Sauce on the Side is a fast-casual restaurant brand founded in 2012 in St. Louis, Missouri. Headquarters remain in St. Louis, and the company launched its franchising program in 2017.
The brand specializes in handcrafted calzones, fresh salads and made-from-scratch sauces and dressings — delivering a quality-driven menu designed for dine-in, take-out and digital ordering.
Sauce on the Side differentiates itself by combining a counter-order format with full-service hospitality: customers enjoy table service once they place their order, and the brand takes pride in sourcing high-quality meats, cheeses and produce while making its dough and sauces in-house.
Unlike many fast-casual chains that emphasize speed alone, Sauce on the Side emphasizes elevated service and menu authenticity. Its operational model is built to perform in off-premise channels — including in-house delivery, third‐party delivery and curbside pickup — which positions the brand for growth in changing consumer habit.
Here's what you would need to invest if you were to start this franchise. These costs are provided by the franchisor in the Franchise Disclosure Document.
Sauce on the Side offers a comprehensive training program to prepare franchisees and their team members for operating a franchised restaurant. The training is structured to ensure that the key personnel understand and can execute the brand’s operational and service standards effectively. The following outlines the main training programs provided:
Sauce on the Side provides franchisees with an “Assigned Territory,” typically tailored to the specific demographics of the location and often structured as a two-mile radius.
During the franchise term, and provided the franchisee is not in default, the franchisor agrees not to license or operate another Sauce on the Side restaurant within that territory, except in special “Non-Traditional Locations” like airports or stadiums. This territory must be respected for services like catering and delivery, with permission required to operate beyond it.
However, this territorial protection is not exclusive in the broader sense. Sauce on the Side and its affiliates retain rights to operate or franchise different business concepts or use alternative distribution channels such as grocery stores and the internet—even within the franchisee’s territory.
KEY FRANCHISE STATS
All you need to know about this franchise
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Below are some of
Sauce on the Side
key competitors in the
Healthy
sector.
6
$35,000
$494,000
$794,000
n.a.
$946,000
$xxx,xxx
74.5%
n.a.
4.6%
n.a.
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Tru Bowl Superfood Bar is a health-food café franchise offering açaí bowls, juices and customizable wellness meals, serving health-conscious consumers and casual café guests, and known for modern branding, efficient service and appealing studio-style footprint.
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Sauce on the Side is a fast-casual restaurant franchise offering hand-crafted calzones, salads and desserts, serving diners seeking quality and convenience, and known for fresh dough-made-in-house, strong off-premise sales channels and modern dine-in ambiance.
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Salad House is a health-focused café franchise offering build-your-own salads, wraps and smoothies, serving wellness-oriented diners and families, and known for fresh ingredients, customisation and fast-casual convenience.
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