The other day, I made my way over to Gainesville's famous pizza joint, "Satchel's".
I know I'm a bad Gator for letting it take me four years to check this place out. Ever since moving here I had heard time and time again that it is THE quintessential pizza place in Gainesville. The restaurant seems to be on every "Must-Do's in Gainesville" lists, and it's hard to drive a day around this town without seeing a Satchel's bumper sticker. So as you can imagine, I was pretty excited when I finally made the journey to the famous Alachua County monument.
Think of the words "quirky" and "kitschy". Chances are, you're either thinking of Satchel's or thinking of somewhere that very closely resembles what Satchel's looks like on the inside. It is a very cool setup; it seems that nothing in the main dining room was made of conventional building materials. One wall is made up license plates, the other beer caps. Disposable cameras hang from a ceiling made of sheet metal and every inch of the place is painted or adorned with some sort of unconventional decoration. It's a testament to themed building--the fact that they covered the place in unique objects to the point where you can't tell what the building is truly made of is quite impressive for an out-of-the-way pizza place.
The menu is not strictly restricted to pizza (I've heard some great things about the calzones) but, let's be honest, why else are you here? It does seem a bit pricey for a backwoods pizza parlor, but for a local landmark, I guess it could be worse. It's absolutely not the most expensive pizza I've had, but it also isn't the cheapest.
The wait for the food is on the longer side. Granted, I came here pretty hungry so the amount of time we waited for our pizza might be exaggerated in my mind. Despite this, I can't really complain, though. There's plenty to look at, and I'd much rather wait a little longer for the food to be completely fresh (which you can tell it is).
As for the pizza...it's good. We opted for ham and pineapple, and it came with hearty chunks of ham and juicy pineapple. I'm not a connoisseur of pizza ingredients, but these were an obvious upgrade in quality compared to, say, Pizza Hut, even to the most clueless foodie.
The crust is crisp under the cheese and toppings, but doughy on the actual crust part at the end. Whatever blend they are using for the crust is near-perfect. It's a tasty, perfect way to end a slice. But the crispiness was something I wasn't particularly fond of. While I appreciate a sturdy base to support the bulk of my pizza, I personally prefer a chewier hand-tossed taste. While I do like the oven-baked taste, I think that Satchel's may leave the pizza on the fire a little too long.
As for the bulk of the pizza--it is very, very good. Like I said, the toppings were hearty. The cheese and sauce blend together very well. And the pizza comes out piping hot, probably the freshest pizza you will ever have. That being said, something seemed like it was missing from my meal. Maybe I got a subpar combination of toppings, maybe the overly-crisp crust threw me off, or maybe I had overblown expectations, but the sum seemed to not quite equal the whole of its parts.
Another thing that I wasn't overly fond of was the hipster vibe. While the quirky atmosphere and decorations are neat for their novelty, there's a sense that someone there is trying a little too hard to be different. At one point, a song came on while we were waiting (I forgot what it was exactly, but it was a familiar, popular song) but was changed less than thirty seconds into it for something obscure--it's almost as if someone in the back said, "oh, shoot, this song is too popular, put on something else. We're quirky! We're too different for that!"
Those minor complaints aside, I left Satchel's a happy customer. I felt that despite being a tad pricey, I had gotten what I had paid for. It was a very good pizza experience. But for some reason, it wasn't great. I would sooner buy a "Pizza By the Slice" bumper sticker than one from Satchel's. The atmosphere was good, but not something that would make my personal "Must Do" list for this town. In all, my positive but not glowing opinion of the place is likely a result of its own reputation. Had Satchel's been a place I had randomly found one day, I would've been pleasantly surprised...but four years'-worth of hype didn't do it any favors. Everything for a great meal was there, it just didn't all quite come together right.
That being said, it's still worth checking out, if for no other reason just so you can say you did. I don't regret going there and would not regret going again. It's not a religious experience, but it is a very good pizza.
