With a New Owner and Name, Virginia-Highland Is Still Getting a Neighborhood Pizzeria

Nina and Rafi and Hampton and Hudson owner Billy Streck opens his next restaurant, a pizzeria and slice shop called Pielands, in the former Goin’ Coastal space in Virginia-Highland this fall. Pielands will serve whole pies, slices, salads, and Italian-style subs, along with beer and wine.

Pielands joins Academy Coffee and butchery and market Kinship and Paolo’s Gelato at the circa-1910 Va-Hi building on the corner of Virginia and North Highland avenues.

Designed after the old-school slice joints and pizzerias Streck grew up around in New York, including the restaurant his grandfather and father owned, expect design elements at Pielands like red, white, and brick accents throughout and a large, vintage photo of the Brooklyn Bridge in the dining room. People order at the counter and can either dine in or take their food to go.

Streck, who also owns Italian restaurant Lyla Lila in Midtown, takes over the Virginia Avenue space that was to house O4W Pizza owner and former Nina and Rafi partner Anthony Spina’s Pizza by the Slice restaurant. Spina and Streck opened Nina and Rafi together in the Old Fourth Ward three years ago, naming the restaurant for their grandmothers. The Eastside Beltline pizzeria quickly became known for its thick-crust, Detroit-style pies and takes on Spina’s Grandma pizzas, made popular at O4W Pizza.

Last fall, Spina departed the business, claiming he was “forced out of the creative process,” but wouldn’t provide further details on the split, citing legal constraints. Spina told Eater at the time he still expected Pizza by the Slice to open in early 2021. It’s unclear if Spina and Streck were partnering in that restaurant, but a representative speaking on behalf of Streck says Spina “is not involved in Pielands.”

Spina did not respond to a request for comment on the decision to no longer open Pizza by the Slice in Virginia-Highland or if he plans to open the restaurant elsewhere in Atlanta. Streck declined to comment on or clarify the transition of the space from Pizza by the Slice to Pielands.

1021 Virginia Avenue, Atlanta. pielands.com.

• It Looks Like Sicilian-Style Pizza Is Headed to Virginia-Highland [EATL]
• Pizza Maker Anthony Spina Departs the Kitchen at Detroit-Style Pizza Joint Nina and Rafi [EATL]