Courtesy of Gabriella Valladares.
Five years after debuting as a pizza window operating out of Irwin Street Market on the Eastside Beltline, the first dine-in location of Glide Pizza opened last week in Decatur.
The pizzeria took over the former Chando’s Tacos space on West Ponce, also once home to The Pinewood Tippling Room. Glide previously operated a pizza window inside Decatur brewery Inner Voice Brewing before its departure in July, and continues to operate a takeout window at StudioPlex in the Old Fourth Ward.
The new location’s most significant changes are an expanded menu, full bar, and ample seating dedicated to patrons of the pizzeria. Seating is sparse, and mostly outdoors, in the Old Fourth Ward. At Inner Voice, Glide shared space with the brewery.
Between the dining room and bar, Glide’s new West Ponce location accommodates up to 95 people. There’s even room for an arcade section with a NBA-regulation basketball hoop.
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Courtesy of Gabriella Valladares.
Courtesy of Gabriella Valladares.
Courtesy of Gabriella Valladares.
Founder Rob Birdsong said he hopes Glide Pizza’s first full-fledged restaurant will become a neighborhood hangout for Decatur residents. With a design that evokes the space-themed restaurant Pizza Planet from the movie “Toy Story,” sprawling corner booths comfortable enough to sleep in, and a geometric carpet that screams 1990s roller rink, it’s hard not to feel like you’ve teleported back to your childhood. Secondary colors, like the persimmon benches and Western ranch-themed tile floors, give Glide an especially youthful aura in Decatur.
“We’ve only ever been a walk-off window,” Birdsong said. “This is the first real opportunity we’ve had inviting people into our home.”
Birdsong said much of the design inspiration for Glide comes from pizza joints of the past, such as the dine-in Pizza Huts that featured video games for kids and a bar for adults, or the New York City neighborhood spots he frequented as a child.
Glide’s popular “pizza ranch” is given pride of place amongst the decor in Decatur. (Courtesy of Gabriella Valladares)
Courtesy of Gabriella Valladares.
“Those places were always fun and I had a lot of core memories in my life that would come from those,” Birdsong said. “Part of this is providing that for young families and people who just don’t want to do Papa John’s and Domino’s.”
Unlike its window operations, the Decatur restaurant serves an expanded menu and includes a full bar. In addition to pizza and salads, look for wings, mozzarella sticks, and meatballs, along with frozen drinks, simple cocktails, beer, and wine.
“We don’t want to overly complicate things,” he said of expanding the menu and offering cocktails in Decatur. “We want to have variety, but we want it to be really good.”
Birdsong will gradually add dishes to the menu as Glide gets up to speed in Decatur. Currently, the restaurant is operating in “soft opening” mode.
Wings are part of the expanded menu in Decatur. (Courtesy of Gabriella Valladares)
Birdsong is all about people forging memories at Glide, similar to how he remembers pizzerias being part of his life growing up. Eventually, he plans to regularly host events, such as hoops tournaments, and introduce semi-private party packages for birthdays and anniversaries, just like at Pizza Hut back in the day. People are welcome to come in to eat and stay for hours, he said, or grab a slice to go at the pizza window up front.
After five years in business, Birdsong is still humbled by the community support for Glide. In a way, the Decatur location means Glide has come full circle.
“We’ve had such a consistent, steady customer base who have continued to support us and continue to patronize us that now we need a bigger space,” Birdsong said of finally opening a dine-in pizzeria. “[In Decatur,] we can make sure that people have a great experience.”
254 West Ponce de Leon Avenue, Decatur. Open Tuesday-Thursday, 3-9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon-10 p.m.; Sunday, noon-8 p.m.
Dining and Cooking