It was during her usual morning run when Christina Cunningham made a clear, life-affirming decision — she was going to open a restaurant.
Not just any restaurant, but one that served up her philosophy of the importance of spending time with loved ones over a shared meal.
Sauced Pizzeria is the result of Cunningham’s mission to help bring families together, in this case, over hearty Italian dishes rich in history and community.
She started with her own family, as she knew she only wanted one chef — her nephew, Chad Fields.
“Chad can make anything. He’s a fantastic chef,” she said. “I also wanted to give him a jumpstart to make a name for himself.”
Although Fields never went to culinary school, he’s been working in restaurant kitchens since he was 15, from pizzerias and sports bars to fine dining and catering.
On July 9, 2021, Cunningham said she called Fields, who immediately said yes. By the next morning, the pair was looking at restaurants to purchase. Within 24 hours, they were in escrow.
On Dec. 1, 2021, Cunningham opened Sauced Pizzeria.
She hasn’t slowed down since.
Cunningham was raised in an entrepreneurial family, and said having her own business “never scared me. At 18, I owned a dance studio with my younger sister in Alpine. I never thought it was weird, that’s just how I was raised.”
After years of being her own boss, a brief, unhappy stint working in the corporate world caused her to rethink what she wanted in life.
“You have to love what you do, and the work just wasn’t in line with my mission of spending time with my family,” she said.
Thirty years of working with Pampered Chef, a company offering kitchen tools, food products and cookbooks for the home, combined with years of experience in food and sales, gave Cunningham a footing in the food industry.
“This is hard as heck, but it felt right, right from the beginning,” she said. “It goes along with my mission to gather people around a table, spending time together. Food makes people happy and time spent together is so important.”
From the beginning, Cunningham wanted an Italian restaurant with a one-word name that was a play on words.
“I wanted down home, big portions that feel good to your soul — hearty Italian food,” she said, with full confidence Fields could make the cuisine at any type of restaurant she chose.
“Sauced is dual meaning for sure. I knew it would work wherever we landed and it’s just right for a coastal town,” she said.
Although the first location didn’t work out, Cunningham said it was meant to be. The next place they found was their current spot, formerly Marino’s Italian Restaurant, owned by Mark Marino.
Although the pizzeria is known for its traditional Italian menu — a wide variety of pizzas, pastas, calzones, sandwiches and salads — vegan items are also extremely popular. There is even a gluten free “build your own” pizza.
Cunningham said Fields designed every recipe from start to finish, including the vegan items he had never made before.
Fields researches information on new dishes by reading recipes and watching online videos.
“I search for ingredients and bases other people use,” Fields said. “Once I watch someone else do it, I can do it pretty quickly. I then use trial and error and adjust things as I go.”
“Our vegan line is substantial, and vegan Italian is really hard to come by. Our vegan line has exploded,” Cunningham said, adding it is mostly thanks to the vegan bread sticks and meatball choices.
She also credits her nephew for the taste and popularity of their dough.
“Hands down our dough is just next level. People often don’t realize that until they taste it,” she said.
Fields said the secret to the dough is keeping it simple; his recipe only uses a high-quality flour, yeast, salt and an oil blend.
“It’s about the little things, such as making sure the wet/dry ratio is correct, using high-quality ingredients and letting them speak for themselves,” he said. “And even though it sounds cliche, ‘making it with love’ — I put a lot of ion into what I do.”
Likewise, Fields brushed up on Italian meatballs before developing his own recipe.
“The meatballs are a labor of love. They are legit Italian meatballs and very popular — he hand rolls 200 meatballs every three days,” Cunningham said.
Among her favorites are the spaghetti and bolognese — the sausage bolognese is made in house — and the prosciutto and arugula pizza, which she describes as “beautiful and a little bit different.”
Fields’ favorites remind him of “grandma’s cooking,” he said. “I do love a classic Hawaiian pizza, our spaghetti and meatballs, and our breadsticks and cheesy breadsticks.”
“Food that is nostalgic to us hits closer to the heart and that makes it taste better,” he said.
Sauced succeeds in dishing out a family-friendly vibe, perfect for date night with the kids in tow.
Although they ended up in Pacific Beach by chance, Cunningham said everything about the location was right.
“People walk in and feel that they are home. They can bring their family, run into their neighbors, maybe even sit at one of our tucked away little tables for a romantic date night,” she said. “It’s a really happy spot.”
“There was also a history of retired couples having date night at Marino’s and I loved that,” she said.
Customers and friends enjoy Sauced so much they often become part of the restaurant family.
Former customer Masey Blakemore is now a server; Tony Daskalakis, the youth pastor at PB Presbyterian, is a part-time server; and b Asher Cook is a Mission Bay High student. Cunningham’s best friend, Robin Duggan, works with her on Friday nights.
Many patrons were pleased that Matias Feliz-Rivera stayed. The pizza and prep cook formerly worked at Marino’s.
Along with Fields, chefs Jose Salazar and Emily Diaz-Parmer complete the staff.
In addition to the hearty fare, Sauced offers a variety of deals ranging from happy hour, game day and midday week specials to kids eat free Sundays and Monday meal kits.
As part of their commitment to family nights, Cunningham said they feed the MBHS football team “stacks” of pizza for every game, as well as delivering food for the band and cheer team at least twice during the season.
The restaurant gives numerous coupons, good for a free large pizza, to weekly high school winners as a way for students and staff to celebrate with their families. It also participates in numerous community events with PB Presbyterian Church, PB Woman’s Club and local school “Dine Out” programs.
Some of the restaurant’s youngest customers have even found themselves behind the counter during the summer “Kids Culinary Camps.”
For three hours one day a week, youngsters learn to make two or three Italian dishes.
“We make homemade dough, side dishes, filled pastas and more. They make some phenomenal dishes, and along the way learn about basics, safety, sanitation, baking rules and more,” Cunningham said.
The classes are so popular that parents asked for adult classes, which started in late October. Following a similar format to the youth, the adult classes are once a week with a different weekly theme, focusing on fall and holiday baking and candy making.
Cunningham said she is looking forward to a long run with Sauced.
“We wanted to become one with the neighborhood and no one knew us. The first year we opened, Sauced was nominated as one of the best new businesses in PB,” she said. “We took over an iconic PB restaurant and the returning patrons welcomed us and so have the new ones. PB has really rallied around us.”
Her nephew heartily agrees.
Although Fields its working with family can be more challenging at times, “for the most part we are a great team,” he said.
“I wouldn’t want to be on this journey with anyone but my Aunt Christina — I don’t think any of my other family could do this without any restaurant experience and done as well as she’s done,” he said. “And we have a lot of fun and laughter working together.”
“The walls here hold so many memories. If I can continue that ambiance, the walls will hold even more,” Cunningham said.
Find the recipe for Sauced Pizzeria’s lemon angel hair pasta at PBMonthly.net.
Want to visit?
Sauced Pizzeria
Address: 4475 Ingraham Street, Pacific Beach
Hours: 3 to 8 p.m. Mondays; 3 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; noon to 9 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; closed on Tuesdays.
Phone: 858-2-3-7135
Website: saucedpizzeriapb.com
Recipe from Sauced Pizzeria
Lemon Angel Hair Pasta
Ingredients:
2 T. extra virgin olive oil1 tsp. minced garlic1 T. capers1/4 tsp. red chili flakes1/4 C. fresh lemon juice1/4 C. feta cheese8.5 oz angel hair pasta (cooked al dente)salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1 – Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook for 20 seconds. Add capers, chili flakes, lemon juice to the pan and reduce the sauce by half.
2 – Drop in cooked angel hair pasta and add a pinch of salt and pepper.
3 – Sauté together for 2 minutes.
4 – Place pasta onto a serving dish and finish with feta cheese, lemon zest and good olive oil.
Note: If pasta thickens too much while cooking, add a couple of ounces of pasta water to loosen the sauce.
Courtesy of Chef Chad Fields
