Look inside Glide Pizza’s first dine-in restaurant, now open in Decatur

In 2020, Rob Birdsong left his day job to open a New York-style slice shop in the Irwin Street Market in Old Fourth Ward. Two years later, he relocated Glide Pizza to Studioplex across the street, adding a few tables and stools where pizza lovers can perch. The menu expanded gradually with 20-inch pies and favorites like Pepp City (spicy pepperoni) and White Garlic. In 2022, Glide partnered with Inner Voice Brewing on an outpost inside the brewery in Decatur. It was there that Birdsong’s Hot Honey Burrata gained notoriety and became a permanent menu item. But Birdsong still felt pressed for space. So earlier this month, Glide moved (within walking distance); this time to the former Pinewood space. (Inner Voice has since launched its own pizza brand called Brainwave.)

The 3,600-square-foot restaurant is the first Glide with ample seating, a full bar, and a small arcade. It maintains Glide’s simple menu (seven pizzas, three salads, and lemon-pepper and buffalo hot wings), as well as its counter service model. Chocolate chip cookies and locally sourced ice cream are in the works.

“We really put a lot of TLC into what we offer,” Birdsong says. “Our dough ferments for 48 hours. We make fresh mozzarella in a house every day. We make our sauce by hand.”

Photo by Gabriella Valladares

Photo by Gabriella Valladares

Photo by Gabriella Valladares

Every pie comes with ranch and pickled Serrano peppers. Birdsong says it’s not uncommon for customers to order one pizza with 10 sides of ranch. It’s become such a Glide calling card that the Decatur location’s checkered floor was inspired by its three ingredients: buttermilk (off white), dill (green), and basil (darker green).

By featuring booths, stools, and tables, Glide makes it easier for families to visit. One set of the red-orange booths was salvaged from the former Olympic Flame restaurant and seen in Anchorman. A large, semi-private booth near the bar attracts groups. In the back of the restaurant, an archway with the words “Step Right Up” above it leads to a small game room. There’s a 10-foot basketball hoop with netting for free play, and three (paid) video games. Two of them, called Polycades, feature nearly 50 old-school games like Tetris and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Birdsong says he’s considering buying a foosball table or photo booth, too.

Photo by Gabriella Valladares

“When I was a kid, my parents would take me to Johnny’s Pizza and give me some quarters to play games. I really loved that,” he reminisces.

Glide is still waiting on its liquor license, but the drink menu will feature mixed drinks, frozen cocktails (such as a margarita or gin and juice), and a few local beers, including Creature Comforts and Halfway Crooks. Its signature cocktail will be clarified vodka-based, modeled after the Hot Honey Burrata pizza, with basil and lemon zest. In addition, Glide will offer two red wines and two whites, like Pet Nat, which Birdsong says is “a bubbly, fun pizza wine.”

Photo by Gabriella Valladares

Photo by Gabriella Valladares

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