Sauca

I was so sad to hear that this place had closed. Maybe not the best location, but the service was great and the menu had been tasty. Adequate parking in front, clean bathrooms tucked behind a curtain, and a colorful interior with a mix of lounge, bar, and table seating. Horchata hit the spot, not too gritty or watery. Pupusas and tostones were the least impressive of what our party had. Ropa vieja was pretty comforting, and the Mumbai butter chicken was flavorful. We even got to sample some delicious hanger steak that had me ready to come zooming back for a cozy three and a half stars. RIP Sauca!

It has been long time since Ryan S. and I ate here. It has a new look inside — more modern and contemporary feel. It’s now a sit down with waiter service instead of order from the counter, sit down, and the server will bring your food to you. The menu is much more extensive with more choices and alcohol, however, the prices are much more expensive. I remember saying in my original review that the prices were cheap. Not anymore. My mumbai butter chicken alone is $ 11 but if you do the combo (drink and side included), it’s $ 15.
I truly want to support my mom and pop places but our bill was more than what we wanted to spend for 2 people and unfortunately, the portions seemed smaller than our previous experiences at Sauca. We probably won’t be returning here as our wallets felt the dent in it.

Sâuçá is one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants. It is bright inside, with lots of natural light and vibrantly colored décor, thanks to recent updates. In addition to tables and lounge chairs, there’s a counter with stools, and a patio. The owner is often there, and is beyond friendly. He really cares what his patrons think, which is appreciated.
I’ve had two of their main dishes: Mumbai butter chicken (also served on the truck) and Maghreb chicken (not sold on the truck). I’ve also tasted the lamb Dhabe Da, Ropa Vieja, and flank start that is part of the carne asada. A new Latino menu was added, to compete with other nearby restaurants. From that menu, I’ve had the cheese pupusa and tostones. All dishes are a bit of a twist on their inspirations.
The Mumbai butter chicken is served on griddled flatbread, and always a tasty option. I order the Maghreb chicken often, because I can’t order it on the truck. This Moroccan inspired dish is quite flavorful. The lamb Dhabe Da was decent, but I think the Maghreb chicken is tastier and heartier. I really enjoyed the Latino menu. The tostones were good, but smaller than I’m used to. The pupusa was perfect, but instead of the typical cilantro-​jalapeño sauce and curtido, a fresh pico de gallo was provided. The flank steak was really tender, so if you like carne asada, this is a good bet.
If you are really hungry, you might want to consider a starter. If not, I think the portions are perfectly sized. I really want to try some of their drinks, plus breakfast and dessert, so you know I’ll be back.

I finally checked Sauca off my «to try» bookmark list. I really like their global dining concept — especially since I like foreign foods and variety! The restaurant isn’t in the greatest neighborhood (think scenery not danger level) but the place is really nice on the inside with cool décor and they also have outdoor seating. We went on a Wednesday night shortly after 9 PM and we were (sadly) the only customers.
I liked the menu but there really aren’t a whole lot of options actually. Especially if you’re of the vegetarian persuasion. I got the Pork Bahn Mi = roasted pork w/​daikon & carrot + asiany sauce. I liked it a lot. The pork was tough… that probably was not intentional but I actually liked it that way — everything else in the mix is softish so it was nice to have a little something to gnaw on. So Sauca, please take that to task to overcook all pork.
The Medi Veggie was also ordered… that was not a fan favorite. Likely because it came out with the ‘tomato, parsley, pickle, and scallions mix’ which was specifically requested to be left off (remember, we were the only customers). It gave everything an underlying zingy-​ness which was undesirable.
It’s a cool place but it’s a little «meh» unfortunately. At $ 11 for a sandwich-​wrap, I think that’s about $ 3 too expensive.

We got carry out so I can’t comment on the service or the décor. We had the Fish taco wrap with creamy bacon cole slaw and the Bahn Mi. The wraps are very large but tasty. Though I probably wouldn’t get the Bahn Mi wrap again because my favorite part of Bahn Mi is the bread (which this didn’t have).

I’ve been a huge proponent of the Sauca food truck, which has in more recent times fallen off in quality and frequency of visits to Metro Center. At one point, the Sauca food truck empire included 3 or 4 Sauca trucks, a Mexican truck, the Meathead truck, and a Sauca Grill truck serving Lebanese style food. I think the truck activity has fallen off while the owner has started concentrating on his Sauca brick and mortar location on Columbia Pike. Occupying a former Bob and Edith’s diner location, Sauca has changed appearances internally several times. At one time, a large, wooden Middle Eastern «nook» was sitting on the floor. More recently, Sauca has transitioned into a sit down restaurant with waiter service. They are still serving the original Sauca flatbread sandwich type things they serve off the truck, but now they have added other items like omelets, and meat dishes served over jasmine rice.
The standouts are the Hog Heaven (french fries with pork barbeque and cole slaw on top), the lamb dhaba and the venerable Mumbai Butter Chicken flatbread sandwich. The Hog Heaven in particular is the perfect food to pick up, bring home, fix up a hangover and watch sports while nibbling.
I’m always glad when businesses invest in Columbia Pike, but I’m especially glad when they are producing good food. The service was friendly, prices have gone up a bit, but I still find it to be a fair value for the area. The drastic decline in quality in the Sauca truck is fine with me when I can just head over to this location and pick up what I’d want freshly made and delicious.

Giant, delicious, and savory sandwiches. I called ahead 15 minutes ahead of time and my sandwiches were hot and ready upon my arrival. The buffalo chicken and butter chicken were absolutely divine! Even without a side, each sandwich was more than enough for a meal. I am so glad they now have a permanent location instead of just a truck.

Went here for a second time today. The previous time I got the Mumbai Butter Chicken, but this time I got the Pork Banh Mi with a side of bacon coleslaw. It was excellent. They take the food truck thing seriously, because the food was fast too!
Also, it seems they’ve really made the old Bob & Edith’s diner their own, swapping out the booths for regular tables. That is a good touch too. I’ll definitely be back.

Tastes from around the world in a somewhat strange environment.
My girlfriend and I decided to try Sauca Grill during the summer. We pulled up to a strange colorful building that almost looked like a UFO. It was pretty good. Upon entering, a gentleman who I believe was the owner greeted us and decided to tell us everything about the menu. This was cool, but we found we had no time to take everything in on our own.
We decided on the Mumbai Butter Chicken and a sandwhich with fries. Although tasty, I feel the food had food truck quality. (I believe the restaurant itself started from a food truck). The food seemed to come out of bags and pre-​prepared containers. The sauce and our drinks that came with the food also came in pre-​packaged plastic containers.
We sat down and ate, and the owner continued to come out and talk to us about his food. A little strange.
Pros: decent food, no frills, not overly expensive
Cons: although tasty, the food seemed to all be pre-​prepared as if off a food truck.
Overall: While I would not be a regular here, it was definately worth a try.

Definitely 5 stars…
I was impressed with this place and my wife was as well. My wife arrived a little early tonight and it wasn’t very busy. When I arrived at about 6, she was chatting with the owner who was a real nice guy. He brought her some yucca chips on the house that she was snacking on when we got there, so good! I really liked the atmosphere of this place right off the bat, it had an outdoor section, and was well laid out for a sit down fast food like establishment, but the food was far from fast food.
We ordered an app right off the bat, the falafel that came with a green dill yogurt sauce. It was very good, and we ate it quickly. My wife had a corona and I had an limeaid type iced tea that was very good. For the main course I had the Mexicali fish tacos and my wife had the lamb with a tomato yogurt sauce. The whole meal was fantastic, and it was brought out to us within five to ten minutes. One really cool thing is that they have foods from all around the world on their menu (think N. America, S America, Africa, Asia, Mediterranean, and Europe). The prices were very reasonable as well, and what made it even better is I had a groupon I bought from a month or two back.
While we were talking with the owner, he mentioned they had opened back in June I think. Also, he mentioned that he had added several items to the menu. He even started asking my wife what were some typical Czech dishes since she is from the Czech Republic.
The service was excellent as not only did the owner check on us several times throughout the meal, but the other people that were working there made sure we were pleased too. Near the end of our meal the place got busier, and I could tell service is a priority here just like the food as every diner was well taken care of.
There was a large parking lot, and the place seemed like a perfect place to come for a quick meal in the Summer time as you could kick back and relax here.
This place will be a success story. I’m definitely coming back!!!

I ate here twice already and it has the potential to become one of my favorite local places. They have a fantastic menu with some great options and a really friendly staff. The owner is a fantastic guy who comes out and mingles with the guests, lets them try some wine, offers up recommendations, and just seems really sincere and genuine.
And the food is really, really good. I’ve sampled four of their sandwiches so far and, kind of surprisingly, the buffalo chicken was my favorite. Had a nice sweetness to it and it wasn’t deep fried or anything like that, really good. Their yuca is amazing, too, but the other sides could maybe use a bit more kick.
Definitely a fan, tho, and I’ll be frequenting this place quite often.

Tried Sauca at Truckeroo 4.
Unfortunately, I didn’t quite enjoy the Mumbai Butter Chicken as much as I thought I would. No curry, no spice, not flavorful like I would expect butter chicken to be.
Glad I tried it, but maybe I will give their other staple a try: the fish tacos.

I work in Falls Church aside from a shitty commute, the most depressing thing about working out here is that I have no access to food trucks. So, when I found out the famous Sauca had opened in Columbia Pike I was excited to try it!
The dishes here (with the exception of the roasted pig on Sundays only) come in a unique flat bread type wrap thingy (refer to photos for more info). The bread is soft in its consistency as well compliments the flavors of the dish. And the dishes?! The best. It is flavor overload. Sweet, savory, salty, peppery, spicy… filled! I would say there’s nothing authentic about their wraps (or whatever the hell they are defined as), but who gives a shit. Yes, there is no Banh Mi taco wrap. I get it… but who cares?! What’s good is good, damnit. I hate the «well it’s not authentic» argument. If authentic means shitty, then no thanks.
I recommend everyone try Sauca at least once in their life as there is a flavor everyone. The staff here is also excellent and very friendly. Dishes are made to order so while there isn’t a long wait, expect to wait about 5 – 10 minutes.
My favorite dishes thus far have been… EVERYTHING. I hope to try the pork on Sunday one day.

This was not bad. It’s the new restaurant iteration of some well-​known food carts by the same name. If you keep thinking «wow, this is really great food-​cart food» the whole time you’re eating, it’s probably four– or five-​star. If you remember that you’re in an actual restaurant, it’s three-​star.
The eating area is cute, and nicely decorated. The music is good. The rosewater-​flavored «limunad» (limeade) is good. The food is, like I said, just okay even for quick-​service.
I had the grilled fish taco. The sauce was good, but the taco was so greasy that the flatbread was soaked through before it even got to the table, and the fish was surprisingly heavy. I kept thinking it was beef. I think it was probably tuna, beneath the sauce. The curried potato salad side was tasteless.
The beef shawarma was a little fatty, with some kind of overpowering bitter herb. The parmesan fries were good.
I might come back again to try something different, but I’m in no rush.

Yum! Terrific food and friendly people. Really friendly. It’s a lot of food too, for the price. Butter Chicken is terrific and the sauce on the beef Shawarma is yummy! Enjoy the fries and the Limunad is delicious! Can’t wait to go back and try the mulligatawny and the doffles!

I’ve lived in DC for just under a year now and have been, by and large, pretty disappointed with the dearth of good food offered in and around the city. Yes, yes, yes, I know there are some respectable places and everyone has their favorites, but let’s be honest, the food scene here leaves a lot to be desired. This makes the opening of Sauca Grill in Arlington a welcome addition, and indeed a breath of fresh air.
I went to Sauca for the first time today and it was exactly what the doctor ordered. For months I’ve wanted to eat at one of their food trucks but never had a chance, so when they opened a restaurant in Arlington I pounced on it. Literally everything on the menu sounded mouthwatering and deciding on what to order was no mean feat. After some deliberation, I settled on the beef shawarma wrap, which was extremely tasty and dripping with juice! My wife ordered the Mumbai butter chicken, which was also completely off the charts and may have been tastier than my shawarma. Two entrees and a desert, which by the way was also great, cost around $ 25.
If you live in DC and love good and creative food this is a place I think you should be excited about.

The owner of the Sauca food truck empire has opened a brick & mortar establishment on a relatively dead section of Columbia Pike where his neighbors include a Goodwill and a check-​cashing business. Hopefully his concept (including tasty, well-​priced food, and an outdoor lounge area) will add some new life to the area.
The menu is basically the same as the Sauca food trucks with a few additions. There are now side dishes, salad and soup options, two kid options (a quesadilla and possibly chicken fingers?), and rotisserie chicken. On Sundays they have a BBQ pork special with coleslaw, french fries, and a fried egg. Gotta give that a try!
I’ve had the banh mi sandwich and the buffalo chicken from the truck, so I wanted to try something different. This time I went with the Mumbai butter chicken, and my husband got the Mexicali fish tacos. I had the side salad with lime vinaigrette, and he had the yucca fries which came with an two types of aioli. An $ 11 combo gets you a meal with 1 side and a drink.
Once you order, you place a numbered card on your table and the servers bring you your food. We opted to sit on the patio since it was such a lovely, humidity-​free night. The patio consists of 12 wrought-​iron tables and chairs, a television, and a covering with ceiling fans. As we found out while talking with the owner, he plans on installing a bench/​couch along the perimeter and turning the patio into a more lounge-​like area. They are expecting to get their liquor license within the month.
Onto dinner: the butter chicken was excellent – definitely the best Sauca dish I’ve had. The fish tacos were okay, but a bit dry. The dish could have used more sauce or greens to liven it up. The yucca fries were thick-​cut and went well with the dipping sauces. The owner brought out our food and took great care of us (as well as everyone else dining at the establishment) with multiple table visits.
They’ve been open less than a week, but everything was well-​executed. We got our food in less than 5 minutes, nothing was forgotten, etc. Rare for a restaurant that’s been open for such a short time.
Sauca Grill looks like it will be a great addition to the neighborhood. It’s only 10 – 15 minutes from downtown and there are a million buses that run along Columbia Pike so don’t let the S. Arlington location scare you. Plus, there are less brown flip flops and popped collars on the southside and one bonus you never find around these parts: there’s a parking lot!

Pros: Outdoor seating
Funky décor
A pool table
A large middle eastern bed that you see and really, really want to lie down in but aren’t allowed to.
Community chalkboard
Food arrived quickly
Cons: limited menu
Pool table is $ 10 for the night, or so the guy told me. Hopefully they will change this and charge per game or, better yet, not at all.
The butter chicken was okay, not great. Not as flavorful as I would have liked.
The garlic parmesan fries are neither cheesy or garlicy. They just tasted like salt.
I might return but definitely not my new favorite hang out spot. There are cheaper and better places just a little further down the pike.

Very Good! Gotta love sauces, and this place had lots of options. We ordered the Mumba Butter Chicken with a side of saffron rice and a side of yucca. Tend to not be a big fried yucca fan, but this yucca was great! Would not get the rice as a side again (it’s already in the pita wrap). Highly recommend getting one extra side of the dill yogurt sauce (excelente!).
The wraps are $ 8.00, or $ 11.00 for the wrap, one side and a soda.
Didn’t realize at all at the time, but this is the second day they’ve ever been open. The owner was incredibly friendly and assured that every customer enjoyed the food and experience there. You have to love going to a restaurant where you look at the menu and want to order four or six different meals and strain yourself to choose just one.
The outdoor seating is awesome! Fun, lively music playing and Tiki Torches lit on the outskirts of the patio. I’ll definitely be back to try the rest of the menu!

Technology is wonderful. Today a little tweeting bird told me I no longer needed to venture out on sweltering days to trudge 3 – 4 blocks to get my Sauca fix — and now I’m sitting in their new brick and mortar spot on Columbia Pike enjoying my Mumbai Butter Chicken and excellent garlic fries.
Located in the spot Bob and Edith’s tried to establish a second location (one I pretty much ignored in favor of the original), I think this is going to be a grand spot for Sauca — particularly the large covered patio area. $ 11 and change got me the sauca combo (sauca, 1 side and a soda).
As I munched away listening to relaxing tunes and the friendly chatter of the employees, I perused the menu a bit more. Mostly its the same items found on the trucks with a few exceptions. Noteworthy addition — Sunday Special: Hog Heaven — Charcoal roasted pork over french fries with BBQ sauce, cole slaw and topped with a sunny-​side-​up egg. The warm welcome from the staff, pleasant atmosphere, tasty food and ample parking means I’m definitely coming back to try that. (Will probably give the pool table a whirl too at some point.)
Welcome to the neighborhood Sauca!