Atlas Pizza

Stopping in to give a courtesy 5. I gave a short sighted, dickish review here, like a year ago, when I was having a rough week.
A year later, having opened my own business. I realize how tense online criticism for businesses can be.
The pizza was great every time I’ve been here. Anything I bitched about in my first review was irrelevant or purely on my end.

Super service, great tunes and good food. I made myself hungry with this review, time for salad and knots.

Service here is terrible. I ordered ONE slice of pizza. There was no line and they were not busy at all. I waited 10 minutes for ONE slice (the pizza was already made so all you had to do was warm it in the oven) before I go to the counter then ask the staff about my slice. Apparently forgot to put my slice in the oven to warm it. He then puts it in the oven for like 1 minute then gives me the slice with a half-​assed apology and no sincere attempt to make up for his error. Papa John or even Domino’s would have been better, and I’ll never come back to this spot again, even though they have pinball machines.

I came here with my three daughters the other day and we wanted to stay all night! Being from New York, I have high standards for a good slice, and this place was outstanding! Yummy in Paul’s tummy! Be sure to call for a reservation, because this place gets packed!!!

The PBR is the way to go! When in doubt order yourself two! On a street with pizza options every two feet this place is awesome.
Super happy with the Pizza and the friendly staff here. Go eat some pizza, play some pinball, drink a beer and a shot.

Leading with food, this pizza joint is good. The crust is a great foundation, the sauce is not over seasoned, giving way to a fresh tomato taste, and the cheese is the right amount of gooey.
What pushes Atlas from a four to a five star rating is the service. Everyone is friendly and helpful. Case in point — I was solo parent with my kids tonight, and the cook came out and asked me if I would like the pizza sliced up in more than their usual 8 slice servings. Perfect for small kid hands.
Thank you to the Atlas staff.

Dog friendly as well as cheap and filling. Two of us ate for $ 12, salad, pizza, drink, and my dog had water too.

The Jalapeño Popper Pizza is delish! Bacon, Jalapeños, and Cream cheese!!! Must try! Especially if you like it spicy ;)

This place rocks — the closest thing to NYC pizza we have found in Portland yet. The crust is perfectly chewy…
I love the plain slices, but am also a huge fan of the Mighty Atlas. Super-​kid-​friendly. Awesome staff. Pinball! Local brews! Love everything about Atlas.

I love it here. The meatball and ricotta, the hawaiian, and the one with all the kinds of green peppers. All awesome. Service. Drinks. I love the PB&J deal: tall pabst, whiskey, and a slice for ten bucks. I always add some knots on because they’re amazing, and like 50 cents a pop. Staff if what I like to call (and be) «Portland Friendly»: attentive and kindly sacarstic. So happy this place exists.

Atlas Pizza makes solid pizza and sells it by the pie and by the slice. While their cheese and pepperoni pizzas are pretty middle-​of-​the-​road, their specialty pies are a step above.
When I came here last, I was just looking for a quick slice, but didn’t feel like spending a lot of money. The special wasn’t my favorite that day, so I opted for pepperoni. My slice came out quickly and was piping hot upon arrival.
The slice had a good number of pepperoni slices, though they weren’t quite as good or as numerous as the pepperoni at Baby Doll. The sauce was good, not too sweet and not too spicy. They definitely use a lot of cheese, and that’s a good thing in my book. However, I can’t praise the crust – it was a bit too chewy.
I think they put a little more love into their specialty pies. The «Big Joe» that they also serve by the slice on Fridays is amazing! Homemade meatballs, ricotta, and basil. Great combination, and they provide plenty of toppings on each slice, so you get your money’s worth. Likewise, I can vouch for their «Sluzarenko,» which is pepperoni, pineapple, and jalapeño peppers, which mixes sweetness and spice well. You can get slices of it on Tuesdays. The Hawaiian «Swine and Pine,» served Sundays, is also a treat. The chef’s choice pies, made on Saturdays, are a mixed bag. I’d recommend putting a healthy amount of parmesan on any of Atlas’s pies and a nice dose of red pepper flakes on any of them besides the Sluzarenko. Not that they lack flavor, but they definitely lend themselves well to these condiments. Price-​wise, Atlas isn’t the best deal by the slice – $ 3.25 for a cheese slice, $ 3.50 for pepperoni, $ 3.75 for others. That said, the full sized pies are pretty big, so you’d get a better deal ordering accordingly.
Atlas plays great music. Lots of ‘50s rockabilly, punctuated by soul and British garage rock. They play a lot of deep cuts, too. Many times I’ve come here and left with a new song or two that I want to hear again.
One more thing: the chocolate chip cookies are amazing! Huge, soft, chewy, and with just the right amount of chocolate chips, they’re a real treat for dessert. They’ve got just the right amount of salt in the dough, too. The friendly staff will even heat one up for you in their oven if you ask them. For $ 2, they’re a good deal on dessert on a block dominated by $ 4 ice cream and $ 5 pie.
Overall, I would normally give Atlas Pizza three stars, but on account of the Big Joe, the Sluzarenko, the Hawaiian, and the cookies, I’m giving them four. If you’re looking for slices, plan your visit on Tuesday, Friday, or Sunday.

Decent pizza and the atmosphere is nice, I’m not sure if they are my favorite slice in town, and they are a tad on the spendy side, but it’s still quite solid. I would recommend the joint to others.

Had Atlas for the first time today. I went with Combo B. slice of pepperoni, caesar salad and a soda, great deal for $ 7. Slice had pepperoni in every bite, was crisp/​floppy in all the right places and the salad was larger than I expected and tossed perfectly.
Bonus points for very pleasant costumer service (young man working the counter actually thanked me for the $ 2 I threw in the tip jar), clean place, pinball machines, cool posters/​art, couple of TVs showing old films and most importantly for me, a grumpy old man… appropriate music played at an appropriate level. I get really tired of going into restaurants only to be annoyed by loud, crappy and expletive filled music.
Seriously Portland restaurant owners, get a clue and stop letting your employees play their phones.
In short, I’ll be back and if it was closer to where I lived I’d be back often.

Thanks Joshua for making the best pizza in Portland ! We had pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom. The sauce was a little spicy and garlicky. We love that. The crust was thin and crispy and never went soggy. We were happy to have a nice table by the window but, there were three pinball machines in use after we sat down. A little noisy and distracting. Delicious pizza though !!

I love thin New York style pizza but there’s some better places out there. Ordered two slices and it’s a great value. The staff is really nice and the spot is super cute with the vintage pinball machines. I just wished they had more by the slice selections. We got there at 8:30 and there was only 5 kinds to pick from. You average pepperoni, cheese, vegetarian, sausage and a salami. It was yummy and filling but there just wasn’t enough toppings and wasn’t cheesy enough.

As an NYC transplant, I’m a total pizza snob and a wee bit bummed about my options here. Decent options in SE Portland (outside of Apizza Scholls and Kens, which have draconian take-​out rules) are limited.
I would define an Atlas cheese/​pepperoni pie as really good NYC «utility» style pizza. I don’t have to be drunk to enjoy it. They kinda go nutty on the amount of cheese they use, but the taste was on point, and the crust was not weird and doughy or over/​under cooked. It’s not too greasy. It’s simple, solid, «I don’t feel like cooking on Saturday night or changing out of my sweatpants to get take-​out» pizza that goes good with Coke Classic and crappy beer. It’s pizza that is sure to please if you need to feed a hungry crowd. It’s not pretentious, but it won’t blow you away. It is pizza that knows who it is.
They were also super cool over the phone and went a wee bit outside of their delivery zone to get me pies one night. Props to them for that.

Wanted to try a new pizza place for delivery and this one was great!
Every person I talked to was really nice and helpful. The pizza was really tasty and not over-​priced. I had their garlic knots (like it sounds, a little breadstick rolled up in a knot) with marinara sauce, I recommend those! I also got a single root beer, so they have more to choose from drink-​wise than just ‘pick your 2 liter’.
I would definitely call them if you’re looking for great pizza in SE and people who genuinely care about what they’re doing.

Pizza is my go to food. Unfortunately this one missed for me. I wanted to enjoy it as much as my drink but it didn’t happen. It’s good and I would go back just to give them another chance. The crust wasn’t as crunchy as I like it and something just missed. The sausage itself was super tasty. The pizza rolls we shared were on point. The drink was the star. Forgot what it was but something to do with ginger and vodka.
It got a thumbs up from my mom for having a gluten free option. I even had a slice and it was pretty good.

I have tried a few pizza places that are not chains as I love to support the local small businesses, however this place just didn’t wow me. I must say I want to try them again to let them redeem themselves, but not sure when.
The staff was nice and helpful and I love the pizza stuffed bites they have. The dough was soft and crunchy in all the right places and I had the pepp, jalapeño, pineapple stuffed ones and they hit the spot and had just the right spice. The pizza just needed a little more flavor. The sauce could use a few more spices and the dough could have been a bit more crunchy on the bottom. They have a few beers on tap and they have some inhouse drinks they make that are worth trying. Different, funky flavors and wouldnt mind trying them during their happy hour. They also do pizza by the slices if that is your thing.
The décor is cool and funky and they have a few games to entertain you while you wait for you food, so that was nice.

In my quest for great NJ/​NY style pizza I have been left flat on many occasion and in this town of high end, overpriced pizzas there is too much quantity and not enough quality. If you have New York in your name, you better live up to the standard. Some fail. Hype gets you so far. Reputation, is better but being rude because you think you can get away with it will surely close your business sooner than you’d like even if you have «great pizza» as some say.
We were on our way to one such place, but no reservations taken and an hour long wait changed our final destination. We went to a new place that opened up. Atlas Pizza hasn’t been open long but the smells were great. The people were friendly and the place had plenty of room and NO WAIT! We ordered some beers (not a big selection, some upper end beers and tall boy cans) and two large pizzas for the table. One cheese, one «Big Joe» Meatballs, ricotta and basil.
Here’s where customer service comes into play, and they won five new fans quickly. By accident, as the pizzas were coming out through the swing doors, the guy bringing out the pizzas dropped a slice of each on the floor… whoops! He came out, apologized, explained what happened and made up for it quickly by offering us a small pizza at no charge, whatever we wanted. We had a third option of a pizza with pepperoni, pineapple and jalapeños and went to work on the two in front of us while the new pie was being made.
The cheese was a good simple pie. The crust was spot on. The sauce had a slightly different taste, we couldn’t put our fingers on it, but it was good. Perfectly foldable, like a good east coast pizza and the right amount of grease. I found out, that even though it’s not on the menu, they do have fresh garlic in the kitchen and we could get a garlic pie… oh I can’t wait. It was good to watch the dough being tossed, but I also like to see the oven front and center as well (like at SFNY and EFNY).
For those uninformed about the NJ/​NY pizza parlors… paper plates are the norm, and that’s what you eat pizza off of, nothing fancy.
As for the Big Joe, the meatballs were tasty and the ricotta was good and creamy. It was a filling pizza and I only had one slice of that one. The last pizza that came out a bit later was a great combo of meaty, spicy and sweet. I’ve had my share of Hawaiian pizzas and this take with the jalapeños made me happy. It was loaded up with topping.
If you haven’t made it over here down to Division, then you should. I know that right down the street is Roman Candle, and they make incredible wood fired pizza, but the pizza at Atlas is a totally different experience. It does have the right characteristics of good NJ/​NY pizza and is a place not to be missed.
Enjoy. And if you’ve never had fresh garlic pizza, you’re missing out. GET ONE.