Open: 10:30 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday and 10:30 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday and Saturday

Entrees: $2.12 -$21

Food: ✭✭

Service: ✭✭1/2

Atmosphere: ✭✭1/2

[Key: ✭✭✭✭: Outstanding; ✭✭✭: Good; ✭✭: Fair or Uneven; ✭: Poor]