Crust - Chicago, IL Review

Crust is the first and only pizzeria that's certified organic in the Midwest, and just one of four restaurants with that claim in the US.  Crust is located in Chicago's Wicker Park area and is a very convenient visit for my husband and I, but probably would not be for most tourists. 

Crust specializes in flat-breads - just like pizzas, but flatter? - I really have no idea why they don't just call them pizzas.  They have about 10 different custom pizzas.  We've had three of the pizzas thus far.  Two of them were so-so - the Mexicali and the Pepprocini.  The best of the bunch was the BLT.  Their salads are excellent and they have a 'living salad bar' that they utilize for ingredients.  All of the listed beers, wines and liquors are 100% organic certified.  They have a wide variety of custom cocktails and I would highly recommend the grapefruit mojito.  Overall I would rate the food 6.5 out of 10.  It's not the best pizza I've had, but the concept is interesting and worth trying.

Crust has two great outside seating areas - front and back.  The one in the back is much more private.  The interior is airy and obvious attention to designed has been paid. 

My biggest issue with Crust is the service.  The staff does not seem to be very knowledgeable regarding the menu.  Given that it's 1 of 4 100% certified organic restaurants in the US, you would presume the staff would be well versed in the uniqueness of that.  Also, 2 of the 2 times we've been there, we've ordered drinks only to find 10 minutes later that they were sold out of the drinks (beer + wine).  To me, that's slightly unacceptable (it's one thing if you order something and are immediately told that it's sold out, it's another to order and then 10 minutes later find out it is out of stock).

I'm not a huge fan of Crust and probably would not recommend it to anyone that didn't live nearby.