The moon is always full at this pizza place, recently arrived at the West Village complex in Smyrna. Blue Moon Pizza, the creation of owners Mandy and Kelvin Slater, is the second location for the casual concept; the first has had them kneading dough for four years near the corner of Windy Hill Road and Cobb Parkway.

Why West Village? The captive audience, as it were, was a major attraction, said Mandy Slater. “There will
be about 1,100 homes near the restaurant, and people will be able to walk to and from dinner. And at Windy Hill, we had to redesign the space to fit what we wanted; this gave us a chance to create our own space from scratch.”

Pies galore
“From scratch” applies to the menu as well. Blue Moon’s signature crusts are thin and crispy and made in-house each day. The dough is smothered with homemade sauce and traditional toppings in heaping portions. Hungry? Dig into a bacon cheeseburger pie with ground beef, onions, mushrooms, bacon and cheese. Really hungry? Opt for
the Meateor, piled with pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, ham and bacon. Lighten up with Sante Fe or Thai chicken pies. Go Sicilian with a square of Grandma’s, a thicker dough with hand-crushed tomato sauce, sliced garlic, basil and olive oil. Servings range from a single slice to 10-, 16- and 18-inch pies.

Beyond pizza
Start off with wings, bruschetta, fried mozzarella sticks, beefsteak tomatoes with mozzarella or cheese fries. There are six salads, from buffalo chicken to classic Caesar. Other options include calzones, strombolis, meatball subs and sandwiches. Try the flatwich, a Blue Moon creation of warm pizza dough wrapped around traditional sandwich fillings.

Blue Moon cooks also whip up desserts, so save room for just-made cheesecake, Key lime pie, chocolate peanut butter brownies or chocolate chip cookies. Enjoy themwith a cappuccino or espresso on the spacious patio.

From the bar
The full bar is stocked with 22 bottled beers, as well as eight drafts, including the aptly named Blue Moon Belgian White. The specialty martini list stars the Blue Moontini — Absolut Citron, Hpnotiq liqueur and white cranberry juice — as well as the peach, chocolate, dirty and Key lime versions. Every Thursday, martinis are $6.

A few fun facts
Tuesday nights are devoted to trivia. Other nights, catch the latest sports or news action on five flat-screen TVs throughout the space.  Don’t want to leave home? Blue Moon delivers within a 3-mile radius.

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Brad and Chrissy Boggess are glad the muddy construction phase has passed and that people and businesses
are moving into West Village, a major mixed-use development that will have about 1,100 homes and many stores
and restaurants.

The Boggesses, who live nearby, have watched construction transform the 63 acres at Atlanta Road and I-285.
Just four years ago, kudzu vines, aging homes and lots of an acre or more covered the land. Then the Pacific
Group began patient negotiations, buying lots one at a time for more than a year.

The company bulldozed the old homes and dreamed up one of Cobb County’s most significant mixed-use developments. It is growing into one of the county’s highest-density neighborhoods, with 23 units per acre of condos, townhomes, apartments and single-family homes.

When done in five years, the development will be worth an estimated $450  million.

“I’m here about three times a week,” often pushing her son Webster on walks, Chrissy Boggess said.

“And as soon as the restaurants open, it’ll probably be every day.”

Most of the buildings and homes rise two to four stories. Condo buildings up to eight stories high eventually will be built. The development mixes commercial shops and spaces for up to seven restaurants on the ground floors, with people living above them.

“You can’t go anywhere else [in Cobb County] for this intown-type living,” said Keith Dixon, who is among the first residents.

“You don’t have to hop in your car to go anywhere. You can walk down the street to retail, to Starbucks. And it’s only 20 minutes to the airport. What could be better?” said Dixon, who has to travel often for work.

Dense mixed-use developments were a budding idea in Cobb County four years ago. To bring the development to full bloom, county commissioners had to grant many exceptions to zoning regulations. For example, they allowed the Pacific Group to put a grassed median and cobbled crosswalk along Oakdale Road, which splits the project.
They also allowed the construction of such details as outdoor fireplaces and decorative stone pillars along some of the streets.

Those are the distinguishing details that Woody Snell, a partner in the Pacific Group, points to with pride.

“It’s the little things like that that really make the project,” he said. “A lot of this is like an experiment for Cobb County.”

Prices range from the low $200,000 range to well beyond $600,000 for homes being built by development
partners Monte Hewett Homes and Ashton Woods Homes.

Atlanta Road is becoming a major corridor for mixed-use developments in Cobb County.

North and south of West Village, John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods has built two mixed-use developments, One Ivy Walk and Olde Ivy.

Nearby Smyrna pioneered the downtown mixed-use model on a smaller scale and has plans to create another
development at Jonquil Plaza on Atlanta Road.

Source:  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Written by:  Christopher Quinn

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