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Red’s Savoy Pizza introduces 'Sota-Style Pizza' to Minnesotans

By now, you’re probably asking yourself what 'Sota-Style Pizza' is. Read on to find out how Red’s Savoy Pizza launched the pizza style back in the 1960s with recipes still in use today.

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November 7, 2022 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

There's something about "Sota-Style Pizza." Is it the thin crust? The "passive-aggressive" sauce? The piles of toppings and cheese? Yes, said Reed Daniels, CEO of Minnesota-based Red's Savoy Pizza.

Back in the late 1950s or early 1960s, Earl "Red" Schoenheider got a job at a bar as a bouncer, became a bartender and eventually bought his own bar. The pizza restaurant next door went out of business, and Schoenheider bought that building, knocked a hole in the wall and began serving pizza to his bar patrons. He adjusted the pizza recipe in the 1960s and came up with the brand's signature sauce that is still used at the brand's 18 locations in the Minneapolis/ St. Paul area of Minnesota.

Reed Daniels, CEO of Red's Savoy Pizza. Provided.

Of those, 15 are franchised and three are owned by Daniels. A 19th store will open this month. Three more are expected to open by June 2023, and Red's Savoy is looking at North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska for growth potential. Finding franchise partners will be key.

The menu

The pizza at Red's Savoy is dubbed 'Sota-Style,' a name that has been federally registered. "It's a thin crust with a passive-aggressive pizza sauce loaded with toppings, smothered in cheese and cut into squares," said Daniels, who bought the brand from the Schoenheider family after Red's passing and has served as owner and CEO since 2019.

Daniels said the sauce is the brand's biggest differentiator. "Most pizza sauces tend to run a little sweet, and we have a little spice and savory in ours with the perfect amount of kick in it," Daniels said. "It's spectacular."

The Red's House Special, a supreme pizza with Savoy's original sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, onions and green olives, is the brand's most popular offering. Second most popular is the Inferno, a sausage and pepperoni pizza topped with hot giardiniera. The bacon cheeseburger is also a menu mover, with hamburger, bacon, onions, pickles and cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.

Folks also like to create their own, and toppings like sauerkraut help differentiate Red's Savoy from its competitors. A gluten crust is available for those with sensitivities.

"We have a really streamlined menu," Daniels said. "We have a 'keep it simple' philosophy, and we don't try to be everything to everyone."

There are salads, like an Italian and a Caesar, and wings, cheese bread and pastas like Baked Penne, Chicken Bacon Mac and Mac and Cheese round out the simple menu offerings.

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The brand uses Performance Food Group as its distributor of proprietary items, many of which are made locally. That helps with continuity across the brand. Cheese, dough, sauce and sausage come in from a vendor, so when a customer says something has changed, Daniels can "unequivocally" say that's not the case.

"Our methodology of keeping it simple helps," Daniels said. "When it's not complex, it's easier to execute."

When it comes to the restaurant's sales, 70% is pizza based.

Red's Savoy has traditionally used deck ovens for years but is testing a conveyor with a stone. Deck ovens are fantastic at baking and using them is an art. Finding pizzaiolos who know how to use decks – with their subtle nuances and hot spots – can be tricky. Plus, a conveyor is often used for high capacity, and this particular brand of stone conveyor can be more consistent than the people who man the deck ovens.

Before he died, Schoenheider told Daniels not to mess with his pizza recipe, and that directive has been Red's Savoy Pizza's North star. "We're not deviating from quality. Ever," Daniels said firmly. That means running $20 to $30 for a pizza, but given the amount of toppings used, isn't unthinkable. And customers, of course, will pay for quality.

Operations

Most of the stores are takeout and delivery. A handful have some limited seating.

"The sit-down pizza model is shifting drastically," Daniels said. "You can see that with Pizza Hut getting out of their (full-service) red roofs and getting into more (fast casual) Wing Street takeout and delivery models."

Many brands are cutting down on square footage and build-out, labor, cleaning and electric costs.

Red's Savoy tested a takeout only model in 2006-2010, and a full-service model with beer and wine in the 2010s. They've instead chosen a takeout and delivery model for several reasons, mainly due to the cost of rent and build-out.

"The delta on dine-in sales doesn't make sense," Daniels explained.

Only about half the units have seating, and dine in only accounts for about 15 percent of sales at those stores. At the rest of the units, sales are just about evenly split between carryout and delivery.

Technology

The brand began franchising in 2010-2011. At that time, Red's Savoy didn't have a consolidated POS system, no data, no online ordering, gift cards or loyalty program. Today, Red's Savoy has built a better tech stack than pizza companies twice its size, Daniels said.

There's a robust loyalty program, a lunch subscription service, a gift-card system that works across the brand and "an online ordering that's pretty advanced for our size," Daniels said. A new POS system is in the works.

The brand is omnichannel and built to meet guests where they are. It's switching to a new POS system. "We're set up for volume," Daniels added. "We're relying on partners that are advanced, cloud-based systems."

By partnering with other companies that have larger clients with bigger budgets and demands, the technology is designed and put into the base software, which can then be used by smaller brands like Red's Savoy Pizza.

"I could have a great idea, but if I don't have a $2 million budget to go build something out, Panera does and they work really closely with some of our partners and it pushes the technology faster," Daniels explained. "These partners that we rely on are well-funded by a lot of big brands, and we can enjoy some of the fruits of their labor."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.

An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.

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