Satch² (Satch Squared), commonly known as Satchel Pizza’s little brother, had its long-awaited grand opening Sunday.
To account for social distancing, the event, located at 405 SW 4th Ave, made use of 4th Ave Food Park’s large outdoor seating area where customers could enjoy their food.
The popular Detroit-style pizza and waffles restaurant opened during the COVID-19 pandemic on July 20, 2020. With enforced social distancing guidelines, mask mandates and few college students in town, the new restaurant had to put its grand opening celebration on hold.
Co-owner of Satch² Mark Rodriguez said after being in operation for about a year, now felt like the right time to throw the restaurant’s grand opening.
“Things have kind of started to open up and people are a little bit more comfortable with going out, we decided kind of like it's a one-year anniversary slash delayed grand opening type of thing,” he said.
Satch² holds a simple menu with just two options– pizza and waffles.
Even though it is similar to the original Satchel’s Pizza, Rodriguez, who worked at Satchel’s Pizza for 16 years, said the main difference between the two restaurants is the shape of the pizza.
“We still do pizza, but we do a Detroit-style pizza, which is like a square, pan pizza in an eight by 10 pan,” he said.
Victoria Vailoces, a third-year health science major at UF, has dined at Satch² three times and said she loves coming to both Satchel’s locations because she enjoys the food, decorations and vibe.
Even though she is not a fan of waffles, she said she enjoys the “fun” taste the pizza offers.
“I really liked the deep dish,” she said. “I think they do a really good job adding a lot of flavor to the dough too, because usually, dough is really lame. So I like the way they make it taste. And I like how they put the tomato sauce on top.”
Aside from serving food, Satch² works to serve the community through what Rodriguez calls his “round up” charity.
“Anytime you pay, you can round up whatever the change is to the next dollar,” he said. “And then we collect that for three months. And then every three months, we have a new charity.”
In the past Satch² has collected funds for Meridian Behavioral Healthcare and most recently, Girls on the Run, for which they raised $4,000.
The funds also contributed to projects that provide necessities like blankets, socks and toothbrushes for downtown’s homeless community.
Rodriguez said despite opening during a pandemic, he’s seen surprising success and support for Satch².
“Business was unexpectedly good,” he said. “We didn't know what to expect. And we kind of underestimated what would happen.”
Satch² is open Sunday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 8 a.m. to midnight.
Contact Alexis at acarson@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @Alexis_Carson99.
Alexis Carson is a third-year journalism major and staff writer with the Avenue. In her free time, she loves watching horror movies and going to concerts.
