Ordering at Carmel's new calzone restaurant is an art. Here's everything you need to know

Have solid plan before ordering at Carmel’s new calzone restaurant, Sauce on the Side, which is also coming to Downtown Indianapolis in October. Otherwise, you’ll end up that annoying person delaying the line because you can’t decide which of the 75 fillings and sauces you want in your giant pizza pillow.

The chain, born in St. Louis, just opened at 12751 N. Pennsylvania St., between Main Street and West Carmel Drive. Cooks hand-stretch dough to order and send foot-long calzones directly from the oven to your table.

That means when you cut into, say, the Nutella and banana dessert calzone, hot, melty chocolate filling flows forth, turning your calzone into a puffy island on a fudgy lake that everyone at your table will want to dip into with a corner of their own calzone. That scenario leads to my first tip for getting the best experience at Sauce on the Side.

Don’t go alone

Sauce on the Side's calzones are like an Indiana bread stick meets a hand pie. They’re soft and just a little crispy on the outside. The ones hugging macaroni and cheese are pure carb bombs that you can’t stop eating even when you’re full. Play it safe. Visit the 102-seat Sauce on the Side with two or three people so you can share lots of different calzones.

The Downtown Indy location, planned the new Hyatt Place hotel, 130 S. Pennsylvania St., will seat 92 people.

Study the menu first

Don't risk going into a daze in front of the huge menu painted on the wall. The epic list’s little letters can put you in a trance. You’ll get lost in all the fillings, sauces and signature calzones like the famous Cock-A-Doodle Noodle. Featured on Travel Channel’s “Food Paradise,” it's jammed with mac and cheese, roasted chicken, hefty pieces of pancetta, mozzarella,  green onion, garlic oil and St. Louis’ provel cheese, a combination of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone.

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Avoid the pre-calzone coma by grabbing a paper menu and heading to the bar or patio to sketch your idea calzone before you order. Sauce on the Side stocks local craft beer on tap and sells wine and cool sodas like Boylen’s cream and Fitz’s black cherry.

Fill with purpose

Figs, corn salsa, chorizo, marinated zucchini, pineapple, snow peas and toasted pine nuts are some of the unusual calzone fillings on the list, but all of them together obviously won’t make for a delicious package. Vary flavors. Think salty with sweet or spicy with creamy. Play off your favorite meals. A breakfast-for-dinner calzone might pack applewood smoked bacon, eggs, sausage, pear tomatoes and smoked cheddar with salsa verde. Go Italian with meatballs, mozzarella, minced garlic and garlic butter or lean French with boursin, prosciutto, dates and spinach.

Barbecue ranch worth the price?

Calzones soak up lots of flavor. Barbecue ranch dipping sauce is creamy and spicy and sounds enticing, but, honestly, it’s not as good as Buffalo butter, which is basically Buffalo wing sauce. For the extra $1.25 those sauces cost, pick the flavor that stands up to calzones. Go mild only if your calzone packs spicy fillings like jalapeno peppers, red onions, capers, capicola and barbecue chicken. Basic sauces like garlic butter and tomato sauce are tasty, too, and cost just 75 cents.

Build-your-own calzones start with mozzarella and ricotta for $7. Basic fillings like pepperoni, banana peppers, olives, bell peppers and mushrooms cost $1 each. Extra-special fillings such as pesto chicken, mac and cheese, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, feta, smoked cheddar and meatballs cost $1.50 each.

When to go

Skip peak lunch and dinner hours. The line grows quickly. Sauce on the Side is open 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Call 317-669-0233 or visit sauceontheside.com.

Follow IndyStar food writer Liz Biro on Twitter: @lizbiro, Instagram: @lizbiro, and on Facebook. Call her at 317-444-6264.