Sauced on Paseo

[HangryHippo]

Your obsessive hatred of this place is nothing less than bizarre.

Travellers is the most critical person of food I’ve ever encountered, but his relationship with Sauced is on another level, lol.

[king183]

I've been to the new Sauced twice and there was quite a bit of difference in the experience between the first and second visit simply because they're finding their footing and tweaking how they want to operate. I enjoyed both of my visits and plan to go again.

I had also been to the old Sauced several times. I don't know what critics were expecting, unless they wanted an exact replica of the old Sauced, which is, frankly, a stupid expectation. Regardless, Sauced is doing well and seem to have found enough people who enjoy what they offer.

[SEMIweather]

I mean to be fair, the place was closed for 2+ years and has retained exactly none of the charm of the original. But at the same time, I doubt that anyone would mistake me as anything other than a fairly cynical poster in my own right, lol.

[TheTravellers]

Your obsessive hatred of this place is nothing less than bizarre.

Can you argue that a website that has a landing page that says "Work for us" in 2023 is pathetic? I'd say that for *any* restaurant that had that as their "website" (and have before, and will again). Can you argue with multiple people that say Sauced 2.0 isn't nearly as good as Sauced 1.0? Why is that "obsessive hatred"? I said we're going to try them, but with low expectations, which have been tempered by numerous things over the past 2+ years (including the super-duper-specialized kitchen equipment that took forever to order, but nobody can say what it is, and yes, I plan on asking when we go in, lol).............

[TheTravellers]

Travellers is the most critical person of food I’ve ever encountered, but his relationship with Sauced is on another level, lol.

I told you they were our go-to pizza delivery for years, and then they went away for 2+ years, etc. etc. If they would've just opened up in a timely fashion, I wouldn't've been wanting them to open (and still be as good as the old one) so badly. And yes, life's too short to eat bad food, both me and my wife are incredibly snobbish about food.

[LocoAko]

I hadn't ever gone to the old version so I can't compare, but I went on a nice weekend day a few weeks ago and loved it. The pizza far exceeded my expectations and was on par with Empire. Got to have our dog on the patio, too. No complaints here! shrug

[dheinz44]

I had a good experience as well and the patio is full every time I drive by on the weekends

[TheTravellers]

I've been to the new Sauced twice and there was quite a bit of difference in the experience between the first and second visit simply because they're finding their footing and tweaking how they want to operate. I enjoyed both of my visits and plan to go again.

I had also been to the old Sauced several times. I don't know what critics were expecting, unless they wanted an exact replica of the old Sauced, which is, frankly, a stupid expectation. Regardless, Sauced is doing well and seem to have found enough people who enjoy what they offer.

Their old crust was unique in OKC and the best, we thought. We expected that they'd retain that, at the very least, and hopefully some of the old topping recipes. Not that stupid or high of an expectation, I'd think. But now they're apparently an Empire wannabe (according to others, and from my research, there are *a lot* of their pizzas that have the exact same ingredients as Empire's, so that claim has some merit). We'll see what they're like when we go... And the "quite a bit of difference" in between your visits is exactly why we wait a month or more for a new restaurant to get its sh!t together before we go. Lastly, yes, I'm sure they'll do fantastic, their location and patio is fantastic, and there are probably 100K new potential customers that don't remember anything about Sauced 1.0 (or they're not food snobs like we are) that will go and love it.

[PhiAlpha]

Can you argue that a website that has a landing page that says "Work for us" in 2023 is pathetic? I'd say that for *any* restaurant that had that as their "website" (and have before, and will again). Can you argue with multiple people that say Sauced 2.0 isn't nearly as good as Sauced 1.0? Why is that "obsessive hatred"? I said we're going to try them, but with low expectations, which have been tempered by numerous things over the past 2+ years (including the super-duper-specialized kitchen equipment that took forever to order, but nobody can say what it is, and yes, I plan on asking when we go in, lol).............

Your criticisms may be at least somewhat valid but you have always seemed to have a way of using extreme exaggerations in your comments (on any topic you have even the slightest negative opinion on) that are made with little to no tact and make you come off like a pompous a**. I’m sure you’re a pretty cool guy in person, as I feel like most people here are…no matter how crazy some sound in their posts…but man… reading your repeated criticisms of Sauced, which seem EXTREMELY harsh for someone who hasn’t even been there yet, has been a very bizarre and entertaining experience .

[soonerguru]

Your criticisms may be at least somewhat valid but you have always seemed to have a way of using extreme exaggerations in your comments (on any topic you have even the slightest negative opinion on) that are made with little to no tact and make you come off like a pompous a**. I’m sure you’re a pretty cool guy in person, as I feel like most people here are…no matter how crazy some sound in their posts…but man… reading your repeated criticisms of Sauced, which seem EXTREMELY harsh for someone who hasn’t even been there yet, has been a very bizarre and entertaining experience .

The Sauced kerfuffle is amusing to me. The OG Sauced, when Ed owned it, was pretty damn good pizza. The reincarnated version, when Joe owned it, was better operated but not as good pizza wise.

But it's as if we're talking about Joe's of Greenwich Village here or something. Sauced was a great place to hang out and have a few beers that also served decent but not exceptional pizza. At one point, it was the living room of the Paseo.

I haven't been to the new version yet because I've pretty much quit eating pizza at this point, but it's absurd to allude to previous incarnations of Sauced as the holy grail for pizza, lol.

[SEMIweather]

The Sauced kerfuffle is amusing to me. The OG Sauced, when Ed owned it, was pretty damn good pizza. The reincarnated version, when Joe owned it, was better operated but not as good pizza wise.

But it's as if we're talking about Joe's of Greenwich Village here or something. Sauced was a great place to hang out and have a few beers that also served decent but not exceptional pizza. At one point, it was the living room of the Paseo.

I haven't been to the new version yet because I've pretty much quit eating pizza at this point, but it's absurd to allude to previous incarnations of Sauced as the holy grail for pizza, lol.

It's the loss of the living room aspect that leads to my (admittedly irrational) dislike of the new place. Went there at 10:30 p.m. last Saturday to pick up a couple of slices and there were three people on the entire patio. Never would have happened at the old Sauced on such a beautiful evening. And I mean, on some level it is what it is. OKC is far enough along in urban renewal that the Paseo has both reached peak gentrification (as has the Plaza, for that matter), so of course when Sauced burnt down, it was going to get added to HKH's Paseo empire and become incredibly bougie relative to what it was in past iterations. But on another level, sometimes it's just enjoyable to express my annoyance on an internet forum about the inevitable changing of things when I would prefer that they continue to stay the same, lol.

[Pete]

^

It's simply because the bar and inside space are much larger and nicer.

They are doing way more business than ever, so more people are hanging out there even if they aren't on the patio.


This is a classic case of romanticizing something from the past. I personally never cared for the grungy old Sauced and the crowd smoking their heads off on the patio and throwing their butts on the ground. And when the weather wasn't nice, there was nobody there.

[TheTravellers]

... I personally never cared for the grungy old Sauced and the crowd smoking their heads off on the patio and throwing their butts on the ground. And when the weather wasn't nice, there was nobody there.

That never bothered us because we ate there in person one time and got delivery after that *a lot* of times.

[TheTravellers]

...
I haven't been to the new version yet because I've pretty much quit eating pizza at this point, but it's absurd to allude to previous incarnations of Sauced as the holy grail for pizza, lol.

Their crust (hand-tossed is the variety, I believe) was the best in NW OKC, at least we thought so (and we've eaten at *tons* of pizza places here, so we pretty much know what we're talking about).

So what do you think is the holy grail of pizza in OKC (or even just NW OKC)?

[SEMIweather]

Feels like it always gets overlooked in these discussions, but IMO, The Hall’s is the best pizza in OKC. I think that Gusto also does a very good version of their style, although that particular style personally isn’t my favorite.

[Bullbear]

We went sunday, we thought the pizza was fine but wouldn't be our go to for Pizza alone. having the outdoor patio in Paseo would be a draw if we were in the mood for that and pizza. one thing we didn't care for was on the patio people basically stepping outside of patio on the sidewalk smoking in packs.. which just drifted across our table. they may as well have been sitting at our table. but not sure how much they can do about that.

[SEMIweather]

^

It's simply because the bar and inside space are much larger and nicer.

They are doing way more business than ever, so more people are hanging out there even if they aren't on the patio.


This is a classic case of romanticizing something from the past. I personally never cared for the grungy old Sauced and the crowd smoking their heads off on the patio and throwing their butts on the ground. And when the weather wasn't nice, there was nobody there.

That’s a perfectly fair interpretation. Again, I’m probably biased due to a lot of wonderful interactions with friends and acquaintances at Sauced circa 2018-19 (which…that timeframe means there’s probably a good amount of pre-COVID nostalgia coloring those memories, as well). Things change over time, it’s just the nature of living in a city. I’ve certainly been on the other side of these arguments as well…I love the post-renovation Blue Note, but I know for a fact that some people are absolutely livid about all of the changes that they made lol.

[TheTravellers]

Feels like it always gets overlooked in these discussions, but IMO, The Hall’s is the best pizza in OKC. I think that Gusto also does a very good version of their style, although that particular style personally isn’t my favorite.

Funnily, Hall's is just about the only pizza place we haven't tried, out of all the usual suspects (Gusto, Saucee Sicilian, Wedge, Hideaway, Rendezvous, Providence, Falcone's, Upper Crust, Empire, Stone Sisters, Joey's, Revolve, Papa Angelo's, Humble Pie, ...), heard they're good, but I still don't like giving money to any family that includes Elise Hall.

[Colbafone]

but I still don't like giving money to any family that includes Elise Hall.

Nailed it. Elise Hall sucks.

[Timshel]

My perspective: Sauced used to be an obvious upgrade over Papa Johns, Dominoes, etc. as basic (very) good pizza at a great value and convenient delivery and the patio was a great Paseo-ey hangout

New Sauced is a (very) solid "premium" pizza, no longer competing against the chains but now competing against the fairly saturated premium pizza restaurants in OKC, with the prices to match. The patio has grown up but is still a very solid hangout. I fully expect to see more families and kids hanging around, which I suppose you can call selling out or gentrification, but to me is Sauced growing up as the surrounding neighborhoods have also grown up. There's still the Other Room patio to get the "old school" Paseo vibe. And having actual usable indoor space is a huge upgrade.

Do I miss old Sauced? Yes. Do I really like and will continue to go to new Sauced? Also yes.

[SEMIweather]

Nailed it. Elise Hall sucks.

A reasonable take. I guess I’m just cynical and feel that with the median viewpoints of this state being so far to the right of my personal viewpoints, there’s probably quite a lot of business owners here whose opinions I don’t agree with. I’ll leave it at that in hopes of avoiding a discussion that Pete and Martin will have to clean up, lol.

[TheTravellers]

A reasonable take. I guess I’m just cynical and feel that with the median viewpoints of this state being so far to the right of my personal viewpoints, there’s probably quite a lot of business owners here whose opinions I don’t agree with. I’ll leave it at that in hopes of avoiding a discussion that Pete and Martin will have to clean up, lol.

If we don't know about an owner's (of anything, not just a restaurant) political views, we don't ask, but if they're on public blast like some are, we take that into consideration.

[soonerguru]

Their crust (hand-tossed is the variety, I believe) was the best in NW OKC, at least we thought so (and we've eaten at *tons* of pizza places here, so we pretty much know what we're talking about).

So what do you think is the holy grail of pizza in OKC (or even just NW OKC)?

Honestly, pizza is just not very good in OKC. There are several above average places but nothing spectacular. Visits to other cities usually serve as a reminder.

[BoulderSooner]

Honestly, pizza is just not very good in OKC. There are several above average places but nothing spectacular. Visits to other cities usually serve as a reminder.

i think their pizza is "fine" for the style they are going for .. the issue is it is also relatively expensive .. and for us it is not worth it at all based on the cost ..

[onthestrip]

Honestly, pizza is just not very good in OKC. There are several above average places but nothing spectacular. Visits to other cities usually serve as a reminder.

Really? Hideaway, Empire, Halls, Saucee Sicilian, Providence, The Wedge arent good enough for you? Thats a pretty diverse and solid pizza lineup imo.