Choose your own Italian adventure at Bar Meatball

Service: extremely friendly and well trained

Best dishes: classic meatball sandwich with tomato sauce and mozzarella, zeppoles

Vegetarian selections: salad, pickled vegetables

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Price range: $-$$

Credit cards: All major credit cards

Hours: Noon-10 p.m. Sundays, 5:30-11 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 5:30 p.m.-midnight Fridays, noon-midnight Saturdays

Children: totally fine

Parking: shared lot, street parking and $5 pay lot nearby

Reservations: yes

Wheelchair access: yes

Smoking: no

Noise level: low to moderate

Patio: yes

Takeout: yes

Address, phone: 1044 Greenwood Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-228-2901

Website: www.barmeatball.com

When I was in fifth grade, our science teacher tasked us with crafting an original product for the school’s “Invention Convention,” our variation of the social-science fair. We were each assigned a booth and had to hawk our wares to the other classes who would tour through the cafeteria convention and vote on a single winner.

I invented an original recipe. Being 10, my muse was the Jolly Rancher, and my stroke of genius was to coat them in chocolate. I was proud of my daring creativity and originality. I’d created a new product that candy companies would surely rush to copy. (And since have, I might add.)

My booth neighbor took the top prize for her — get this — pickled carrots. I was robbed, or so I thought at the time. Granted, I secretly liked her carrots better than my chocolate-hard-candy combo, but didn’t I earn bonus points for bringing a new product to the market?

And that’s how I feel about Bar Meatball, the new polpetti (Italian meatballs) restaurant in Virginia-Highland. Its owners Joey Masi, a seasoned Atlanta chef who once worked for Fifth Group and Buckhead Life, and his cousin Joe Federici deserve credit for bringing a new concept to the Atlanta market — a bold one designed entirely around meatballs.

At Bar Meatball, you are the master of design, inventing your own plate from a list of sauces, meatballs, breads and sides that provide a seemingly limitless number of potential combinations. With a few visits and a little persistence, you’ll root out one that works for you. Until you do, you’ll return for the reasonable price point and welcoming environment as the staff and owners make you and yours feel part of their New York Italian family.

After closing Pozole, which once occupied the space, Masi and Federici reopened with the new concept after a two-month renovation period. The new interior features a simple and inviting subway-tiled dining room and a lovely covered porch with French-door-style windows thrown wide. The porch is now filled with busy families while couples of all ages crowd the bar to try daily cocktail specials and wines by the glass. Vintage meat grinders of all varieties adorn the walls, as do photos of the women in the cousins’ families whose recipes inspired the “old-school flavors” found on the menu.

You’ll quickly find that matching up components correctly is the key to a happy belly here. On one visit, we tried the chicken and rosemary meatballs ($9) with the classic San Marzano tomato-basil sauce. That was a no-go. The tangy red sauce overwhelmed the subtle notes of rosemary and white wine in the pale orb. On another visit, I paired them with the arugula-walnut pesto instead with greater harmony. The vibrant green pesto brought freshness, salty Parmesan and the soft crunch of walnuts to play against the herbed chicken.

But while that tomato sauce didn’t do the chicken justice, it tops my list for pairing with the other meatballs. Other sauces include a neutral-flavored mushroom gravy, a pork-and-beef meat sauce and a garlicky Parmesan cream sauce. But I’m back to the simple tomato to pair with the beef meatball ($9), a brisket-sirloin-ricotta mixture, and the golden crispy-crusted arancini (rice balls) ($9).

You’ll also need to do some sampling to find your personal favorite. Bar Meatball makes this easy by offering $3 sliders. Test multiple combinations for a minimal cost. Or you could go with the preset meatball combos ($12) complete with sides like rigatoni or the garlic-studded broccolini. But I’d suggest experimenting on your own — that’s where the fun is.

How do you meatball? I like a touch of chew to mine. I appreciated the flavors of the pork sausage ($9) meatball with spicy pips of cherry pepper, but the texture was just too smudgy for my taste. Similarly, the marinated eggplant Parm meatball ($9) offered a refreshing flavor burst, but the cooking method brought out the cardboard tooth-scrape mouthfeel common to undercooked eggplant.

And if you really want to go with old-school flavors, make a meatball sandwich ($10) of it. Try the classic beef with tomato sauce and melty mozzarella melding into airy focaccia. It comes with a beautifully simple house salad glistening with a bright red wine vinaigrette. That’s happiness.

You’ll also find your Zen with dessert. You can continue the design-your-own theme with ice cream sandwiches ($5). Create combinations like spumoni ice cream with double chocolate wafers or layer chocolate ice cream between peanut butter cookies.

Let your kids go to town with those while you continue the ball theme with the zeppoles ($5). These warm Italian-style doughnuts dusted in powdered sugar come steaming hot in a paper bag with a side of warm Nutella. Sound like heaven? Amen.

Kudos and bonus points to Bar Meatball for daring to bring us something new. It might take a couple of tries, but you’ll find your groove here. Until then, you’ll be back for the family feel — that and the zeppoles.