Omnivore - Jagger’s - and its pizza - returns to Atlanta
As a wee tot living in 1980s Druid Hills, my family made a ritual of visiting Jagger’s, the co-ed-filled, beer-drenched pizza joint in the Emory Village shopping center. The pizza was smothered in cheese — drenched, rich, and quite simply the best I’ve ever had. Sometime in the 1990s, however, Jagger’s sold out to Park Bench, and Park Bench ultimately shuttered the Emory location. From that moment on, I’ve been on an unsuccessful search for the cheese-smothered rectangular pizzas touted as “Atlanta-style.”
Well, Jagger’s is returning. And it’ll be located at the Sage Hill Kroger Shopping Center at Briarcliff and Johnson Roads, just a few miles from its former location.
From the man himself, Bill Jagger, on AtlantaCuisine’s message boards:
YES Jaggers is COMING - hopefully before the end of March. With the SAME owner - Bill Jagger. We’re opening up first as pick-up and delivery with the same exact fabulous ATLANTA style pizzas as before. Later, maybe by the end of the year, we’ll be adding a sit-down restaurant (with a bar and we’ll consider those 2 dollar pitchers maybe every Leap Year St. Patty’s Day!)
Here’s a good summary of the pizza by Foodgeek from the AtlantaCuisine message boards:
Jagger’s pizza is cooked in a deep rectangular pan that is not too large - I’d say 6” by 10”, maybe? - with a very thin crust lining just the bottom of the pan. Holes are rolled into the dough to keep it from rising too much. Then go in sauce and toppings, whatever you want, and the rest of the pan is filled with cheese. Like, we’re talking a lot of cheese, here. Hella’ cheese. The only outer crust on the pizza is actually browned cheese.