The other day, Jake Flanagan from Saraveza emailed me with the news that now you can get their pizzas at Living Häus Beer’s taproom in Southeast Portland. This is the same location that has been host to Whit’s Pizza Pies, but Whit is currently undergoing cancer treatment and had to take a pause on his pizza work. Selling their tavern-style pies under the Bad Habit moniker, the Saraveza team is keeping Whit’s seat warm until his glorious return.
But I wanted to learn more, so Jake and I had a chat about their residency, their tavern-pies, Far Cry, and more. Here’s part of our conversation.
The Initial Email About Bad Habit Pizza’s Residency
“We’ve recently started selling Saraveza‘s pizza menu out of the Living Haus taproom.,” Jake wrote. “We’re billing it under our revived Bad Habit moniker to distinguish the locations but it will be otherwise the same.”
I asked some followup questions and here is what he told me. “Whit’s recovery is ongoing, currently he needs time to heal,” he explained. “While that’s ongoing, Living Haus asked us to take up a short term residency rather than try to do different pop-ups every day. We’ll likely be there for at least a few months until such time as Whit is good to come back. While we’re there we’ll have someone from our kitchen making our pizzas, as well as salads and soon an appetizer or 2.”
Bad Habit (Room)
Bad Habit was, of course, Saraveza’s “speakeasy-styled space” next door. Over the years there you could play pinball, enjoy some cocktails, have brunch, see some comedy, play trivia, and enjoy time together. The space has a new tenant: This summer Far Cry, a listening bar, will open there. More on that later.
Bad Habit Room opened in October 2013 and closed on April 1, 2026.
Saraveza
They identify as a Midwestern tavern offering thin crust tavern pies, pasties (a Yooper fave), salads, sandwiches, and a few other things. They are also part of a restaurant group that includes Roscoe’s/Miyamoto and Tiny Bubble Room. Craft beer is one thing that connects these spots together. They’ve also had a connection with Matt at Living Häus for many years prior to this residency.
Bad Habit: Trying To Keep the Heat Going
Jake wants to emphasize that they are there at Living Häus right now truly as a temporary effort, not as a replacement for Whit’s Pizza Pies.
“We don’t want to come across as if we’re replacing, so much as just trying to keep the heat are going,” Jake explained. “We’re here to keep the pizza program going, essentially.”
He continued, “Ours is a much different pizza style than his, which is more like New York style, long fermented dough. I know he did specials very frequently with what fun things are in season that he can throw on.
“Our whole shtick is a little bit more on the comfort food/economical side. We’re going for a slightly different style, which I don’t think is a bad thing. Like I said, I want to make sure that we’re not coming at this with the appearance of being a replacement. We are still doing pizza, but we’re doing our pizza—otherwise, I feel like that would just be kind of disrespectful.”
Bad Habit Time at Living Häus
When they talked to Living Häus about the length of time for the residency, they put together a plan for three months—the bare minimum that they thought would be needed. And when they get to the end of the three months, they’ll revisit a possible extension if that seems appropriate. Meanwhile, they’ll use all of Whit’s equipment that is there, and will be happy to hand it back when he returns.
Their first day was Wednesday, April 15, which means in three months that will be sometime in mid-July.
Knowing Whit
I wondered if Jake had known Whit before this residency, and Jake said he had not. But, he was certainly aware of him and his work.
“I had seen him pop up here and there just because I do tend to follow what’s going on in town in the food world,” Jake explained. “So I’ll see things that pop up on Instagram or Reddit. But I had never met him before—and to be honest, I don’t get a chance to go out to eat at night very frequently, since I have a three- year old at home. But I had always heard very impressive things.”
I can vouch for Whit’s delicious pies. First time I had them was during pop-up at the Upright Beer Station. Delish!
Bad Habit (Saraveza’s) Pizza
As I mentioned earlier, Saraveza and the Bad Habit pop-up at Living Häus make Midwestern tavern-style pies. These pizzas have a thin crust, usually rolled out, sometimes cooked in a pan (my friend Adam’s NYC pop-up in 2014, Margot’s Pizza, served bar pies—aka tavern-style pies—cooked in a pan), sometimes not (Saraveza’s pizza is not cooked in a pan). And the party cut is also a defining element of these pizzas.
“It’s very similar to like stuff that I grew up eating,” said Jake. “I’m from Iowa, originally. I will be honest—in my area, Iowa doesn’t really have a whole lot that is exactly native. So we kind of just glom onto everything in the surrounding areas. Our tavern-style pizza might be a little bit closer to Chicago, with slight variations of difference, but still a super thin crust and cut party style.
“And that’s what we try to stick to. It makes it fairly easy to run with a small crew so we don’t have to charge as much, and we can still make good quality stuff. All our dough is still made fresh every two to three days and allowed to do a cold ferment. We make all our own sauces, do our own pickling, and try to have some different fun veg and smoked meats for toppings.
“Our process is to par bake the dough. So when it comes time to get them all prepped, we’ll roll them out, put them in a slightly cooler oven for a tiny bit, and they’ll puff up, kind of like a pita bread, almost. And what that does, is that when somebody orders [a pizza], we don’t have to try to pull it to order—we can have it pre set. And having that extra separation of layers, lets us get a bit more crispy bottom, even if we’re throwing a bunch of sauce and cheese and whatever on top. And we throw it right on the deck [oven] and it actually gets some crisp on the bottom.
It really is one of those things that everybody has seen to put their own spin on how to do it. The whole history of the tavern pie is basically about bars that wanted to have food, but didn’t have real kitchens. You kind of got a lot of variation over different areas and regions.”
Saraveza: What’s in a Name?
I could not pass up the opportunity to learn about the origins of the Saraveza name. “So the woman who originally started the business was named Sara,” Jake explained. “And it was supposed to be mainly just beer with pasties to satisfy having the requirement for food.”
He continued, “And, you know, since it’s beer …. cerveza … and Sara … she mashed the two together. I appreciate a little wordplay like that as much as anybody. But yeah—originally it was supposed to be just very, very beer-centric. But after that, it’s like, well, why change the name? It’s a success!”
They extended the kitchen after a few years and that’s where they ended up having a proper full restaurant.
The Jake Era
Before Saraveza became part of the restaurant group, the original owner decided she wanted to move back to where she was from, which was Wisconsin. And she sold the business to the partnership.
Jake has been at the helm of Saraveza for about four years. “I came in pretty much right as things were starting to reopen from all the dining restrictions and COVID lockdowns,” said Jake. “It was interesting to try to get that sorted out, because everywhere had been shut for a while.”
He continued, “We had a patio that we could use, but there was a bit of a big change with opening back up and trying to figure out what’s the best thing for us to do for our customers—and for the safety of the people who work here.”
Far Cry
Colin Anderson, the man behind Far Cry, is looking to open later this summer. “I was just chatting with Colin the other day and I think he was talking about maybe July,” said Jake. “But it’s still early enough that he’s trying to figure out a more concrete timeline.”
The idea is that he’ll have a listening bar using a very high quality sound system. The environment will be very chill, so you can focus on the music and your experience there. “It does seem like a very Portland thing to like go and really properly appreciate music,” remarked Jake.
When the space was the Bad Habit room, they had a back door that would lead over to there that they kept open, for ease of moving around since they were sharing drinks and food. That won’t be the case now, as there are liability issues to consider, but Far Cry will utilize some of the outside seating that they used to have.
They are looking to discuss possible collabs, so stay tuned for that. “We’re in a small space, and it’s good to be amiable,” said Jake. “And we have no reason not to be, really. We’re happy to have a new neighbor next door.”
And if You’re up at Saraveza, Here’s Some Favorites (Not Pizza)
I was curious about the rest of the Saraveza menu, and asked Jake about his favorite non-pizza items on it—and it was a toss-up. “We do a hot chicken sandwich that kind of scratches my itch really, really well,” he said. “We make a hot chicken spice out of a bunch of different kinds of chili peppers and a good shot of brown sugar. But once you toss it on the chicken, toss some hot oil over the chicken, it just kind of hits all those sweet and salty and hot notes.
“So it’s between that or we do a radicchio salad. It’s radicchio, Castelvetrano olives, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs tossed in a sherry vinaigrette. We make our sherry with a bunch of garlic, and onions, so it just kind of is layers in layers of cooked down and melded flavors. And all that rich sour with the kind of bitter, hearty radiccio is just really, really gratifying. I know that completely goes against what you were talking about with the vegan salad
I say those two are probably my favorite things on the menu personally. Okay. And the ones I’ll eat the most frequently if I’m eating at work. “
Big thanks to Jake for the great conversation and for clueing us into their residency at Living Häus. I hope you’ll get a chance to stop in soon.
Bad Habit residency at Living Häus Brewery Taproom [started April 15, 2026]
630 SE Belmont Street, Portland
Saraveza website | Instagram | Facebook
Living Häus website | Instagram | Facebook
Meg Cotner
