Atwoods (West Peachtree and 6th Street) is a new pizza joint from the good folks at Cyprus Street Pint and Plate.
The draw: handcrafted pies, made to order, served up hot in a simple (some would say stark) urban dining room. Order at the counter, pull up a stool, wait eight to twelve minutes, and there’s your pie.
I ordered the eponymous Atwood pie, featuring a rich buffalo mozzarella, standard mozz, Romano, and Parmesan cheeses, plus oregano and roasted fennel oil.
The crust was nicely charred, but had an odd consistency: stiff, but not crisp, and more rubbery than chewy. Even so, this could have been a good pie — had it not been quite so salty.
A friend ordered the zuccha, with roasted butternut squash, kale, onion, pancetta, buffalo mozz, and rosemary oil. The crust of this pie was also not quite right. Most unfortunately, what should have been tasty toppings were overshadowed once again by aggressive saltiness.
To be fair, we were there on the first full day of service, and Atwood may get its act together in days to come. But for now, there’s nothing I can recommend here, especially since excellent pizza (Ribalta’s pala pizza) and adequate pizza (Newk’s basic little pies) are both readily available within just a block or two of Atwoods’ location.
Breakfast, sandwiches, and subs may keep the doors open, but if pizza is supposed to be Atwoods’ raison d’etre, they’re going to have to up their game.
