Crust

Ever since having Anthony’s Coal fired Pizza out in Horsham over 5 years ago I’ve dreamed of an opening closer to home. When restaurants like the Brick in Bethlehem and Crust opened I thought it was my chance to find a local substitute. These places do not compare. It’s possible if I hadn’t taste a Anthony’s this review would be different but so it goes it was a disappointment.
Place was empty on a Saturday night at 6. Bad sign when your staff out numbers the guests. We had the garlic wings. They were okay. They came out very quickly. They were very greasy which I’m not sure why if they aren’t fried. Maybe just from the garlic and toppings. Either way the grease didn’t ruin it for me.
We also had pepperoni. The pizza was tiny. It was mediocre. It tasted like frozen pizza. It tasted like my first attempt on homemade pizza. Giant frozen pizza was more appetizing to me. I’m sure Wegmas is even better. I’m shocked at all the good review.
Service was good. Our waiter was friendly. We did have to ask for new plates, napkins, our bill… Took a smoke break between waiting on us.
My boyfriend was a bit under the weather and he wants to give it another try. For that is the only reason I’ll go back. I hope they change my mind. I don’t expect to be blown away. I just want to enjoy it.

Worth every penny. Will def be back!!! We were the only people in the place other than the workers after a phantoms game. The safe was very nice and attentive. The owner checked on us and our pizza was amazing. This place is worth a visit if you like a good thin crispy crust made from fresh ingredients and cooked in a locally sourced coal burning oven. The crust had a nice golden brown crisp texture that didn’t detract from the toppings but complimented them.

Had a much better second experience there. The bartender was great. Food as before was fantastic.

I really like Crust pizza. Good ingredients. The crust has a unique taste. If I could change anything I just wish their hours were more consistent when a show or game isn’t playing at the center.

Amazing food (chicken bacon ranch pizza highly recommended), and our waitress was friendly even though the staff was a bit overwhelmed. The taste and quality of the food made the whole experience worth a little bit of a wait.

During the week of June 20^th, I stopped in 3 times in the afternoon, twice for lunch, once for a beer. Each visit, there were very few patrons. The food is great, and there’s a new menu with a much broader selection of food. So what gives? On each occasion, as I thought back, there’s not enough atmosphere: music should definately be louder, to get people to talk a bit above the noise level. People generally like a «lively atmosphere». 2^nd: the service generally speaking is somewhat lackluster. There’s just not enough personality. I get the impression it’s a management issue — just not enough passion. I hope they figure out why their volumes are not where they should be.

Today a colleague came to visit our office and for lunch I suggested we go «Downtown.» For the first time in many years I was excited to show a visitor our downtown … And Crust did not disappoint! Very tasty food, nice atmosphere and friendly service. I will definitely be back!

I didn’t expect very much from Crust. My brothers and I wanted a slice of pie, so we went here for lunch. The atmosphere is very much gastro-​pub, which I liked in itself. The waitress was very pleasant and helpful. The menu is very small, neat and concise, offering several styles of sauce, toppings and 3 different crust styles. Please note, there is only one size of pizza: enough to satiate, and share. We decided to order the regular base with spicy arrabiata sauce, mozzarella and pecorino cheeses. It was a bit of a wait, even though the place was not very full.
When our pie finally did arrive, it looked like an ordinary enough pizza. I thought to myself, «I waited 40 minutes for a basic pizza? I’m going to pay 10 $ for this pizza?»
In the words of Alton Brown: «Your patience will be rewarded.»
The ‘spicy’ arrabiata sauce wasn’t spicy to me, but it was zesty and full of life. The cheeses were scattered across that sauce perfectly, with the slivers of pecorino smartly arranged across the top so that every second bite you got a quiet hit of another flavor. We must then remember the namesake of the restaurant, and the base of the star menu item: the crust. In a world full of quick pizza places, vying to coat crusts in extra flavor, Crust simply lets their crust be the crust. It’s a thin base, hand kneaded and tossed, then stretched to order. The wood fire oven kisses the crust, blessing it with the char of a thousand flavors. It was crisp without being burnt, toothsome without being a menace, and flavorful in its own right.
Between the three of us, we split that pie with two pieces each. I found the pie to be expertly done and delicious. I certainly will be returning to this location, as the art of crust is being lost. If you want a pizza, and you want it fast, go to Domino’s. If you want a pizza coming from people who know what they are doing, come here and plan to spend time with your party. Enjoy a drink. Have a conversation. Eat one of the best pieces of pizza Allentown has to offer. I did, and I do not regret it.

Well, our first visit before a show at PPL Center. Table was available with no wait at 5;40pm. Bonus! After that down hill, ordered drinks and the kids drinks were quick, bar drinks were 20 minutes for a draft and 1 mix.
Ordered food. Ate the appetizers before our bar drinks arrived. Pizza was good kids ate well. Waitress was ok but air headed. $ 50 for 2 kids and 2 adults was really high. However the menu is small. The a/​c wasn’t working and we sweated all through dinner. The second floor dinning room is right above the pizza ovens and it was freaking hot!

I stopped here for a quick lunch. I was there for a concert and came from out of town. My boyfriend and I had the Camille. It was sooo good. Worth every penny. The onions were delicious. We ordered a pizza to go and took it home with us. I hope this restaurant is in my hometown cuz I will definitely go back.

Interesting and tasty thin-​crust brick oven pizzas. Unique salads such as the Pesto Bocconcini with fresh mozzarella balls covered with homemade pesto (good pesto) are offered. The Green Goddess dressing on their Boston Cobb salad is a perfect compliment to the fresh Boston Bibb lettuce. The salad components are always fresh and often feature heirloom tomatoes.
Have to add a new favorite to this review; Cold Mediterranean Pie. This delicious offering starts with Crust’s thin pizza crust which is the layered with their humus and topped with Feta cheese, roasted red pepper, heirloom tomatoes, baby artichokes, kalamata olives, red onions and baby spinach. It is an awesome, vegetarian option! I’m not a vegetarian but this is too good to pass up.
My favorite sandwich is the Peppered Bacon Turkey Club which I’m enjoying tonight.
Do NOT miss the Coal Fired Meatballs (as close to Moma’s that I’ve ever had) or the Garlic and Herb Coal Fired Wings.
This place adds variety to downtown Allentown and offers interesting, delicious food.

Went during Phantoms game but did not go to the game. Drinks were very reasonable and food, service, and atmosphere were great. I am surprise more people were not there. Sounds like they have good happy hour deals. We’ll be back!

I went here before a hockey game. I got here early and was seated right away. I got a pizza and a beer and I don’t remember exactly what I paid, but I can tell you; for what I paid, I won’t be going back anytime soon. If you do go before an event, go really early. I was here by about 5:30 pm for a 7pm game and next to no one was in there. When I left it was packed with a line out the door!

This high end pizzeria with a coal fired oven is a welcome addition to the Lehigh Valley dining scene – a first in the area, I believe. The cavernous space is like a warehouse, probably raucous and lively when crowded but a bit dreary when empty, like one recent lunchtime. Service was welcoming and friendly, except for my waiter who said little but expressed his amazement that I ate all 6 slices of my personal sized pizza!
Now onto the pizza. My margherita pie was tasty, mainly due to the combination of cheeses and a very good crust – with a name like Crust it better be good. I don’t much care for margherita pies made with flavorless fresh tomatoes, and I suggest a switch to using high quality canned Italian tomatoes, like they use in Naples. Also, the coal fired oven was not very hot, only 600 degrees, not much hotter than the 550 oven that I use at home. This is a bit odd since a hotter oven would cook the pizzas faster and create a nice char that is the signature of authentic Neapolitan pies.
To justify its pricey menu ($ 9 for salad, $ 12 for pizza), Crust has a ways to go. But it has potential, and I hope it delivers.

2^nd time there … tried to give them a 2^nd chance but once again they failed. Service is extremely absent. Had to actually get up from the table twice to find the server to refill empty soda glasses as they sat waiting for the 2 pizzas that were taking over half an hour. The 3^rd time I got up was to find a manager to let him know the 2^nd pizza… which came 15 minutes after the 1^st pizza, was not completely cooked. After asking for the check… the server left it on the table without a word. Oblivious and uncaring as the 1^st visit. What a shame… was really looking forward to a coal fired pizza in the area. This place doesn’t get it. Is it that hard to manage and produce quality servers in a pizza place?

Pizza and wings were decent. If you’re there before a Phantoms game prepare to wait, but there is not waiting room. Service was quick and efficient once finally seated. Pizza is your only real entrée, so don’t go there looking for pub selections.

I enjoyed the set up and idea of the place but I feel the food and service are sub par. I ordered a traditional pie and the wings. The pizza was just alright. I didn’t enjoy the sauce they use however the crispiness/​texture of the dough was good. The wings were OK but nothing to write home about. The service was extremely slow and inconsistent.

I was very excited to see a coal fired oven pizzeria located close to home.
We went for an early lunch and the place was nearly empty, we were greeted pleasantly by the hostess and the waiter was nice enough, although a bit slow, especially since we appeared to be his only table. Also, they are soda refill nazi’s, he would take my drink, sometimes 40% full and replace it with a new one.
We ordered 2 pizza’s, a plain and pepperoni. The crust was bland and did not have any of the signature char you’d expect to see in a high temperature coal fired oven. The cheese and sauce were average at best. The pepperoni itself was above average, however, not enough to save the pizza.
All told, we will not be returning to Crust.

A lot of hype about downtown eateries coming in with the PPL arena. This place is one of those new coal fire pizza joints. My husband and I sat at the bar on a Saturday afternoon and the place was dead because there wasn’t an event at PPL. The bartender was a bit slow but friendly. We got the wings and the meatball parm pizza. The wings made this way in an oven is the best way to eat wings but they are better at other coal fireplaces. I don’t usually like a thin and might have char crust pizza but this was really good. Prices are a bit high but it comes with the location I guess. Not a lot of soft surfaces if any so I imagine it’s loud when busy.

Really wanted to like this place, but they need a lot of work.
First up, the set up. Its contained in a big garage with a giant door. Which is probably nice in the summer, but we dined on a cold October evening so it wasn’t the best set up. They need to insulate or crank the heat up.
Secondly, staffing was sub par at best. The bartender took forever to make our drinks/​pour our drafts. Our server was slow and weird. I don’t think she’s ever waited tables before. The worst part was the «pizza chef» if you can call him that. The setup is a great idea, an open air kitchen where you can watch them make your pizza. This falls through if the chef has a headcold (like ours did) and you can watch him sneeze and cough into his arms as he makes your food. He dropped two pizzas in the time that we were there and he was constantly dropping the dough.
The food. This is where you’re getting your two points, Crust. We ordered 2 pies. The pies are 12 inches and about personal pizza sized. At $ 12 to $ 16 each, this is pretty pricey.
We got a goat cheese, bacon, sweet onion and honey white pie and a classic red pie with Italian meats and cheeses.
The goat cheese pizza was amazing and I would order it again.
The Italian special was overly salty (prosciutto and provolone, with a salty spicy sauce). The sauce was loaded with spicy red pepper and two of us (myself included) could barely eat our slices. Not once on the menu did they mention this.
Overall, the place needs a lot of work. We went the second week they were open. If I was in the area again, I would get the goat cheese pizza to go and not eat in.
Crust, get your act together.