Crust — Restaurant in Lexington

Before it opened, the Fat Man and his wife were invited to friends and family events at Crust. Crust closed during COVID but was a Lexington foodie hotspot. Crust uses local and seasonal ingredients to serve up edgy artisan pizza, unique appetizers, healthy salads and drinks in Lexington, Kentucky.

We started with the Meatballs. These come with two meatballs, tomato basil cream sauce & grilled ciabatta. The meatballs were good-sized, moist, and filling. They had a great mouth feel and chew while being light and delicate. The cream sauce is flavorful with a slight tomato pop, and the shaved Parmesan adds saltiness to the bite. The ciabatta bread was crunchy on the outside and chewy soft on the inside.

We also were served a complimentary order of Garlic knots. These come covered in a Parmesan and garlic sauce, but not swimming. The bread is light and chewy with a little crunch. The Parmesan garlic sauce has lots of chunky garlic and cheese and a nice kick of red pepper. The pepper flakes on the back end lingered and were welcomed in each bite.

We shared a couple of pizzas, starting with the Murica, which comes with tomato sauce, pepperoni, quattro formaggi & oregano. The crust is airy and light with a good crunch, chew, and flavor, and the sauce is sweet and slightly chunky, and there is just enough on the pizza. The pepperoni is thin but chews well, has a good spice note, and makes for a great bite. The cheese holds the pizza together with a saltiness and slight creaminess.

The next pizza that we tried was the Original. This was made with tomato sauce, pepperoni, sausage, quattro formaggi, mushrooms, olives, onion & peppadew peppers. The olives offer a salty brine, the mushrooms were in the background but offered an earthy flavor, and the pickled onions have a sweet crunch and are the star of the show. The porky salty sausage and the spice of the pepperoni pair well with the creamy cheese, olives, and sweet onions. The only knock was that the crust, while flavorful, was soft and spongy. It could have used a little more time in the oven. The entire bite ate well, and I enjoyed the spice in both pizzas.

Crust has now opened and offers a menu full of tasty options. They also serve wine and beer and have a full bar. They offer desserts and pasta dishes. The waitstaff was very friendly and knowledgeable of the menu. The Fat Man says that Crust is Fat Man Approved...

Today was my and my wife's second time trying food from Crust. The first time, we got carry out for their pizza and garlic knots, and we very much enjoyed it. Today we decided to try the brunch as we very much enjoy the brunch from its sister restaurant, Bella Cafe.

The server admitted that it was his first day working, so we gave some grace for some of the smaller hiccups with our service. Some things included not knowing if coffee or juice came with the brunch buffet, not knowing the brunch buffet was included with brunch entrees, and having to ask another server for a plate for the buffet. I'm betting that these things will improve with time.

The biggest issue came with my wife's entree. My wife got the Croque Madame, and she asked if the egg could be served over-medium instead of sunny-side-up. The server said yes and thus my wife made the order. When the dish came out, the egg was sunny-side-up. My wife asked if the egg could be cooked more, and the server took it back to the kitchen. When the dish came back, they had cooked a new egg, but it was barely cooked more than the previous egg. The server informed us that the chef did not want to cook the egg any further for this particular dish. My wife just pushed the egg to the side as she did not want any runny yolk on her sandwich.

Besides the egg, when my wife tried the ham in her sandwich, it was incredibly tough and had the consistency of jerky. I don't know if that is the intended way for the ham to be served, but I agreed with my wife that it was very unappetizing.

I got the lox sourdough, and I took a picture of it which I'm including in the review. I thought my dish was fine.

Overall, we were very underwhelmed with the brunch experience. My wife in particular was upset enough that I don't think she wants to come back again. I personally would be okay with trying the pizza again in the future, but...

A strange, disappointing first time visit. Dined there 6:30 Sunday evening with another couple. The place wasn't crowded. My wife and I planned to share a pizza and dinner salad (the menu features several salads at $12-15 each) but waitress, who was nice, informed us "no salads were available" because they had "run out of lettuce". (Really? There's a Kroger is right next door). When asked about the kale salad, she checked with the kitchen and informed us it was available. What was served, though, was just a pile of greens (not kale, probably spinach) without the cherry tomatoes or "crunchy parmesan streusel" described on the menu. We ordered three pizzas, "Margherita", "Murica" and "Original", to share, none marked as spicy on the menu, assuming the former would be OK for one of our group who's allergic to peppers. The pizza was tasty, but crusts of all three were so lip-burning spicy that three of us who enjoy reasonably spiced food could barely eat any. When asked why, our waitress explained the kitchen brushes crusts with a spicy pepper/herb butter which can be left off upon request (but no indication of such on the menu). My wife's glass of (nothing special) white wine was $14 for a rather skimpy pour - more like the expected cost at a high-end Lexington restaurant as opposed to this casual place. Bill for two 10" pizzas, 1 glass of wine, and a glass of water came to more than $60 including tax and tip. It had a $1 overcharge on one of the pizzas, which wasn't worth contesting...