The sign reads “pizza” in the window of the Tideside Social Club, and technically that’s not incorrect. But hiding just beneath the veneer of a typical pizza locale is something far more extravagant in its diversity of taste and liberation of aesthetics. The “pizza” signage is what owner Joey McCarran calls a “sneaky” way to guide locals to Hampton Beach’s newest takeout pizzeria, The Reaper.
The Reaper pizzeria started serving specialty pizzas out of the Tideside window Friday as a “pop-up” takeout spot. However, the venture’s success has now nearly led to it becoming a full-time institution, as its unconventional offerings courted fans from far and wide. McCarran said he hopes it will evolve into a year-round part of his business at the beach, as the new takeout service will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m.
Ricochet and Reaper
McCarran said pizza has always been a big part of his life. When a wildfire forced him and his wife to move from California to New England in 2018, McCarran started farming in Massachusetts while opening the Ricochet in Derry. The pizzeria’s name was chosen for the couple’s ability to ricochet back from the challenge of losing their home on the West Coast. Now, since McCarran opened Tideside Social Club at 9 Ocean Blvd. last summer, he remodeled the space and serves a menu of items that use ingredients from his Massachusetts farm. Steaks and other meat on the menu come from the Tuckaway Tavern’s popular butchery, making Ricochet pizzeria not only a holistic and organic choice but one that is completely unique from its many competitors.
You can throw a rock in New York and hit a pizzeria, but rare is the day that you find a pizzeria whose ingredients are homegrown and as carefully considered and curated as those at Ricochet or their brand new pizzeria, The Reaper. While its name may seem ominous, it is actually a cheeky reminder to patrons of just how authentic the food they are eating truly is.
McCarran and his wife, Lo, own the Ricochet pizzeria in Derry, but he said the style served at the beach will be its own, separate from the New York style sold in Derry. The Fiero oven ordered from Italy produces a puffy pizza dough McCarran described as close to Neapolitan. “It’s not that there’s no good pizza on the beach,” McCarran said. “It’s just that we wanted to show off what we can do in a new way.”
An Unprecedented Pizzeria Experience
The season was short upon first opening, as the McCarrans opened in July. The business was there, though, as McCarran described the Tideside being full of people from open to close for the second half of the season. He said they considered staying open this winter as well but decided to close until April 2025 and focus on perfecting their restaurant model.
“That two and a half months was the soft summer,” McCarran said.
McCarran wanted the space to be used in the offseason, especially with the Fiero oven at their disposal, delivered from Italy. He applied for another business license to open The Reaper strictly as a window-service pizza place.
Now, McCarran hopes that The Reaper can be a success year-round. He said they will continue the concept into the summer if it does well in the offseason.
“If it takes off, we’re going to probably have it going all the time just to coincide with the Tideside,” McCarron said.
Spicing Up the Lives of Patrons
Additionally, The Reaper is already the name of a pizza at Ricochet that features habanero ghost pepper. McCarran said they almost gave that name to Ricochet itself. McCarran said The Reaper was not named for the reaper pepper, which he said would be too hot to serve on the new eatery’s pizza. However, he claimed that many pizzas have spice and include ingredients like infused hot honey.
“Everything’s got a little bit of a kick to it, but it’s definitely kind of in the middle of the road,” McCarran said.
The Reaper will be available for delivery through apps like DoorDash. McCarran hopes to have the Tideside find its stride next summer, enough to stay open year-round. Whether that happens or not, he is optimistic The Reaper will be here to stay in both the summer and the offseason.
“We do hope to get to a full year,” McCarran said. “The Reaper, it will always come out at night.”
