A Bistro With Bocce Courts Has Set Its Sights On Buckhead

Illinois-based bowling and bistro chain Pinstripes has confirmed that it’ll be opening in Buckhead’s Phipps Plaza development sometime this year.

Atlanta Business Journal reports that the Italian-leaning restaurant is taking over a hefty two-level space of nearly 30,000 square feet in the Life Time building.

The chain’s schtick is that it’s a family friendly, American-Italian bistro, with large menus that run the gamut from pizza and pasta through to salads, “Italian jambalaya”, and burgers. (The Atlanta menu is yet to be announced, but the approach appears to be no different.)

As something of an “eatertainment” venue, Pinstripes goes beyond just food service, and will offer more than one form of ball-rolling entertainment — a number of bowling alleys will be on-site, as will bocce courts, and some kind of interactive outdoor event space.

The chain has been eyeing space at Phipps Plaza for close to a year — the first hint at its expansion to the Atlanta area came in spring 2019, although it’s now confirmed to be going ahead.

Pinstripes is a relatively small chain at just 13 locations (14, once Atlanta’s opens), but it has spread its wings fairly widely from the Chicago suburb where it first opened in 2007. It counts locations in California, Washington D.C., Connecticut, Houston, and Cleveland — the Buckhead location is its first expansion to the South.

• Bowling-dining mashup opening at redeveloped Phipps Plaza [Atlanta Business Journal]