Restaurant Resurrection: Sauced

On Friday, Sauced, a pizzeria/café in the Paseo Arts District, served its last slice and while there are rumors of the business being bought and kept as a pizza place, it is closed for now. From what I hear, this had nothing to do with a lack of success, rather with the owners’ personal lives. Though it may seem incongruous, this makes me sad even though I’d vowed never again to patronize the place.

I really wanted to like Sauced and this change of ownership is a great opportunity to make a few simple, needed changes while keeping the spirit of Sauced alive in our community. I believe that’s essential for the next business to succeed.

Sauced did a lot of things wrong, but they did a lot of things right, too and they were a unique addition to our city. Yet, as a frequent restaurant go-er in OKC, Sauced failed me one too many times to earn my business. So if someone does buy the joint, I have a few words of advice for the new owners.

Ultimately, the concept of Sauced worked: outdoor dining, pizza by the slice with cheap but fresh ingredients and beer to keep people around when they just can’t eat any more pizza. And when the place first opened, it was awesome.

As it grew, Sauced developed a niche. It catered to the sub-cultures of the city, the scene kids: hippies, hipsters and crunchy artists. It was, quite frankly, a cool place to be. I hope that the new owners embrace this crowd. We have enough shiny gourmet bars and restaurants selling trendy for an extra $3.99 with every meal. Sauced had a casual, youthful atmosphere that complemented and competed successfully with other restaurants in the Paseo. So, for the new owners to turn their noses up on an established clientele would be a grave mistake.

However, Sauced perhaps embraced this clientele too much, ultimately focusing on atmosphere, rather than quality. Sauced didn’t care what everyone else thought of it and that gave it charm but it also gave it crappy pizza that took too long and was often served with attitude.

They didn’t seem to care because people they catered to wanted a place to smoke, hang out and meet their friends more than they wanted good pizza. And maybe that would’ve worked forever. But now, there’s a chance to find out what this concept could become if you pair a great atmosphere with friendly service and good food.

So the new place should do a few things to cater to a wider audience without becoming so trendy that it shuns existing customers. Among those things, the most important is customer service.

There were many times the Pickle and I would show up to Sauced with friends and stand in line for 10-15 minutes. When we finally got to order, half the ingredients and beers on the menu would be out. We’d head outside and find a nice spot and 30-45 minutes later the first order would come out and there was a good chance it would be wrong. It’d be another 30-45 minutes to an hour before the last person in our group to order would receive their pizza. Meanwhile, you’d finish your beer but loathe the idea of waiting in line another 10-15 minutes to order another. The employees would be exasperated or apathetic if you pointed out your incorrect order or complained about anything.

If you want to hire young people, that’s great. But find the ones who aren’t too cool to care about doing a good job. I realize that whether or not I get my single slice of pizza out in less than an hour is not life or death to a 17 year old. But it should matter to the establishment if they ever want my business again. So, hire people who give a damn and care enough to train them.

Second, get the pizza out faster. I don’t know a lot about restaurant management or pizza making. But I know that if I show up to a place with four friends and order pizza by the slice, I expect everyone to receive their meal within the hour. There’s got to be a model that will offer fresh ingredients by the slice in a reasonable amount of time without having to resort to heat lamps.

But, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe a made-to-order slice of pizza just takes time. That’s okay. As long as the atmosphere is nice, the service is friendly and I can easily keep the beer flowing (how about some wait staff or multiple registers?), I can be patient and enjoy the experience. Just be sure to make it worth my wait.

Don’t change the style of pizza. The large, thin slices of New York style pie are fairly unique in the city. The Wedge, Picasso’s and Hideaway all offer a thicker style pizza. But figure out how to make a thin slice of pizza without making it taste like cardboard. Be sure to actually cook the toppings but don’t burn the crust and if need be, limit your menu to ensure you can keep everything stocked.

These simple changes will take a cool place to the next level of awesome and bring in more business than before. It doesn’t need to be fancy. It certainly doesn’t need to be trendy. But it does need to be good, simple pizza with good beer and good friends.