Lizzie Wetzel got in line an hour early to get pizza Thursday.
But the 21-year-old zoology senior was still behind about 50 people as she waited for free pizza from Dough Religion, a new create-your-own-pizza restaurant located at 1404 W. University Ave. The restaurant, which has been open for four days, offered free 11-inch pizzas to anyone who came through the doors from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
"A lot of restaurants devote a certain budget to marketing," General Manager David Scott said. "Rather than taking on a traditional form of marketing, we wanted to do something that let people know right away that we’re here."
The giveaway was exactly what brought Wetzel to the line.
"I’m a pizza person, and there’s free pizza, so that was a perk," she said.
Scott said giving away free pizza on the restaurant’s third day of operation was going to be expensive, but very few marketing campaigns are free and the company would rather give away free pizza to take on a more viral approach to marketing. Scott said about 1,500 people attended the event and the restaurant gave away 450 pizzas.
Meghan Asbury, a 19-year-old sustainability and the built environment sophomore, said she had been waiting in line for half an hour and was excited about the new restaurant. She said she specifically likes the restaurant’s close proximity to campus.
"The building is brand new and it looks really nice inside," Asbury said.
Scott said the owners, who are from Colorado, have opened a similar restaurant in Summit County, Colorado. Dough Religion is sharing its Gainesville space with OoZoo bar, which serves craft beer and cocktails as well as gourmet sandwiches.
Jennifer Ford, the manager of Target Copy, located adjacent to Dough Religion, said she was happy to see so many people standing outside her store and did not think the line of people would hurt her store’s business.
"Any new business is good business," Ford said.
