Upper Crust Pizza

[SoonerQueen]

We live not far from the new Upper Crust Pizza. and we're wanting to read some reviews. Has anyone been yet? What is the pizza like?What else do they serve?How are the prices?

[Martin]

i think they open this wednesday. we tried to go for lunch a week ago friday and they weren't quite ready for business. -M

[Becka]

The Grand Opening was tonight. I didn't go, but will probably hit them up soon for lunch so I'll let you know.

[jbkrems]

Has anyone seen a menu ?

[MGintheBLC]

My wife and I went to the training event last Friday for lunch. I forgot to take a picture of the menu. However, I can tell you that the toppings, size, and price are similar to The Wedge and/or Fireside Pies. There is also a large wine selection and a full bar.

[soonerguru]

I've now visited Upper Crust twice and I feel wholly qualified to proffer an opinion.

Thoughts:

PROS

On my first visit, the pizza itself was quite good. The crust was slightly crispy on the bottom, light in the center with a nice crunchy roll around the edge. There's a nice variety of toppings. Overall, the pricing is quite reasonable for the quality of the pizza.

CONS

There is a very limited variety of beers, which really stands out in Classen Curve. Overall, and this is a general complaint I have with Hal Smith Restaurants, the atmosphere is extremely corporate-feeling and douchey. It's as if they want even their non-chain restaurants to seem like chains. Lame. The servers are really "fake nice" and generally clueless if you ask more than surface-level questions about the food and beverages.

Perhaps most oddly, the restaurant does not provide the guests any serving utensils to dish up the pizza, which is served in pizzeria style on a mounted pedestal.

As much as we liked the pizza, we were very underwhelmed by our salads. The caeser dressing was way too salty and the salad itself was composed of chopped iceberg lettuce. Not especially impressive in an age of mixed greens and fresh green salads.

On my first visit, the manager came by to "see how we were doing," but couldn't care less when we issued our minor complaint about serving utensils.

On my second and most recent visit, the pizza was sadly bad. The crust was all doughy and undercooked, with a couple of burnt sections. I had gotten the pizza to go so when I got home I realized I was screwed: we paid good money for mediocre pies.

In conclusion, I think Upper Crust kind of sucks because of its clueless, douchey service, cold, corporate ambiance, and inconsistent food.

[Soonerus]

I went and had the greasiest pizza I have ever witnessed....

[jbkrems]

The first time I went the pizza was too greasy; the second time I went the pizza was too dry. Both times I had a spatula to "dish up" the pizza. I have had good salads there. I want to try it again, to see if I can get a good pizza, there. But, no promises or guarantees the place will "gel" with me and I will stick with it.

[FritterGirl]

Anyone been? I've got friends inquiring about it and I haven't been. Just wondering what others' experiences were.

[jbkrems]

I've been... Hideaway is better!

[t3hwookiee]

I went a few weeks ago. It was definitely good food, but I prefer The Wedge for this style of pizza.

[kevinpate]

how does it compare to the pizza at deep fork grill?


Oh, and on edit, here's a review on it from eataroundokc.com

http://www.eataroundokc.com/upper-cr...classen-curve/

[BBatesokc]

Ate there yesterday after the Run Lucky 5K. Not, horrible, but really not that impressed considering the quality of some of the restaurants in the area.

Atmosphere: 7/10
Seating Availability: 9/10
Service: 4/10
Food: 7/10
Value: 7/10

We were seated immediately (a plus, considering Republic had an hour wait for 4). Things went down hill from there. 22 minutes after being seated and being told twice someone would be with us 'soon' we sorta blew a gasket. When the waitress finally came to take our drink order we insisted she take our food order at that time since we could only assume it would be another 20+minutes for her to come back.
We ordered calamari and garlic cheese bread appetizers. The apps arrived in about 12 minutes and were pretty good. They add peppers to the calamari and that was nice.

We ordered two pizzas, the Godfather and some sort of Buffalo Chicken pizza. Both arrived about 30 minutes after ordering.

The Godfather was very bland, but the buffalo chicken was really good (wish we would have ordered two). Neither was greasy, both were a little over room temperature and you definitely need two for four people.

The waitress gave us a free appetizer coupon because of the ordering delay. We asked to use it with this order - however, when she brought us the bill, they hadn't taken off the price of either appetizer (even though she took the coupon). Another 10 minutes and she returned and corrected the bill.

They kept using the excuse they were slammed with the 5K run. I find that a lame excuse. They knew well in advance there was going to be an event and the place wasn't even full to capacity. Looks like understaffing, inexperienced staff and bad management.

I would consider going back, but definitely not on a busy night or during an event day, when time is a concern or with guests I didn't know well.

[onthestrip]

What a weak way to say Im sorry, an appetizer coupon. "We are so sorry that we are giving you something free if you come back in another time, even though we know youll end up spending money on other food and drinks. So in the end its a win win for us. Enjoy."

Why cant resaurants realize that saying sorry and actually comp-ing an item you ordered will be all thats needed to make up for a mistake and probably get the customer to come back. How much does an app or pizza cost to make anyways. Restaurant managers can be so short sighted sometimes.

[metro]

Yeah sounds like pretty poor management from what I've heard and what you describe.

[slademan]

That is really disappointing to hear. I have eaten here several times and thought the place was ran well, never had any bad experience with the service. Hopefully they can get their act together as I really enjoy the atmosphere and food.

[soonerguru]

I've already put this restaurant out of the rotation. The douchiest service in OKC. Par for the course for Hal Smith Restaurants: corporate crapola and people running around in wireless headsets not being at all helpful. They make a big production of asking you, "How's everything," and then when you tell the awful truth they act like they're late for another meeting. Bizarre and completely inconsistent. I actually had a great pizza there once, went back only days later and it was as if they had completely scrapped their previous cooking model. The only HSR restaurant worth a damn IMO is Redrock, which is really quite good. I've been told Mahogany is good as well but I can grill a prime steak myself.

[BoulderSooner]

have been to uppercrust 10+ times and think it is very good

[USAF]

I had a similar experience to BBates, they only initially took 10 mins. I won't get into details. One thing that seemed unusual was the create your own pizza...Either cheese or sauce (can't remember which) counted as one topping.

[tsou89]

I've heard they will be opening a new location near 178th and Western close to Louie's. Anyone else heard this?

[jbkrems]

No, but every time I go into the Classen Curve location, they're slow (not a lot of patrons).

[BBatesokc]

No, but every time I go into the Classen Curve location, they're slow (not a lot of patrons).

Gone a few times, not a big fan, but its not terrible. Went last week for lunch. Surprisingly the place was packed. Had to wait about 7 minutes for a tall table near the bar. Noticed it was a mostly female professional crowd. Pizza was okay, fairly bland. The biggest turnoff to me is the extremely slow service. Very inattentive waitstaff and food takes forever to arrive at the table.

[jbkrems]

Bbatesokc, yeah, I agree with your description. I think Hideaway makes a better pizza, and depending on your location, has better service, at times. At least I find them more attentive. I get the vibe that a lot of people at Upper Crust don't care, and that's why they are not attentive to their guests. Its really sad. Also, the last time I was there, the kitchen missed an ingredient on my pizza. I have not had that happen there before, but I was surprised at their laziness and slopiness.

[tsou89]

I haven't noticed the shabby service but I've sat at the bar more times then sat at table. I enjoy their calamari and they offer some decent beers.

I also heard that there will be an Edmond location soon for the garage...the burger restaurant in Norman.

[metro]

Bbatesokc, yeah, I agree with your description. I think Hideaway makes a better pizza, and depending on your location, has better service, at times. At least I find them more attentive. I get the vibe that a lot of people at Upper Crust don't care, and that's why they are not attentive to their guests. Its really sad. Also, the last time I was there, the kitchen missed an ingredient on my pizza. I have not had that happen there before, but I was surprised at their laziness and slopiness.

Comparing it to Hideaway is Apples to Oranges, different styles of pizza. Comparing it to The Wedge would be more accurate. honestly I think this one was a dumb move by CHK as The Wedge is a few blocks down the street. A concept or restaurateur new to the state would have been more appropriate.