Crust & Brew — Restaurant in San Diego

GREAT FOOD - GREAT SERVICE ! We have enjoyed lunch or dinner at both locations of Crust Pizzeria near home ( Carmel Valley & Solana Beach ) a number of times. Their awesome New York style thin crust pizzas, fabulous pasta dishes, delicious home made meatballs & some crazy good desserts have kept us coming back...not to mention the super friendly staff. My wife and I headed over to the Carmel Valley restaurant for dinner on Sunday night. It was pretty chilly when we parked our wheels in the public carpark at around 5.30pm. We walked inside and were greeted by a friendly hostess named Leah. It was a bit quiet at this early hour so we had a choice of seating. A booth table opposite the FULL BAR looked cosy so we settled in. A happy smiling server named Faith came by to say hi and see what we would like. A couple of glasses of water would be nice we said. I did ask Faith if they had any hazy IPA's on tap and it so happened they had a Stone Seasonal Hazy IPA - 9.4% abv. I thought it was great they had a hazy IPA on tap but I've tried this one before...not bad but it packs a heavy punch. Considering I had knocked back an 8% abv hazy juicy IPA a few minutes before back at home...I wimped out and ordered a Ballast Point "Sculpin" IPA - 7% abv. My ice cold beer arrived and tasted great ! It was then that Aimee the lovely manager came by to say hi...and remembered us from our last visit here. When Faith returned we placed our dinner order for 1 x Crust's Famous Meatballs Starter ( marinara / pesto / romano ) and 1 x Kelly 14inch Red Pizza ( grande cheese / pepperoni / scimeca's sausage / portabello mushroom / sweet red onion ). Before we could blink our incredible looking Crust's Famous Meatballs hit the table courtesy of sweet Natalie - hostess / food runner. OOPS....we ate one before I even took a photo...so darn tasty ! The restaurant was starting to fill up a bit...makes for more atmosphere. And then Natalie hand delivered our huge Kelly 14 inch Red Pizza and placed it on the pizza stand. Faith our happy server brought out some grated parmigiano and some chili flakes for us. WHOO HOO...our well made pizza tasted fabulous....perfect texture base with rich sauce and excellent quality toppings. We loved it but could get through only about 2/3rds so one of the girls boxed the rest for home. DESSERT....we asked Faith our server to bring us some FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE..we've had it before and it's totally rich & decadent. Our beautifully presented Flourless Chocolate Cake came out quickly courtesy of Faith our server and disappeared very fast...so rich & yummy. WE LOVED OUR...

This restaurant has figured out exactly what we diners want here in Carmel Valley. The menu is inventive enough for foodies without being so outlandish you visit it once just to give it a try but don't return regularly (does anyone remember Burlap?) Family friendly while still appealing to sports fans of all flavors, we sat next to an couple in their sixties while Ozzie and Harriott with two in tow scarfed down kiddie portions of pasta and yummy desserts just a table away. As a single female professional, I will return alone with no reservations about feeling uncomfortable. The staff is appropriately warm but efficient. We tried three tastes of wine before settling on a bottle we liked, all cheerfully delivered without attitude. As a New York City metro area native, I know my pizza. A good pie can be hard to find without a drive in San Diego. Crust does not disappoint. Aptly named, the pie is just the right thickness with a bubbly edge, singed ever so slightly to remind you of its fiery fate in the brick oven. The variety and quality of cheeses used is exceptional. This is a family-run enterprise with mother hostessing, daughter waitressing and Dad making sure all runs evenly. If I had a son or daughter, I'd want their first job to be at this wholesome place where smiles abound and customer experience standards are high. All told, you can trust Crust for a casual night out that delivers...

I have been coming to torrey hills crust pizzeria since it opened. My son's 1st job was at crust. This evening, I was accosted by the "manager" JOHN for commenting aloud on how disgusting the bathroom was when I exited it for the 3rd time. I had mentioned it to one of the employees earlier. Urine on the floor, no tolit seat covers, and smelled. The both of them truley needed serious attention.

Instead of conducting himself as a professional manager should, and addressing the concerns of his patrons, he verbaly accoated me and my guests and told us to leave. Really?? JOHN, the "manager", would rather throw out a long time community patron rather than accept the responsibility that bathroom may be nasty and needed to be addressed. He was so condescending as he smugly mocked me and my guest when we questioned his reasoning for kicking us out. Astounding!

So sadly, I must say that I will no longer support Crust after this treatment. It is unfortunate that the owners do not properly train their managers to conduct themselves with the patron in mind. To flippantly throw out two of your customers because you can't handle a complaint about the bathroom is...