Glide Pizza is joining the restaurant ranks in South Downtown

A second, full-service location of Glide Pizza will open next year on Mitchell Street in South Downtown.

The pizzeria, scheduled to open ahead of the World Cup soccer matches taking place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in June and July, will share a 40-seat courtyard with chefs Todd Ginsberg and Josh Kim’s new Mitchell Street restaurant.

Owner Rob Birdsong wants Sliding pizza to be a neighborhood pizzeria instead of just a destination restaurant for game days and concert nights at the stadium. With seating for 50 people, the design has a nostalgic feel and is reminiscent of Glide Pizza in downtown Decatur, which became the first full-service location when it opened earlier this fall. (Think red booth seating, a slice counter, vintage tile and color block floors, and old-fashioned stained glass plant holders).

Instead of an arcade like in Decatur, Glide Pizza’s South Downtown location will have a DJ booth with resident DJs and turntables for playing vinyl records. Birdsong wants to serve the evening and night crowd and create a festive atmosphere in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on game days.

In addition to New York-style pizzas and slices, you can also expect salads, wings, mozzarella sticks and meatballs, as well as frozen drinks, cocktails, beer and wine, at the Mitchell Street pizzeria. A slice and a coke from the counter cost between $6 and $7.

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Birdsong opened Glide Pizza five years ago as a takeout window at Irwin Street Market in the Old Fourth Ward. Two years later, he moved the pizza operation to Studioplex across the street, before expanding again a few weeks later to a second location within Inner Voice Brewing in Decatur. Birdsong closed the takeout window at Decatur Brewery this summer and opened Glide Pizza as a full-service restaurant in the former Chando’s Tacos space just down the street.

For Birdsong, opening Glide Pizza as a full-service pizzeria and slice shop in South Downtown makes sense because they call what’s happening in the area “special.” Birdsong’s brother, Jon, is also one of the developers behind South Downtown.

“They campaigned hard to have us, and after taking several tours, better understanding Atlanta’s history in the area and experiencing the incredible building stock and architecture, and aligning with their vision of creating a walkable dynamic downtown, the ‘maybe’ became a ‘yes,'” Birdsong said of the decision to open Glide Pizza on Mitchell Street.

A pizzeria was always part of the South Downtown planBut even before that, Jon Birdsong and his Atlanta Tech Village partner, David Cummings, acquired the project from German developer Newport RE in 2023.

The COVID-19 pandemic derailed Newport’s forward momentum with South Downtown. Construction ground to a halt during the early days of the global health crisis, followed by months of slow progress due to material shortages and supply chain issues. The development began to fail.

Some previously announced restaurants planned for the Newport-led project were abandoned or canceled. Then came the news that Newport was selling South Downtown to Atlanta-based developer Braden Fellman Group. When the deal fell through, the Atlanta Tech Village partners purchased the South Downtown project, which includes 56 buildings and six hectares of parking spaces centered around Mitchell Street and the historic Hotel Row.

Sympathetic renovations of the century-old buildings to preserve the character and charm of the former commercial district resumed under Jon Birdsong and Cummings.

With Atlanta set to host eight World Cup games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, construction in South Downtown has only increased in recent weeks.

In addition to Tyde Tate Thai Kitchen and Spiller Park Coffee, now open on Mitchell Street, Glide Pizza will join several other emerging restaurants in South Downtown. That includes Ginsberg and Kim’s yet-to-be-named Mitchell Street restaurant, Castleberry Hill bar and restaurant Bottle Rocket, an El Tesoro location, Broad Street BBQ, from the owners of Sammy’s, and Delilah’s Everyday Soul.

The weekly food festival and market, Smorgasburg Atlanta, opens October 18 at the intersection of Forsyth and Trinity in South Downtown. Construction work also continues around the corner at the Gulch and Centennial Yards, home to the Wild Leap brewery and distillery, in anticipation of visitors attending the World Cup next summer.

Glide Pizza, 191 Mitchell St., South Center. Opening spring 2026.