Fireside Pies officially opens today
Fireside Pies construction crews experienced frustrating delays after the project was announced 15 months ago, but the restaurant opens today with a flourish. The Lake Highlands Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m. to officially welcome manager Jennifer Gosdin and her crew.
The shape of the space, leftover from its days hosting Atlanta Bread Company a decade ago, required designers to be creative. Fireside, named for the chain’s original restaurant on Knox where diners nestle up to a patio fire, opted to create two distinct spaces from one. On the left is the bar, with high-top tables and a long bar for drink service. Sidle up to the bar on the right and you can watch pasta made and pizzas topped. Each side has a Vegas-style round booth to seat 8 (or a cozy 10), and, down the middle, a fireplace and booth row serve as the spine of the restaurant.
Fireside’s warm bricks and soft lighting give off a comfy glow, but outside seating for 50 will draw diners on warm days. Big screen TVs display all the big games, or you can sit at the bar and watch pizzas turn crispy in the wood fire oven.
Some wondered if the pizza oven would make it into the restaurant at all.
“That’s one of the reasons it took us so long to open,” explains Henry Leonard of Lenpar LLC, owner of Fireside. “That thing weighs 10,000 pounds and the floor couldn’t support the weight.”
Lenpar, which also owns Golden Chick and purchased Fireside in 2018, added pasta to the menu and opened during lunch hours. The new Fireside is brighter to draw a lunch crowd, McGinnis says, and lunch specials have been added for around $10.
You can view the full menu here.
Fireside Pies is located at Creekside center, 6750 Abrams at Skillman, near Alamo Drafthouse.
Fireside Pies
