Burned pizza wasn’t on the menu at Satchel’s Pizza, but that’s what customers were talking about as they stood in a line that snaked alongside the building.
People began lining up Friday at 10:20 a.m. for the 11 a.m. opening, eager to get their hands on a slice of Gainesville legend. Satchel’s Pizza opened its doors again Friday after a February fire closed the restaurant for three and a half months.
“It’s nice to be back open,” said Satchel Raye, owner of Satchel’s. “It’s been so hard getting everything back together.”
A burned pizza salvaged from the fire is now enshrined in one of the restaurant’s clear-topped tables.
Raye estimates that he spent between $150,000 and $200,000 on repairs to the kitchen, which is the area that caught fire in February.
The Gainesville community was ready to help.
Part of that response was a show hosted by Double Down Live on March 14. All benefits from the show went to Satchel’s employees, who had to find odd jobs while the restaurant was closed. Raye also set up an IndieGoGo donation Web page for his employees, and the $20,000 goal was reached in 24 hours.
“People are all so excited,” Raye said. “We’ve had an overwhelming response — it’s been great.”
Workers spent 18-hour days trying to remodel and fix the burned restaurant. They added an extra oven and a new pizza station as a part of the renovations.
Raye said the city was great with helping the process along and that the contractors he hired were great, but he’s glad the process is over.
“The whole fun is having people eating,” Raye said. “We don’t know how to build — we know how to feed people.”
The first of those in line to be fed was Chet LaBarr, 41, and his two teacup chihuahua-mix puppies.
“They probably weren’t even alive when this place was opened last,” LaBarr said.
He said he was shocked when he first heard of the fire from a co-worker at UF’s College of Medicine.
He couldn’t wait to go back to one of his favorite restaurants.
The creativity and artistic quirkiness are part of why LaBarr said he loves Satchel’s, aside from the food.
LaBarr lined up in front of Satchel’s 40 minutes before the doors were set to open, something he planned on doing for weeks.
“I wanted to patronize the poor people who have been out of work for the past few weeks,” LaBarr said.
Contact Shelby Webb at swebb@alligator.org.
