Glide Pizza has picked 191 Mitchell St. in South Downtown for its second full-service restaurant, with an opening planned for spring 2026. The pizzeria is slated to open before the World Cup matches scheduled at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in June and July.
Inside, the restaurant will hold 50 seats. Outside, it will split a 40-seat courtyard with the new Mitchell Street restaurant from chefs Todd Ginsberg and Josh Kim, which has not yet been named. Owner Rob Birdsong wants the Mitchell Street shop to work as a neighborhood pizzeria, and not only as a destination for game days and concert nights at the stadium.
The look will borrow from the Glide Pizza in downtown Decatur, which opened earlier this fall as the brand's first full-service location. Plan on red bench booths, a slice counter, vintage tile, color-block floors and old-school stained glass plant holders. Decatur has an arcade area. Mitchell Street will have a DJ booth instead, with regular DJs and turntables for vinyl records. Birdsong is aiming at evening and late-night diners, along with a party atmosphere on Mercedes-Benz Stadium game days.
The menu centers on New York-style pizzas and slices. Salads, wings, meatballs and mozzarella sticks round it out, and the bar will serve beer, wine and cocktails. At the to-go counter, a slice and a Coke will cost between $6 and $7.
From a takeout window to Mitchell Street
Glide Pizza began five years ago as a takeout window at Irwin Street Market in the Old Fourth Ward. Two years in, Birdsong moved the operation across the street to Studioplex, and a few weeks after that he added a second spot inside Inner Voice Brewing in Decatur. This summer he closed the brewery window and reopened just up the street as a full-service restaurant in the former Chando's Tacos space.
Birdsong calls what is happening in South Downtown special, and he has a family tie to it: his brother, Jon Birdsong, is one of the district's developers. Rob Birdsong said the development team campaigned hard to land Glide. Several tours, a better understanding of the history of Atlanta in the area, the building stock and architecture, and a shared vision of a walkable downtown moved the answer from maybe to yes, Rob Birdsong said.
A pizzeria was in the South Downtown plan before Jon Birdsong and Atlanta Tech Village partner David Cummings took over the project in 2023 from German developer Newport RE. Newport's progress stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a planned sale to Atlanta developer Braden Fellman Group fell through before the Atlanta Tech Village partners bought the 56-building project around Mitchell Street and historic Hotel Row. Renovations of its century-old buildings resumed under the new owners, and construction has picked up in recent weeks.
Joining a growing restaurant lineup
Two businesses are already open on Mitchell Street: Tyde Tate Thai Kitchen and Spiller Park Coffee. Still to come in South Downtown are the Ginsberg and Kim restaurant, Castleberry Hill bar and restaurant Bottle Rocket, a location of El Tesoro, Broad Street BBQ from the owners of Sammy's, and Delilah's Everyday Soul. The weekly food festival and market Smorgasburg Atlanta was set to open on Oct. 18, 2025, at Forsyth and Trinity.
Around the corner, construction also continues at the Gulch and Centennial Yards, home to Wild Leap brewery and distillery, ahead of World Cup visitors.
Reported by Rough Draft Atlanta.
