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Courtesy Avid

Yesterday, we reported on the opening of the just-expanded Life of Pie pizza parlor, which fired up its wood-fired pizza oven over on NW 23rd.

Now we learn (from the always helpful Brewpublic) that Avid, the Bend-based cidery once known at Atlas (until a cease and desist from a DC-based brewery forced owners Dan and Sam McCoy to go in search of a new name), is also opening in the Pearl District—and pizza plays a pivotal role here, too.

Avid general manager Drason Anderson says this is the first time the cidery is putting food in play (the cidery’s other two taps rooms are just that—tap rooms) and the McCoys have tapped Drason’s brother Joshua to run the burners.

The roomy space seats about 110 people (and that’s just inside), with a 20-something-person horseshoe bar anchoring the room.

Drason told us that the tap room has been open for about three weeks, and that it’ll celebrate its grand opening on October 20.

In the meantime, now’s a good time to head over to sample Avid’s ciders, its signature house cocktails, or some of the local beers on its many guest taps. It’s also a good time to try Joshua’s handiwork by working your way through a menu of starters like garlic knots, hot pockets, chicken drumsticks (sweet chili, sriracha buffalo, and a tongue-torching green curry), and of course pizzas (margheritas, mushrooms with a garlic cream sauce, and cider-braised pork with a chipotle-spiked marinara sauce). All pies are 16 inches in diameter and range in price from $14 to $22.

Drason said that Joshua has come up with a dough recipe that uses cider yeast as a riser and adds that if you hew to a gluten-free diet, don’t worry—he’s come up with his own recipe for a homemade gluten-free dough, too.

The restaurant is open daily from 11 am to 11 pm (it just added lunch—think salads, personal lunch pies, or chicken, pork, and vegetarian sandwiches), with a happy hour that lasts from 4 to 7 pm, and a pair of TVs and a projector that will screen Trailblazers and Timbers games, and outdoor adventure videos when there’s not a game or match.

Avid Cider Co.: 135 NW 9th Ave.