Being Friday, I thought it would be a good night to head out for a pie. Well, that’s not entirely true. But, after some prodding a group of us headed off in the general direction of Satchel’s Pizza. We were only somewhat vaguely familiar with the directions to arrive at Satchel’s, but we managed not to get lost.
Parking was easy, as Satchel’s is somewhat away from Gainesville’s downtown area. Quite a ways, in fact. Satchel’s believes location is not everything, and it’s the food, service, and environment that matter. You’ll get no argument from me.
When we arrived, I found a neat looking restaurant. The style was unique. The dinning area is rather small and I had heard the waiting time could be as much as thirty minutes for a table. I was pleasantly surprised as we were seated immediately. Perhaps it was because it was nearly nine ‘o clock at night when we arrived.
After being seated, we each looked over the menu. I enjoyed the whit and humor. Menus are frequently rather dry reading and sometimes less than obvious. It was refreshing to fine Satchel’s one page, laminated, flip side menu to be both entertaining and easy to navigate. After taking a generous amount of time to decide, we finally gave our order to our attentive waitress.
I ordered my usual cheese pizza, with no toppings, thin crust. The smallest pizza available at Satchel’s is the 14″ as of this writing. I found that size easily adequate for three meals, or two if you’re feeling quite hungry. This evening the latter was true, so I found myself with only three slices left at evening’s end. The wait wasn’t long. Our meal was ready for us in less than twenty minutes.
While we waited, music played from speakers distributed around the dining area. The music was pleasant and nonintrusive in that I do not recall the specific genre that was played, only that for my tastes it was a little on the loud side. Soft enough for a pleasant conversation with people at the same table, but only if speaking at a moderately louder than normal speaking voice. Our waitress checked in on us a few times to ensure we had enough drink.
Finally, the moment of truth arrived. Our meal had arrived. Up close, my cheese pie looked good. It was healthily colored with a reddish tint you expect from a pizza with an appropriate proportion of cheese and fresh sauce. It was well sliced, thin, with good sized crust. I broke up the slices eagerly with the pie serving slicer I had been given. Given the limited tabling space, I decided I’d eat directly from the metal pizza circular instead of a ceramic plate.
I eagerly selected a slice and sampled my first bite. Unfortunately for me, it seems I bit into a moderately spicy slice of pizza that immediately sent my hand hunting for a glass of water. My throat had become tickled from the spices and my eyes watered. Not being used to spicy pizza sauce, I was caught off guard. After a brief recovery period, I continued on with my slice of pizza. The cheese was good, albeit somewhat masked by the spice of the sauce. I have to admit I found the sauce to be somewhat spicy for my pallate. Overall, the slice was good, and by my third piece I had acclimated to the degree of spiciness.
At night’s end I asked for a box. Although it won’t be as good, I intend to reheat my bounty in the microwave and perhaps have it for lunch or dinner within the next day. The attentive service continued and presently we had three boxes for take home.
Finally, it was time to pay. Satchel’s is cash only. No credit. Fortunately for once I had enough cash on me, so it was cool. They also have, believe it or not, an ATM machine on site. So, in either case you’re good to go. I found the prices to be reasonable and within my expectations for a 14″ cheese pie. It was rather quiet as we left, since it was nearly ten ‘o clock and Satchel’s closes at ten p.m. and the tables were being cleared for the evening.
In all, I would say my experience at Satchel’s was very positive. The staff were attentive, the menu was engaging and entertaining, the cheese pizza was pretty good — although a bit spicy for myself — and the price was good. I’d recommend checking out Satchel’s Pizza if you’re into good Italian and don’t mind waiting a bit to be seated.
Check out Satchel’s Pizza Web site.
Enjoy!