Sauce Pizza & Wine — Restaurant in Phoenix

I previously used to be a regular at Sauce, but after my experience this weekend, I will not be returning again. I used to go about once a week because the food was decent for the price and quick Italian food. It's been a couple months since I've been, so when I went in this weekend, I was disappointed in the awful service and attitude of almost the entire staff. Everytime I order the pasta, it always comes almost completely dry. For a place called "Sauce" you'd think you'd be able to taste or see some sauce on their pasta (see pic). I've always accepted this issue by asking for an extra side of sauce, which they always gave me at no charge. This time, they charged me $1.25 per side. I happily obliged, I understood with inflation and said "no problem". I asked for 2 sides for both my friend and I. When they gave them to me, I'm not kidding when I say that the side container was maybe 1/6th full. It was maybe 2.5 tablespoons of extra sauce, when the container itself was probably 1/2 cup large. My pasta was already clearly completely dry, and I also happily agreed to pay $3 total for extra sauce. Most places charge AT MOST 50 cents, but I still didn't complain about the charge. But after seeing the fact that they gave me essentially nothing but still charged me a ridiculous amount for what I was given, I was disappointed. I usually am not one to go back and ask wait staff for anything when this happens, but I've had a terrible weekend full of family tragedy and literally all I wanted in that moment was to confide in some comfort food. I politely asked the cashier if it was possible to fill it up more, and even apologized for the hassle. While she was sweet and understanding, I saw her walk over to the kitchen staff. Bare in mind that the kitchen is open, so I can see everything. 3 chefs rolled their eyes, threw up their arms, and I heard them say "Are you effing serious?!". They filled it up a tiny bit more and hastily gave it back to the cashier to hand to me. Honestly, it made me want to break down crying after suffering through the weekend I had, knowing that someone couldn't give me the slightest bit of kindness to do the job they are paid to do. I understand that customers can be very tough these days, which is why I was extremely and overly polite about it. I asked them to take 10 extra seconds to give me something that I not only paid for, but I OVERpaid for. Makes you wonder how they would have acted if the kitchen weren't visible to guests. Overall, this was it for me and my regular attendance at Sauce. For the quality, the high prices for fast dining, and the rude service, it is no longer worth it. Very...

Highly disorganized and crowded.

I realize that it was the dinner rush and I'm more than willing to be patient.

I'm not overly concerned about social distancing space but don't want to crowd others who may have those concerns. One customer sitting at a table next to five of us who were milling around aimlessly. No idea whether the four people standing around before me were in the process of being helped for not. No one was communicating with any of those four.

Three orders on the counter . . don't know who those three orders belong to.

I could not get any employee to meet my eye so that I can even announce my presence and that I was there to pick up two deliveries.

Rather than bull through the chaos or cause a scene I went outside phoned the restaurant.

When you do not acknowledge a customer what you're telling them is we do not have time to serve you.

I have no idea even still whether those orders were ready or were not ready. I called. A snippy young man on the phone asked me, "Well, did you TELL anyone you were here for a pickup?"

I had just explained that I could not get anyone to meet my eye much less acknowledge me. Everyone was busy busy busy and no food was coming out of the kitchen.

I let him know that is not my job to greet staff it is the staff's job to greet me.

Apparently whoever's managing this particular location has not trained staff in even the basics of acknowledging customers.

Keep in mind I'm only going to make money picking up those orders, and I already invested considerable time getting to the restaurant. It was also part of a series of trips that I needed to complete for an incentive. Basically I walked away from over $20 because of the chaotic service..

I cancelled both orders.

The person entrusted to answer the phone wanted to argue with me about how I should present myself in his crowded space instead of answering my question which was, "Are these orders ready or are these orders not ready?" If no one in the place knows whether my orders are ready or not my guess has to be that...

We had been sitting on a Sauce gift card for a while, so finally decided to use it on Saturday June 7th, 2025. Ordered carryout online. Originally was ordering from their Happy Valley location, but my wife wanted to try the garlic knots and somehow they were out at the beginning of a Saturday dinner rush, so I switched pick up locations, which only added 5 minutes to my drive. We ordered the said garlic knots, which we didn't notice the garlic on them; 3 meatballs, which were good but could have used a tad more sauce; and the summer sampler which was a pizza, a salad, and 2 beverages. We ordered the Pig, which was OK but salty and could have been cut better - - we had to recut it to serve otherwise all the toppings from the neighboring pieces were coming off as you took any slice; and the chicken, spinach and apple salad (the salad was tasty, but the dressing was definitely lacking any flavor other than oil and red wine vinegar (what would make the salad terrific would be a strawberry blush, which is what we used from our own fridge). When I walked in, it's not obvious where to go to pick up an order - - if there's signage it was not obvious to me. I got in line and after a few minutes, a cashier asked how could she help me, and when I mentioned my order, she was great at getting all of the components together and bagged or put in the beverage carrier, and asking further if we need other toppings or even utensils. While I'm at it, I'd suggest that online you mention the size of the pizza, and how many it might serve, bec it's not stated and I had to call to find out. Also, the salad listings are not consistent. For instance, there's a Caesar salad listed and another Caesar with chicken, and chicken is listed in the ingredients, without the option of adding or changing the protein. But when you look at the listing for the chicken spinach and apple, chicken is not a listed ingredient, but shows you can pay additionally for different proteins,...