the crest gastropub

this place is the bomb!. we visited on a thursday during the second week since they've opened. i. love. this. place. thefoodwas delicious (best hamburger i've had in a darn long time), the servers are very well informed about the beer (and even tequila!) and patient when we were trying to decide what to drink.

there's a great patio, but even if you're sitting inside, the huge windows bring in a lot of light. overall, the vibe is casual but very convivial. i'm really glad this place opened up.

take a psss for awhile. we wanted to like the place. looks great from the street and the inside is fun.
thats where it stops. service was bad.foodeven worse. coffee and breafast potatoes arrived cold. we told our server and she never returned. except to drop the check. grill cheese was buttery and not grilled. more like heat lamped. we will try again but only after a some time goes by and my tastebuds forget.

the only truly good thing about this meal was the drink i had--the spring collins was a delight and was exactly what i wanted. my companions' wine selections were also good. that was pretty much where the good ended.

we got the wings and fried goat cheese as apps, and while the wings were good and the goat cheese was fine, these were fairly mediocre in terms of what we expected from this place. i got a custom duck burger off the menu and both of my dining companions got the house burger. they both enjoyed their burgers and fries. 

my duck burger arrived with soggy sweet potato fries and was anything but what i expected. it was two half-hard, brick like patties that looked like you could get them from gfs. i don't know if the duck was really local, but this is not what i expected nor what i wanted to pay for. the patties were stuffed so much with spices--which was not advertised on the menu--that i couldn't even tell it was duck. honestly, it tasted more like a boca burger than anything. a really spicy boca burger. it was dry and flavorless except from the spices, and was anything but a rich, moist duck burger like i expected.

i sent the duck burger back and ordered the fried chicken sandwich instead, totally plain except for the amish honey butter that came on it, which had been on the fried goat cheese app and was really good. after way too long, the chicken sandwich was sent out of the kitchen, completely wrong, covered in everything i had asked for it without. my companion took it up to the line and told them, and within two minutes they had another one out the way i had asked for it...sort of. some stray lettuce and i'm still not convinced it was the honey butter on the sandwich. it did not taste good, and i ate two bites of it and stopped. 

but that wasn't the worst part. 

my dining companions, who both got the house burger, both gotfoodpoisoning and were up all night throwing up. this is the only thing both they and only they consumed at our table and definitely caused the illness. it is not that difficult to correctly handle ground beef.

while we have had some positive experiences here, it seems that the negatives have not outweighed the positives, and we won't be returning.

i've been to crest twice since moving to columbus and they never fail to impress. thefoodis phenomenal. the menu is full of such a wide variety of flavors. the beer selection is huge and the wait staff does very well with recommending a beer that fits your taste. it can be busy on the weekends but don't let the wait keep you from going. there's a reason everyone goes to crest. if atmosphere is important to you (don't lie you know it is) crest has that too. they have it all. i don't have a single negative thing to say about this place, it really has it all.

while this place offers many good choices on the menu, don't try to getfoodnear the end of the night for the kitchen (heard similar stories from other, as well). ordered a soup that came out barely warm, which would have been fine if it had been a gazpacho, but unfortunately not the case. server just looked at me when i told him and said "well, the kitchens closing soon, so that's why it's cold." umm...excuse me? if you are gonna offer something, don't offer it up incorrectly. i don't wanna pay for something that is served up cold. everyone at my table received something that was cold or could tell was not served fresh. server didn't seem to care that arefoodwas complete rubbish. could tell he just wanted to get out of there. won't be back. just get your beer/drinks from somewhere else; they are all offered other places in columbus.

disappointed. this was my second attempt at the crest, and i don't believe there'll be a third, at least not for a meal. the menu has been completely revamped and is a bit pricier than i remember, but on the other hand, it was happy hour so we were able to save a little on half-priced draft beers. on my first trip, i thought it was odd that i had to request a beer menu. this trip, there was a nicely detailed menu on the table. in addition to the new menu, the lighting/layout seems a bit different now, in a (mostly) good way. the only downside about the layout is the noise. holy cow, is it loud in there. being close enough to my neighbor to practically bump elbows didn't help.

thefood- man, the crest really drops the ball here. wife had a pasta with veggies. menu promised broccoli, leeks, and i don't recall what else. instead, there was the equivalent of about a single spear of asparagus chopped up into a few pieces. not at all what she was looking forward to, and seriously overpriced at $16. i opted for the special - braised short rib w/ risotto, carrots, and peas. the waitress asked how i wanted my meat cooked which surprised me a little as i didn't realize you could braise meat to order. since she asked, i requested it medium rare. it came out as i would've expected - very well done. it was also very delicious, though, so put one in the win column. the risotto, on the other hand... wife says, "it just looks like rice." that's right, it does... because it's severely undercooked. guys, risotto takes time and energy to prepare, and should never, ever be crunchy.

we'd had enough fun for the evening so we opted to take dessert to go. white chocolate carrot cake for me, ricotta cheesecake for wife. $7 each. both had decent flavor, but also the tiniest portions of dessert i've ever seen. our waistlines were ok with less, but for $7....? next time i want carrot cake, i'll just swing by wildflower cafe a couple miles north and pay $4 for the slab of carrot cake that i can't finish in one sitting.

i really want to love the crest. but... no.


-----28 oct, 2013-----

unsure.... ...what exactly the crest is or wants to be. based on the very mixed crowd, i'd say that it wants to be something for everybody, and that's great. i've just never been to a place with such a high concentration and equal mix of yuppies and hipsters. interesting.

we'd been waiting for the hub-bub to die down some so that we could get (a) parking and (b)foodwithout an hour wait. no doubt this place is popular right now.

service - good. attentive, friendly. i was surprised that, given the reputation for beer selection, there wasn't a draft list on the table. had to request one. other than that, dude knew his stuff.

one observation about the service - some of them don't seem to like each other, and it shows. i witnessed some uncomfortably overt passive aggressiveness complete with eyerolls and snark. c'mon guys, at least put on a happy face while you're on the floor, hm?

food - wasn't bad. i do have to say that the best part of the meal, for me, was the warm bretzel pretzels. the rest...ok, but nothing super amazing. wife had fish tacos, they were cold. i had pastrami which was tasty, but being not especially tolerant to salt, i knew better than to order it. did it anyway. if you like pastrami, this was a good one, well balanced with cheese and rye. one note - the bread seemed a bit stale. *shrug*

overall, it was ok. i don't know if it's something i'll seek out for more than an occasional beer, but i can definitely see why people like it.

menu has changed and unfortunately so has the service. initially enjoyed this restaurant. went yesterday for lunch and was terribly disappointed. the menu has changed to focus on "shareables" - overpriced, small portions. our server did not offer us anything to drink (soda/alcohol) and took our order. both my silverware and my husband's silverware were very dirty (withfoodpieces on them)! someone rolled the silverware without even looking at it. the shareable we ordered was not flavorful (mac and cheese in dough) and had unmelted pieces of what looked like lunch deli cheese slices. the entrees came out wrong (i.e. asked for no tomato and no sauce on burger and got both). waitress took a very long time to check on us and we waited a long time to get our bill despite the low headcount at lunch. will not be returning.

oh man,,,,,,,,im torn, i want to love this place soooooooooo damn bad!. what a great looking restaurant with a great vibe, awesome enthusiastic bartenders, great beer, fun neighborhood,,,,,,,,,,,,,,if only they would just quit messing with theirfoodso damn much. they just need to learn that simple is sometimes the best and if you try to jazz up classic dishes with their little "twists", more often than not they will fall short. i love the beer part of their menu, great selection, has to be one of the best in columbus! i love a good caesar salad, and when theirs came out of the kitchen on a rustic wooden board, it was really really impressive to say the least, but one taste and i was ready to scream "whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy"? who back in the kitchen puts some spicy chipotle like dressing on something like a caesar salad? i don't want surprises, i just want a friggin classic salad. had they dressed this salad in the traditional way, it may have been the best c salad ive ever eaten! while im thinking about it, don't even think about ordereing a bloody mary at this place, as it is about as far from a bloody mary as you will ever drink..... it was terrible as evidenced by the 4 half drunk glasses left on our table when we departed. awesome french fries and like the crest burger better than the bison burger, but again,,,,, those sauted with something i couldn't recognize onions don't belong on either one of them. this place could be a top ten in columbus if they would just quit messing with their food. i really hope they get it figured out, because they are some really good people here, and ill keep coming back , for the beer at least, but i want soooooo much more from this place. try it, really, don't let this review turn you away. try it for yourself, just ask a lot of questions if you don't understand exactly how the dish you are ordering is going to be prepared.

very disappointed. we dined at the crest recently and we were so disappointed in thefoodand service. this was our third time there. the first time, we had to get our beer at the bar because our server who said she would be back, never came back. we asked nearby patrons if we could see their menus. she kept saying she would be back and after 55 minutes, we told her we had to go. we gave it another try as it was relatively new our first time. we went back a second time and had an enjoyable meal. the third time, we had the mushroom pate and it was bland. they give only two pieces of bread for all that pate. we asked for more and it took almost 30 minutes for that to arrive (no embellishment). we didn't want all ourfoodon the table at once so we waited to order but we ended up with our pate (still waiting for the bread), our salad and entree all at once. we waited 20 minutes when we ordered wine. we just got excuses when we asked where it was. there is no excuse for excuses. the beet salad was o.k. but the mahi mahi kabob was way over cooked and the bell peppers were burnt completely black. we understand the restaurant is busy (and this wasn't even a weekend) but there were enough employees and yet we had to be there two hours. too bad.

thefoodwas amazing when it first opened, each visit it's less good. it still good but with so many cheaper better places to go i'd rather visit them.

what a gem!. oh my. i am so glad we discovered this place!foodis delicious, creative, and locally-sourced. we split the silver platter appetizer, with pimiento cheese dip, pickled veg, caper berries wrapped in duck prosciutto, and stuffed grape leaves...all excellent. i had the kimchi hot dog, which featured thinly-sliced granny smith apples and red pepper relish. very good! the highlight of my meal, however....the sweet potato fries! where have these been all my life? thin, crispy on the outside, and perfectly soft and tender on the inside, served with a delicious housemade aioli. great beer list. we'll be back!

goodfoodand great philosophy this place is all about local and they even grow some of theirfoodon site. that said i always get sub par service there. the waitstaff are either over worked or they need a better manager because they are always scattered and forget orders or are late bringing food. it is also very loud so keep that in mind.

pretty good. the crest is a nice place. the beer selection is top-notch. thefoodis good, although i'm not sure it warrants all of the accolades it receives. it's standard upscale pub fare - no better but no worse. service was good. ah, that "wait." well, not much to complain about there when you choose to go a place that does not take reservations on the weekends. it's too bad there isn't more room at the bar to sit or stand, as standing outside the restrooms is a tad annoying. but, again, what can you do.
having lived in clintonville for almost a decade but gone now for several years, i'm glad to see a place of this caliber in the ville.

although i just said how much i loved it, thefoodthat is. i highly recommend using their valet service cuz i saw people getting tickets for parking down the street. and sit outside if you can. the inside is very loud.


-----08 mar, 2014-----

loved it. terrificfoodthat has a unique twist. we had the lamb pops, thecrest burger and the pastrami. :) defiantly recommending.

i always love coming here. the service is always friendly, and thefoodalways tastes amazing. i recommend the pulled beef burger. i see a lot of complaints on here about the service, but realize this a popular joint. obviously when it's busy, you're server will not have time to get to know your life story and help you sample thefooduntil you find what dish fits your personality. i say this place is a must try if you're visiting columbus or bored on a tuesday night.