The restaurant is taking corner space in the new 675 N. Highland mixed-use development.
The first location of Rize Artisan Pizza + Salads is slated to open November 7, a spokesperson confirmed in an email to What Now Atlanta Monday.
The “chef-driven” restaurant is situated in a corner space in the new 675 N. Highland mixed-use development in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta.
“At Rize, our passion for food and people inspires us every day,” John Smith, founder and CEO at Rize, said in a statement.
“It inspires the artisan techniques we use to prepare our food, the way we care for our team and the way every guest is treated like friends and family. Every moment is an opportunity to share our passion and create a truly memorable dining experience for our communities.”
The new concept will offer a daily lunch and dinner menu of “chef-driven, global American fare” including pizza, salads and pasta.
Here’s a sampling of the menu:
The menu begins with a selection of small plates ($7) and salads that come in full and half portions ($11/$7). Examples include:
- Charred cauliflower: cauliflower florets, maple sesame dressing, spiced walnuts, pomegranate seed
- Spice road chicken salad: sliced chicken breast, baby spinach, goat cheese, chickpeas, sweet peppers, fennel, basil, mint, cilantro, scallion, golden spice vinaigrette
Next, theassortment of artisan pizzas includes signature ($13.50), specialty ($12) and classic ($9.50) options such as the following:
Signature:
- Waverly: prosciutto, Gorgonzola, shredded mozzarella, Asiago, fig jam, balsamic reduction, Grana Padano
Asian BBQ Chicken: sliced BBQ chicken, shredded mozzarella, charred red onion, green chili sauce, sesame seed, scallion, lime zest
Specialty:
- ATL BLT: Beeler’s bacon, baby spinach, fire roasted tomato, shredded mozzarella, charred red onion, balsamic reduction, Grana Padano
Classic:
- Margherita: fire roasted tomato, fresh mozzarella, roasted garlic oil, basil, extra virgin olive oil
Rounding out the menu are non-traditional pasta ($10) dishes and flatbreads ($8) including:
- Fennel sausage and kale pasta: orecchiette, crumbled fennel sausage, baby kale, fire roasted tomato, fresh mozzarella, white wine, red pepper flakes, parsley, Grana Padano
- Pork meatball pesto pasta: orecchiette, pork meatballs, toasted pecan pesto, white wine, Calabrese peppers, herbed pecan bread crumbs, Grana Padano
“Pizza is the best communal food, and sangría is the ultimate communal drink you can find. The most important moments in our lives are surrounded by food, and we look forward to sharing those moments with the Poncey-Highland community.”
Rize is serving lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
One Response
Went to the soft opening this past weekend… I hope they get their shit together by tonight because that was a disaster. We came at our reserved time and they were locking the doors behind us because they had “unanticipated volume” (even though I know there were time slots behind us). So in other words, they ran out of food. Everyone that came in around the same time as us basically had to pick their seats as they became available and you may or may not have gotten served. Since they were running out of food, you got whatever they brought to your table. In our case it was the peppadew and sausage pizza. It had some potential but unfortunately the dough was very undercooked and the sauce was disappointing as well. We got some gelato before leaving which was the highlight of the night.
The menu certainly has a lot of promise and the salads looked really good as we witnessed them being prepared in the open style kitchen (there seemed to only be a lucky few that got one though). I will reserve judgement based on the circumstances but there seemed to be a lot of kinks to work out still.