Red's Savoy Pizza Uptown

Galooney's had been an Uptown tradition for over 15 years. Granted, I've only lived in Minnesota for about 6 years or so, but Galooney's quickly became my favorite sub shop. Needless to say, I was sorry to see its doors close earlier this year. The end of Galooney's is a long, sad story that I don't want to dwell on too much because the wounds are still so fresh. After the doors closed and the lights went out, a sign quickly went up saying that Galooney's was under new management and would reopen up some time in the future with the ridiculously long name of The Original Red's Savoy Pizza Uptown.

I had maybe heard of Red's Savoy Pizza as a place that was well liked by the pizza across the river in St. Paul, but I had never been there myself and didn't know what to expect. After doing some research (I, um, Googled "Galooney's closing") I found a blog set up by the new owners to keep people up to date on the progress of the new location, but they unfortunately post to their blog even more rarely than I post to mine, and almost all of them (until the last one) say something along the lines of, "we're not open yet, and don't know when we will be..." In fact, in the past two paragraphs I've probably posted more substantive information about the restaurant they they did on their entire blog.

But all of that is irrelevant because it finally opened up last week... and it's really good!

Red's is very similar to Galooneys, and yet also very different, as though they made a very strong effort to please fans of both establishments. It's sort of like if they were remodeling Galooney's during a severe ion storm, throwing the restaurant into Star Trek's Mirror Mirror Universe. They layout was much cleaner and sleek than Galooney's was, but that was probably as much because it's new than an actual design decision. There's now a big wall blocking the kitchen, whereas it was all open at Galooney's. There are still tables out in front along the sidewalk, but the backroom seems a little smaller and just as a few booths where Galooney's had booths and tables crammed in. But the biggest change is that instead of ordering at the counter and either taking it to go or having it brought to your table (if you were lucky), you now sit down and wait for a server. You can still order at the counter to go, but if you want to eat it, you have to sit down and order from the table.

I'm not a huge fan of this change since it makes grabbing a meal there far more formal than it should be, and when there's only one or two servers, the wait can get pretty long if they suddenly get swamped at the counter and at the tables. Also, and this is maybe a selfish concern, but with table service I'm going to be forced to tip more, which might make me go there less often. Oh yeah, and instead of having self-serve soda dispensers and paper cups, they now have for here cups that you have to wait for your server to refill for you. If you want take-out, which took about fifteen minutes the first time I was there, you can only get a can of soda. If I'm waiting upwards of fifteen minutes or more for takeout, give me a paper cup and some free refills. Also, ditch the table service, since just feels awkward and slows things down way too much.

But how's the food? It's fantastic. If you loved Galooney's and have been nervous about where you're going to get another philly cheesesteak that was as good, have no fear about coming back to the same location. I actually think Red's subs are better than Galooney's were. That was such a bold statement, I had to format it as such. The menu contains more than a few mainstays from the old Galooney's menu, and you can even order some subs "Galooney's style" if you want they served the way you remember, slathered with mayo and peppers and all that good stuff. Even if you've never been to Galooney's, get your sub Galooney's style anyway. Where Galooney's subs used to come in a choice of two different sizes, Red's offers one that is midway between a large and a small. It's the perfect size, in my opinion, but maybe not if you want leftovers or are sharing. It's better than what you'd get at Caffrey's, however, which are delicious but always leave me feeling as hungry as I was when I walked in. Come to Red's and you'll leave full.

About the pizza I can't comment yet because I haven't tried it. But I already have to dock them a few points because they don't offer slices. Admittedly, I was never a big fan of Galooney's pizza, choosing to go there for the subs almost exclusively, but I would pop in every now and again for a slice and a soda. You can't do that at Red's, which totally sucks, in my opinion. They're pizza seems to be reasonably priced and I'll probably try it someday, but then again, maybe I won't. Usually when I want pizza, I go with a place I know is good. I'd be more likely to give Red's a try if they offered it by the slice. I hate to belabor the point too much, but it just doesn't make any sense to me.

The service was a bit of a mixed bag both times I visited last week, but no so bad that I hesitated to come back again within the same week. Also, it's a newly opened joint so we can't expect everything to run smoothly. But they could speed up the ordering process by putting up a big menu board instead of forcing customers to flip through the menu's kept next to the register. Also, I think they need a better computer system or something, because it seemed to take them a while to punch everything in. Also, when we asked to have our check of $16.00 split between two credit cards, the waitress charged $12.00 to each card. I have no idea how a person could make a mistake like that, but it's a pretty big one all things considered. After I explained it to her, she apologized and voided the transaction and rerang it correctly.

Also, and don't tell my girlfriend I said this, but both times I visited there were some pretty girls working behind the counter. If you're into that sort of thing. I only mention that in the interest of full disclosure about the restaurant. Back when I used to go to Galooney's, there were always cute -- not to mentioned stoned -- guys working behind the counter. This is another improvement Red's has made.

I had a few issues to be sure, and made some suggestions that might kick the place up a notch, but even if they ignore me it's still going to be a fantastic sub shop. I spent much of this year worrying about what I was going to do after the loss of Galooney's, but I can finally sleep soundly at night. Red's is here, and all is right in the world.

4.5 out of 5