Satchel's Pizza is a restaurant in Gainesville, Florida. It was opened on March 7, 2003 by Satchel Raye.[1]
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Restaurant |
Founded | Gainesville, Florida (2003) |
Key people | Satchel Raye, founder and owner |
Number of employees | 47 |
Website | www |
Satchel's has become very well known in Gainesville, and can have wait times of over an hour on the weekends.[2] It is common for Gainesville residents to see bumper stickers from Satchel's when driving around town.[3]
Satchel's was opened on March 7, 2003 by Satchel Raye, the founder and owner of the restaurant.
On February 28, 2012, the restaurant caught fire.[4] It reopened on June 14 of the same year.[5][6] During the downtime, Satchel Raye used Indiegogo to raise funds for its 47 employees. Nearly 700 people made contributions in a 16-day period, providing a total of $37,696 to the restaurant.[7]
On December 5, 2016, the restaurant's outdoor seating area and gift shop, known as Lightnin' Salvage, caught fire and was destroyed. The restaurant itself was unharmed and remained open.[8] In November 2017, Raye announced plans to reopen Lightnin' Salvage as a two-story building.[9]
The gift shop and live music venue reopened on December 5, 2017.[10] A grand reopening event was later held on June 1, 2018.[11][12]
In 2018, a new outdoor playground was built by University of Florida architecture students.[11]
In February 2020, Raye announced that he would be opening a second location named Satch² in a downtown food park.[13] The new location was officially opened on July 20, 2020.[14] It was later sold off to a new owner and renamed SquareHouse Pizza in June 2023.[15]
In May 2022, the University of Florida's new food provider Chartwells proposed the creation of a Satchel's Pizza location on campus during their contract negotiations.[16]
Satchel's Pizza has periodically organized fundraisers for local and national charities, including a $4,000 donation to Girls on the Run.[17]
29°40′26″N 82°18′07″W / 29.673952°N 82.301869°W