Courtesy of Spina Pizza
Anthony Spina Jr., son of O4W Pizza founder and Nina & Rafi cofounder Anthony Spina, is continuing in his father’s footsteps with the creation of Spina Pizza in the Atlanta Dairies. The Reynoldstown restaurant will serve Neapolitan-style pies and Old-World pastas. Slated to open in the fall, the 120-seat restaurant will serve dinner during the week and lunch and dinner on weekends.
Although Spina Sr. specializes in New Jersey-style pizza with crispy crust, Spina Jr. is focusing on Neapolitan-style with airy dough.
“It’s the original way of making pizza with super simple preparations,” Spina Jr. says. “It’s cooked in a woodfire oven at a super high temperature for 90 seconds to be moist and fresh.”
Having worked with his father since his teenage years, Spina Jr. says he decided to branch out during the pandemic. “I had little extra free time to explore different avenues. I was getting a little tired of doing the same thing and wanted to challenge myself,” he says.
He started testing the public’s perception of his pies in 2021 with pop-ups at the Dairies that aligned with concerts at the the Eastern. There, guests could purchase his margherita, funghi, and Hot Boy (pepperoni with hot honey) pies. These will headline the brick-and-mortar menu, along with five other varieties.
Spina Pizza will also serve classic pastas, such as Pappardelle Bolognese and shrimp scampi, as well as dishes like chicken parmesan. Appetizers will include zuppa di mussels and Caesar salad. Tiramisu and spumoni will top off the menu.
The bar program will feature amaro- and apertivo-based cocktails with ingredients like cynar, grappa, and aperol. Natural wines will be another highlight. Due to the restaurant’s proximity to Three Taverns Imaginarium, only two beers will be served.
Courtesy of Spina Pizza
The 3,012-square-foot space will feature an open kitchen with two woodfire ovens and a 6-8-seat chef’s table for unique prix fixe meals with wine pairings. The rest of the space, however, is designed to elicit feelings of nostalgia, reminiscent of Spina Jr.’s childhood in New Jersey. “We’ll have antique china tableware—like at Grandma’s house with mismatched plates,” he says.
Those interested in sampling Spina Jr.’s pizzas can follow him on Instagram for upcoming pop-up dates.
