Clever Crow Pizza

Out of business. Closed about a month ago.

I don’t understand the fascination with their pizza. Maybe I went when they were having a bad day, but I wasn’t impressed. The dough was average — cool that it’s corn based, but it wasn’t delicious. To the comments about how their dough was «almost like deep-dish»…nope. The sauce and cheese wasn’t spectacular. The toppings were okay… again, nothing awesome tasting. The only thing I found special was the price of a pie: ~$ 20.
I’d recommend you save your money and drive to another pizza joint.

This isn’t going to be a long review. Basically this review is just going to say that I don’t understand the hype and borderline hysteria induced by this pizza place. The pizza is good, don’t get me wrong. If the only pizza I had ever had before trying Clever Crow would have been Papa John’s level then it would have blown my mind, but that isn’t the case. Amongst the top pizza places in the city, Clever Crow tries hard but doesn’t quite measure up. The first thing to know is that they do try hard, you can really taste the quality ingredients. The crust is really good but not as cornbready as I had hoped it would be.
Does Clever Crow beat out most pizza in the city, yes, absolutely. But is it the best pizza I have ever had? No. Best in the city? No. Best in a 10 block radius? Probably not. In a city that loves food, especially fat food, you have to do a little better than this to be the champ.

We were very impressed with the quality of the pizza. We got half sausage and half goat cheese. The sausage side was loaded with very spicy and delicious fresh sausage with the perfect amount of sweet-​ish tomato sauce and high quality mozzarella. The goat cheese side had fresh tangy goat cheese (duh), rosemary, sun dried tomato and a little less cheese than the other side. Just the right proportions in my opinion. The crust, as stated a million times over by other reviewers, is awesome. Mealy, gritty, yet flaky and buttery. So good.
Our server was a very nice young lady. Circus is an interesting place, and though I really want to try the location in North Market, I think Clever Crow needs to get their own place in order to earn my coveted fifth star.

After seeing Anthony Bourdain indulge in pizza at the Clever Crow, we decided that we had to try this place. Fortunately, our bartender at Mouton warned us that it was actually located in the Circus bar (no signage outside), so we had no trouble finding the place.
NOTE: When attempting to have pizza at the Clever Crow, one must keep in mind that they stop serving at 9pm, which can be quite an annoyance to some.
I won’t add any color on the atmosphere because it’s simply a dive bar packed with drunken locals, but I found the service to be surprisingly friendly.
The pizza was down right delicious. We ordered two half pizzas, one sausage and the other a special: artichoke, basil, and sundried tomato with goat cheese. What stands out to me about the pizza here is the crust. The crust is made with cornmeal and baked to an incredible crisp and mealy texture that is both new and familiar at the same time. It almost begs the question, why hasn’t anyone thought of this before? On some pizzas I simply discard the crust because it’s either tasteless, too dense, or just not worth eating. Here, I found myself gobbling up the crust before moving on to the rest of my slice. I must add that I found the pizza to be very well balanced as well. Just the right amount of cheese, sauce and crust that blends together in a melodious chorus. NOTE: Although they give you plates and forks to eat the pizza, and I know that Italians eat pizza with utensils, you must eat the pizza here by hand. It made such a dramatic difference that I simply can’t describe, but it was shockingly better. I think part of the reason why is because of the balance and the fact that maybe you cannot get a properly balanced bite by cutting the pizza using a fork, but be forewarned, you must eat this delicious pie by hand!
Overall, we had a delightful meal at the Clever Crow and if I was ever to find myself back in Columbus, this would be at the top of my list.

Clever crow pizza was a very interesting dining experience and in my opinion a must for any one who lives in the columbus area. They serve a couple different semi chicago style pizzas that are put together with love and excellent ingredients such as the house made sausage.
They have a few pie choices and have a constantly rotating seasonal selection in which the chefs true colors seem to shine the most. Expect these ingredients to be confusing but order them any way because put quite simply he knows the pie more than you do.

I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for gourmet style pizzas. I ate a little too much everyday boring pizza in high school and college and just don’t have a taste for it anymore. Because of that, I’m always on the lookout for places that can provide an interesting twist on the norm. Clever Crow provides just that twist. With interesting toppings and that awesome cornmeal crust, you can’t go wrong. Do yourself a favor and try their signature sausage with peppers and onions, you won’t regret it. The pesto pizza is superb as well. It’s not a pizza I could eat every time I got pizza, but it’s definitely one I crave!

Clever Crow Pizza is the complete opposite of my much-​adored Adriato’s Pizza. While Adriatico’s is dirt cheap and completely unhealthy, Clever Crow is steep in price yet fantastically fresh and organic. Both are super tasty, however, so it’s usually a toss-​up with whatever mood I am in.
I will advise readers that Clever Crow Pizza at the North Market is best ordered freshly made and NOT by the slice. If you order it by the slice like I have done in the past, you will end up with very cold and cardboard-​like slices even after they heat it up for you. Also, ordering by the slice obviously limits your choices to whatever they happen to have on hand. Only do so when in a hurry or if that’s all you can afford at the time. When it is hot and fresh out of the oven, however, Clever Crow is really very good!
You can get a half pizza or a whole pizza, and they are not very large. The half is sufficient for one person, however. There is a lot of flavor packed into the pizzas, too, and, my favorite thing of any place is how much they think «outside the box» with their creations. Clever Crow owns up to its name by being very clever with its menu items. The fact that Clever Crow has pesto sauce, butternut sauce, homemade sausage, vegan walnut pâté, sweet corn, squash, eggplant, poblano peppers and plenty of other fun and seasonal ingredients piled on cornmeal crust is rather impressive.
They’ve taken everything you know about pizza and thrown it out the window! So if you are looking for the typical pepperoni with tomato sauce from a jar, then you won’t really care for Clever Crow. And while the price is rather steep, you are of course paying for quality of ingredients. Not a good idea to get this for a large group (unless you get a bunch of pizzas). Give ‘er a try either at the location at the North Market, or n Circus on High Street. A great spin on your average pizza!

Dearest Crow,
The other day, Rachel P. and I brought two seasoned pizza veterans to your establishment. Two people who KNOW pizza. Two who have had pizza all across this land whilst of course touting the famed pizza of the New York/​New Jersey megalopolis as the «be all and end all.»
Well you, you Clever, Clew Crow have meant the end to that talk. «This is the best pie of pizza I’ve ever had,» he said. The best pie of pizza he’s ever had. And I think he might be right.
The Crow is so unique, its pizza so carefully prepared, its portions so shockingly filling, its crust so perfectly placed between the deep dish of Chicago and the thin slice of New York with a hint of corn taste. The toppings are so beautifully prepared and heavenly fresh.
Clever Crow, you already impressed this 25-​year-​old New York native. But now you have done something far, far more impressive. You have shown two pizza connoisseurs that America’s best pizza does not lie in New York or Chicago. Shockingly, it is in Columbus, Ohio.
And all I am left with is a wow.
Love,
Jon

By night, I’d associated the space as a dive-​electro-​funk-​bar with the eccentric crowds to match. A while back, one of my friends noted that they also served pretty good pizza. Little did I know that this place has since exploded and I’ve jumped onto the hype-​wagon. The love affair began at Jeni’s «A Splendid Holiday» benefit where Gary Robinette himself, individually served select slices of his pizza. Boy, was I in for a delightful surprise. I vowed to visit the actual location– and tonight, I did.
We arrived a little past 5pm on a Wednesday with only one other couple huddled in the booths. We got half a sausage (w/​onions and peppers) and half pesto. We waited 15 – 20 minutes for our pie and then we INDULGED. My friend loved the sausage pie, as it was super chunky and scrumptious. The highlight of the evening was the pesto. There were all kinds of magical happenings with the brie and mozzarella plus the sweetness of the sun-​dried tomatoes.
They also had Butternut and Vegan Walnut Pâté– all of which I will be trying with more friends in tow!

Okay, I have to admit that I’m a big fan of snooty fancy pizza, so this was pretty much a win for me from the start. But even then, it exceeded my expectations. I stopped by the North Market location and got a slice of whatever was in the display. Holy amazing. The corn crust is the perfect texture and meshes really well with the toppings– mine had corn, purple potato, sweet onions, sausage, and mozzerella on it and it was SO GOOD. All the flavors blend so well, and all the ingredients taste fresh. Greasy dive bar pizza has its own kind of charm but this is a whole other level of pizza. I’m going to call it the «pizzagasm».
For those who complained about the funky hours– I believe the North Market location is more accessible.

I am dedicating my 100^th review to this amazing place.
I don’t give 5 stars easily, but this place is a hidden treasure. First of all, finding this place is a hassle. It is located inside a bar called Circus. And i could not find any Clever Crow sign in front. The place is kinda weird. I’ve never been to a bar for a pizza before. But hey, the pizzas are amazing. Seriously AMAZING. It’s so amazing that i nearly came back the next day (if not for the cold weather outside). I tried the butternut squash (which is winter version of the corn) and the italian sausage. The butternut squash is just wonderful! The second i took a bite, all the amazing flavors just came bursting into my mouth. There’s grilled eggplant, grilled peppers, cheese, and butternut squash. All of those are served on top of the chewy and crunchy dough. Delicious! Next time i’m gonna try the other flavors. I hope they’re as good as the butternut squash.

First and foremost, the hours here suck. It is not the caliber of place you expect to offer dinner only, it’s a pizza joint. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a pizza place not being open for lunch. I went by twice before making it when they were actually open. And no, I don’t have a fucking facebook, it’s the devil.
Maybe the shitty hours (they open at 4pm) are solely due to its location inside Circus, a dive bar. That’s no excuse though. Hey, maybe if you’ve got a successful pizzeria getting rave reviews and national attention, you might talk to the bar owner about opening a little earlier? Mo money is good for business, right?
The ambiance sucks. Like I said, it’s inside a dive bar. A dive bar that hasn’t hosted a good show since Paul Bearer did the booking back in the late ‘90s, early ‘00s. This isn’t a review of Circus the bar, but it is by default a review of Circus, the dive bar that houses a pizza shop. The ambiance is fine for a dive, but for an eatery, it’s far from ideal.
The menu kind of sucks, in that they are always missing ingredients and are often unable to fulfill an order as it appears on the menu. I can get down with being the type of place that uses fresh, local ingredients and regularly runs out of things, but if you’re going to do that, maybe a chalkboard menu that could be easily changed would work better than a professionally printed menu claiming you have things that you regularly don’t, disappointing customers in the process.
So basically, I don’t think, all of the above taken into consideration, that the pizza IS good enough to give four or five stars. A half pie is $ 9. That’s $ 3/​slice. Based on that price, one would have to assume that if Clever Crow actually did sell pizza by the slice, they would be charging $ 3.50 to $ 4 per, which is outrageous (that’s arena/​festival prices, yo [yes, I get this is higher quality than arena pizza]).
Furthermore, these are NOT deep dish pizzas. They are served in dishes that are deep, but they don’t even use more than 30% of said dish. If you think this is deep dish, you can’t possibly have had real deep dish; it’s at least twice as tall, juicy, and stuffed as this pizza.
Don’t get me wrong, the pizza is delicious. I like the cornmeal crust as much as others, and the guy can make a good pie. No doubt about that. If they sold by the slice for $ 3 or less, I would probably eat here more often.
The service is also really good. One of the owners, who tended bar at Ravari for years (Michael, maybe?) actually turns out to be a really good waiter. He wasn’t so friendly at Ravari. Haha. I’ve also had an amazing Italian girl wait on me who was really, really friendly and attentive too.
So yeah, it gets stars for the pizza and the service. But it loses marks for price, hours, ambiance, and consistency. That’s three stars in my book.

I found myself feeling like I HAD to try clever crow pizza after all the talk about this unique crust, etc etc etc. to summarize very quick and simply (for those, like myself, that tend to not read long winded crap) Clever Crow is OKAY. not as amazing as it had been built up to be.
I LOVE sourdough anything, so the idea of sourdough cornmeal crust sounded amazing, however when I finally got around to trying the pizza, it was not NEARLY all that it had been hyped up to be. I swear at times the crust, taste wise, reminded me of your grocery store variety frozen pizza. maybe like red barren, or tony’s… one of these brands which also utilizes cornmeal in the crust. maybe I am crazy, but I kept thinking this with each bite…
onto the toppings… I have been told that the signature pizzas are the ONLY way to go, however the only one that really sounded appealing (TO ME) was a corn (something or another) signature, and unfortunately this was out of season. BOO… not a big sausage fanatic, so I opted out of trying any of the meat heavy signatures for a simple pepperoni. overall this was not that impressive VS a standard pepperoni that you can get elsewhere. I guess I would have appreciated some sort of sauce on the pizza instead of just tomato chunks… this probably would have balanced out the pizza more, as it tasted like cheesy cornmeal in the end… (With chunks of tomato here and there for good measures?) having a sauce base of some sort is a MUST, otherwise its just comes off like cheesy garlic bread with toppings.
with an abundance of CRAP restaurants and chain food in columbus, I can appreciate the fact clever crow is trying to «break the mold» and do something a little different, however it just didnt live up to the HYPE that its getting. It was filling sure… heavy corn meal crust is going to be very filling, however the overall execution just wasnt as impressive (TO ME) as I would have hoped it to be. especially for the price point range…
just because it was featured on TV, and jocked hard by Columbus Alive, doesnt make it amazing. just alright… this review is not to name other pizza joints that I think are better, just my CC experience.
hopefully next spring I can try these Corn signature pizzas and have a change of heart. In the meantime perhaps they can come up with some new signature’s that will appeal to a broader range of pizza lovers. or not, as it seems they already have enough staple customers hyping it to keep them busy. time will tell! im just saying more topping items would be nice. and maybe a little sauce, or some sort of interesting base under the cheese so its not just cheesy cornmeal crust
I have nothing major to say about the ambience or service, as I am not a extremely picky, or a jerk for that matter, in these areas. I have, and do work food service related jobs, so I understand both the customer and customer relations side of the business. (SOME PEOPLE EXPECT WAY TOO MUCH WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR DINING «EXPERIENCES») as long as the service isn’t pathetic or horrible, and the food is good, I am perfectly happy. this is probably why I love the influx of quality food carts in columbus this yearI am not paying for ambience, I am paying for the food experience! so as far as the «ambience» is concerned, clever crow was totally adequate. the lights turn on. its warm inside, and looks clean in the back. cool. and they have an okay beer selection. wish there were more IPAs to choose from, but whatever. Columbus IPA isnt bad… :)
*EDIT RUFFLY ONE YEAR LATER* I have to give CC credit, it has grown on me over time, and I have bumped it to a 4 star. is it overhyped? yes. but so is almost everything else on Unilocal,so I had to reevaluate my own grading system based on what a common ratings seem to be. if half the other places that are getting 4 – 5 stars truly deserve such a rating in the eyes of an average Unilocaler, then I must go ahead and be less scrutinous of CC and give it a better rating as well. they have worked themselves into my top 3 pizzas in cbus just from the sausage they use alone. the dream of the 90s is alive at clever crow!
:D

I love pizza, but I haven’t really tried any «gourmet» pizza other than California Pizza Kitchen. But I’d been hearing fantastic things about Clever Crow on the radio, and I was intrigued by the corn meal crust. My friend and I checked out the menu and decided on the peperone (my friend isn’t very adventurous with his food selections). They weren’t willing to deliver, so I sent my friend off to pick it up. He mentioned that there were only two men at the bar when he entered Circus, but how rowdy can it be on a Tuesday night?
When we opened the box, I noticed that the pizza looked absolutely pristine. It was perfectly circular and the crust rose evenly around the entire perimeter. The pizza was absolutely delicious. There was a thin layer of sauce, and none of the tastes overpowered each other. The pizza was a bit pricier, $ 17 for the whole thing, but it was more than enough for two people. My friend was able to save two slices for lunch the next day (the pizza only had six slices). Yes, it will run you a bit more than Donato’s, but it is definitely worth it.
Next time I’m going to try something more exotic. Their other flavors look delicious. And I’m excited for their new location in the North Market –which deserves a whole other review…

This place wasn’t even on my radar until recently when I was suddenly made aware of it’s existence from Unilocal and after stumbling upon the No Reservations episode within the same day! I had to try it!
I came here on a Saturday evening just before gallery hop. The wait time for food was a tad on the long side, but it was to be expected since the pizzas are made entirely by one guy.
The pizza I tried had a butternut squash purée sauce with cheese, caramelized onions, ground pork sausage, corn, and purple potatoes! Soo delicious. Why aren’t there more pizza places like this in Columbus with unique toppings?

Ohhhhhhh Myyyyy Yummm!
This pizza is amazing. Actually, I hesitate to call it ‘pizza’ because I’m afraid it might cause someone to expect a traditional pie and then become upset when it turns out to be this amazing creation instead.
The crust is cornmeal based, making it a little more crispy/​crumbly than what you would normally think of a pizza crust. It’s more of a knife-​and-​fork thing.
We got the seasonal pizza, it had some kind of squash-​based sauce, and what the waiter described as «autumnal herbs.» Corn, caramelized onions, and purple potatoes also topped our pizza. Oh, and some incredible sausage. Sooo good. Think of this «pizza» as more of an intense flavor delivery system.
Okay, enough drooling. I have established that the food is good. Let’s get down to your more basic need-​to-​knows:
–Clever Crow is inside Circus, a bar. So, it might be easier to look for the Circus signage as you are driving around trying to find this place (right next door to American Apparel). I like the décor in Circus. Unique, unpretentious. When we walked by later on to get to our car (after making some other short north stops), Circus had turned into a fun alterna-​dance club. I would have totally boogied if I’d had $ 2 cash on me for cover. DJs were doing some sound-​checking while we were having our meal, resulting in some loud blasts of music from time to time. Not a big deal, I guess you could say it added to the overall ambiance of that «quirky restaurant in a bar» genre.
— One pie comfortably fed three of us. And I’m a big eater.
— Seating is somewhat limited. But, I was impressed that we only had to wait a few minutes on a gallery-​hop Saturday night at 7:30. An excuse to get a beverage at the bar, right?
–The service was refreshingly amazing. Yes, AMAZING. The bartender was fun and quirky, he agreed to take pics of my friends and I in our hats. Our waiter kept us very informed about the wait time, and then when we were sitting on some benches he just scooted our table up to us where we were sitting while we waited! (The table originally was supposed to go here anyway, but had been moved to accommodate a larger party. Still though, it was a fun touch.) He also was very attentive, despite seemingly to be the only person waiting the tables and managing the incoming customers. He let us know about the pizza, and seems to really enjoy his job. Gotta love that. Maybe my bad-​service-​as-​a-​hipster-​marketing-​plot conspiracy isn’t well-​founded afterall.
–It took a long time for our pizza to come out, but ya know what? Pizza takes a long time. This didn’t bother me in the least, but you may want to plan accordingly.

Brie? Local Apples cooked in beer? Carmelized Onions?
I don’t think I’ve ever had a more interesting combination of delicious and perfectly architected flavors on a pizza, ever. If my coworker would have glanced away for a second, I could have eaten the entire thing. I think he knew what I was up to, which made for an uncomfortable dinner of awkward eye contact.

I need to start this review right: I am a dumb-​ass.
Why am I a dumb-​ass? I’ll get to that later.
So, after a week of noshing on salads, the mister and I wanted pizza tonight. He suggested Hound Dog’s, but I just wasn’t feelin’ it. I hopped onto Unilocal and found a glowing review of Clever Crow by the lovely Melanie B. And off to Clever Crow we went!
I got to the register to pay, and my heart sank at the sight of the pizza; it was tiny! I mean really tiny. I got in the car and told the mister to drive to Da Levee to get some half plates to supplement our miniscule pizza. We finally got home with both meals, and that’s when I discovered that I’m a dumb-​ass.
We split our pizza three ways (two slices each), and I couldn’t even finish mine. That damn pizza was so deceiving. It was an amazing cornmeal crust topped with sweet corn, peppers, house-​made sausage, and other deliciousness. It was so dense and full of toppings; I dare somebody to eat more than two slices!
And what happened to our food from Da Levee? This dumb-​ass will be having it for lunch tomorrow.
TIP: Clever Crow’s menu is on their Facebook page, but it’s kinda hidden. Click on the «notes» tab!

Look at me, I’m totally one of those a-​holes who has been to Circus zillions of times and never tried the pizza til Tony B. and No Reservations showed up there. Yup. I admit it. Lame.
But anyway, my friend and I shuffled over to Circus around 7pm yesterday because I just *had to* try the pizza (jump on the yuppie bandwagon Mel, I know… gahhh so. against. all. my. ideologies…). And indeed there were hipsters and yuppies piled into Circus/​Clever Crow, noshing down vegan pizzas (I can only assume theirs were vegan — way to stereotype, Mel). Notably, I have never been in Circus before twilight, so I was a bit… uneasy about the whole thing, even as I insisted on getting a pizza. It’s kinda weird to be in a music venue in the daytime, imho.
Anyway, Red (the bartender) asked me if I wanted to PRB tallboy right away — how very sweet. It’s nice when you aren’t a regular at a bar but you go there enough to have the bartenders know what you drink. I opted for a draft, and my friend and I ordered a half pepperoni pizza. At this point I will ask that you look at the picture I posted, because you’re probably going to die and/​or be extremely jealous and hungry when you see it.
The crust is fantastic — by far my favourite pizza crust ever (cornmeal). The toppings were delicious too… sooooo savory and chunky and good. Granted, this is just a pepperoni pizza, but it had chunks of tomatoes on it as well, and was just… I’m not doing it justice, really… go try it! And feel free to gaze upon the picture/​food porn I posted for as long as you want. Best pizza I’ve ever had, prolly — but I’m not really one for pizza, so… it REALLY rubbed me the right way. MEOW!
Anyway, Circus’s patio is awesome, esp. when no one is there, and we ate our pizza outside and enjoyed the early evening-​ness of a perfect July night in central Ohizz. Clever Crow for the WIN!
Oh yeah and, Tony B. — good call, but I still wanna punch you in the FACE for calling Cbus the land of strip malls and Applebees. Psssh.