[UPDATE] Silvano Pizza Opening Where BBQ Joint Recently Bailed

A new pizza restaurant will open later this summer in place of a former Buckhead barbecue restaurant.  Marco Betti of Antica Posta has secured a lease on the small building at 25 Irby Avenue in Buckhead Village, to open "Silvano Pizza," a new restaurant named for his father.  Betti has signed what he says is a 15 year lease, and plans to be open in mid-to-late July.  

Work underway Monday afternoon at the former Buckhead BBQ 

Betti, unlike the Kenimer's before him, who were caterers- turned-restaurateurs and operated Buckhead BBQ for about two years, comes from a restaurant background and has successfully operated Antica Posta on East Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead for twenty years.  

Silvano Pizza promises to continue Betti's Tuscan tradition but in a slightly more casual setting.  Plans call for traditional thin crust Tuscan pizza, but also assorted meat and fish dishes.  The restaurant will likely stay open later on the weekends, perhaps as late as 3 AM, to be a respite for those out drinking and partying at the nearby Buckhead bars.  

With luck, the restaurant's extremely limited parking becomes less of an issue given the increasingly walkable community being created by the recent openings of Hanover Buckhead Village and upcoming openings of The Gentry, adjacent to Silvano's, and The Irby, on the site of the old Henri's Bakery nearby.  When completed and fully leased, the three luxury high rises will bring a combined roughly 1,000 new apartments to the area.

Silvano's joins a growing list of restaurants open or opening in the Buckhead Village including a relocated Cafe Posh which opened earlier this year on the Roswell Road side of Hanover Buckhead Village, and Iberian Pig, the Spanish tapas restaurant from Castellucci Hospitality Group, that is expected to open in the coming weeks, a couple of doors down from Cafe Posh, also at Hanover Buckhead Village.  

In addition, ToNeTo Atlanta reported last January that popular Midtown eatery Woody's CheeseSteaks was setting up shop at 45 Irby Avenue.  While little work was done on the retail-turned-restaurant space for many months, work restarted earlier this year, and the restaurant will supposedly open later this summer.  ToNeTo Atlanta also reported last July that Velvet Taco was opening in the same center as Whole Foods Market, and that is finally progressing as well.  Well placed sources at the Dallas-based taco joint tell ToNeTo Atlanta that plans currently call for a late June opening.   

Are you pleased to see another restaurant option coming to the Buckhead Village?  What upcoming Buckhead Village restaurant are you most excited about?  What other restaurants would you like to see open in Buckhead Village?

Please share your thoughts below