Crust & Crate — Restaurant in Ottawa

I was there on Day 2 of business. Pizza oven was not working properly, so that was not a menu option. Understandable?? Not really. I ordered a pot sticker appetizer and seared yellowfin tuna salad. Extensive beer and wine menu, WOW. Excellent selection of craft beers, displayed on a huge scoreboard at bar! No beverage menu for non-alcohol beverages, which is odd. Pepsi products served. While waiting for my appetizer, I had plenty of time to take in this new restaurant's decour. There are plenty of booths with gorgeous wood tables, wrap around bar with seating, center floor seating as well as bistro height long bench seating with tables. Tons of natural light coming in through large windows. VERY HIGH ceilings, excellent for air circulation, which will be great on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights when it gets super busy! Directly in front of me was a massive TV setup, essentially a group of flats screens put together to make a MEGA tv. I imagine that any sports game will be awesome on that. There are also TVs all along the top of the bar, and on the walls throughout. They were playing hip hop Rap style music with the matching provocative videos. Not my cup of tea for 11:30 in the morning, but will work well for late afternoons and into the night! My appetizer arrived, it was good. Very messy to eat, and not quite sure of the concept. A lot of cabbage, sliced red peppers and red onions on leaves of lettuce, and a touch of dressing, with a pot sticker on top. I would have rolled the lettuce leaf up with all the ingredients inside, and placed the pot sticker on top. Much neater presentation, and clear to guest how to eat it. I would not recommend this dish if you are on a date. Too messy, as is. My salad arrived. The tuna was nice, however, completed lacked seasoning. The different elements of the salad were ok. When I took a bit from each of the elements, added a piece of tuna, then I understood the dish. It was delicious. My server was very preoccupied with other tasks that she was being asked to do. Three times she was headed toward me when someone stopped her with a task. Sour note to my experience. This restaurant has some excellent healthy menu options. Fresh ingredients were used, and flavours were not over the top. Very refreshing. Do you know what was missing from this meal?? Excessive sodium. So, well done! Excellent location, ample parking. I will revisit in a few...

We recently visited Crust and Crate for the first time after hearing a lot of hype about their pizza. To be honest, I’m not much of a pizza guy, but my wife loves pizza and had been wanting to try this place for a while. So, we decided to give it a shot for dinner.

The first thing we noticed upon arriving was the clean and well-maintained atmosphere. The place has a modern and inviting vibe that made us feel comfortable right away. We were seated quickly, and the server who attended to us was friendly, though it became clear that she was lacking in experience. After placing our order, we barely saw her again. There were no follow-ups to check if we were enjoying our meal or if we needed anything else. While I understand that things can get busy, I believe checking in with your customers is a key part of the dining experience—something that was missing here.

Now, onto the pizza. Given all the buzz we’d heard, we had high expectations, especially since my wife is a pizza enthusiast. Unfortunately, the pizza was just okay. It wasn’t bad by any means—it had a decent taste, the crust was fine, and the toppings were fresh—but there wasn’t anything particularly special about it that would set it apart from other pizza spots in the area. It felt like a standard pizza you could get at any average pizzeria, which was a bit disappointing considering all the hype.

That said, the prices were reasonable, which is definitely a positive, especially in today’s dining scene where costs can easily spiral out of control. For the quality of the pizza, I’d say it’s affordable, so if you’re looking for a casual spot with fair pricing, Crust and Crate might be a decent option.

Overall, I wouldn’t say we had a bad experience, but it didn’t live up to the excitement we had going in. The place looks great, and the pizza is passable, but the service could be improved, and the food didn’t quite hit the mark. I’d give it 3 stars because while it wasn’t bad, it didn’t impress either. If you’re a pizza lover, you might want to try it once for yourself, but I’m not sure we’ll be in a...

Dry hamburger with a side of bland. We had high expectations. Finally a upscale restaurant to counter the Gabriel's or Montana's, right? I won't comment on service since they just opened. We ordered some burgers, mac and cheese and a poutine starter. The poutine - I wanted a love fest with my tongue - I got McCain fries, a can of gravy and curds I could count on two hands - .far from what you would expect from an upscale bistro. Any poutinerie or food truck beats what was served. As for the hamburgers, they were bland and dry - the kind of burger you hope not to get when you go to those neigbourhood BBQs with volunteers as chefs. That is unacceptable for a $15 burger. Some edges of the burger were about as hard as a hockey puck. We also suspect they forgot to add the aioli to our burgers - bland and dry - we had to wait a good 7 minutes to get that sauce but by that time our burgers we also cold. Again I had such high hopes for this place. Not going back. For burgers, go to La Belle et Le Boeuf on the Gatineau side for a restaurant with the same positioning but decent food. Or save yourself some money and get a Harvey's. Tastier by far. In all, for three adults and a child, no alcohol, it cost us $112 with tip. La...