Rejoice: The Grandma Pie Is Heading Back to Old Fourth Ward

For intown pizza aficionados who have long been mourning the loss of O4W Pizza’s grandma pie, it’s time to break out the party hats, champagne, and fireworks. Restaurateur Billy Streck (Cypress Street Pint & Plate, Hampton & Hudson) is teaming up with O4W Pizza’s Anthony Spina to open a new restaurant in Old Fourth Ward. The currently unnamed project will be part of the Studioplex development’s forthcoming expansion at 659 Auburn Avenue NE, according to a Thursday announcement.

Spina opened O4W Pizza as a stall inside Irwin Street Market, right down the street from Studioplex, in January 2015. His grandma pie — square; topped with mozzarella, marinara, Pecorino Romano, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh oregano, and basil; and cooked in a cast-iron pan — almost immediately became the most-coveted pizza in Atlanta. Alas, Spina and the grandma decamped for Duluth in June 2016, opening at a new address a month later. Since moving nearly 30 miles northeast, Spina has said he hoped to one day return to his business’s original neighborhood. That’s finally happening.

In addition to the grandma pie — as if any other details matter — the new restaurant will serve more of Spina’s pizzas, Italian snacks, sandwiches, salads, and pasta (including vegan and gluten-free options). A full bar will be in operation as well.

Billy and Jenn Streck and Spina are collaborating with local firm Smith Hanes Studio on the design. Facing the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail the space will include banquette seating and an open kitchen.

Spina and Streck hope to bring the grandma pie home and open to the public in mid-2018.

Smith Hanes Studio

• A Year Later, O4W Pizza Is Home to the Hottest Pie in Atlanta [EATL]
• RIP Grandma: O4W Pizza Is Closing at Irwin Street Market [EATL]
• O4W Pizza Opens at Its New Home in Duluth [EATL]