the crest gastropub

another hidden gem!. so i had driven past this place a number of times and one day when my sweetheart and i were looking for a good place to eat we looked it up, made reservations and went. we were not disappointed! my sweetheart happens to be gluten-free and she found amenufull of goodies, all of their ingredients are local, fresh and seasonal. from a good bison or lamb burger, to their mac and cheese (baked in small cast-iron dishes, ;-) to their chips and the house made hot-sauce on the table all of it was good in the two visits we have made!

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 themenuand 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 got food poisoning 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. the food is phenomenal. themenuis 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.

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. themenuhas 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 detailedmenuon 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.

the food - man, the crest really drops the ball here. wife had a pasta with veggies.menupromised 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) food without 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. themenuhas 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 (with food pieces 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.

thanks for gluten freemenuitems--excellent meal!. look forward to going back.

friday at the crest. we have wanted to try out the crest for a while - heard it was always crowded so we finally went early on a friday evening. managed to get the last parking spot but also noticed that they seem to have valet parking now.
i saw a lot of negative reviews on this site - couple of ideas - the crest has a very large and variedmenuand is trying to source locally - i would think that would be a balancing act, hence why they may have been out of items in the past. it is very popular and crowded - i think they are trying with valet parking to overcome that problem.
anyhow, we were pleasantly surprised. we had the hummus and baba ganoush - perfectly acceptable - and for a surprise they featured fried smelt. these were great! only suggestion is that they bump up the aioli with more garlic and acid - nicely presented with what seemed to be pea tips.
the crest burger was okay - cooked rare with mushrooms and cheese - but needed some salt or something as it tasted rather flat. fries were crispy and not greasy.
our server was attentive and helpful...the place is noisy but that is probably to be expected and part of the "liveliness" they are trying for.
i looked at their website and see that, in season, they try to grow their greens and herbs, have events to support local charities and generally are working on being a neighbourhood presence. in clintonville, we don't have many places to go for dinner or drinks and are always looking to support places like this.
i think another six months will help them even out some of the rougher spots but all in all, i was pleased and would go back - more than i can say for most of the columbus downtown area restaurants i have frequented.

awesome brunch!. i visited the crest (twice) for brunch when it was still warm enough to eat outside. i really enjoyed their brunchmenuas it has a good combination of lunch and breakfast foods. i ordered the pastrami on rye with truffle fries on one visit and it was fabulous. your sandwich is served on a cutting board which is a fun way to eat a meal. my companion and i ordered the pesto-feta watermelon and goat cheese balls and both were alright, personally i think their strength lies in their entrees. great mimosas as well. i really enjoyed their patio and the inside was cute as well. staff was a bit slow, though they were quite friendly it was clear they were streched thin. no failing on their part but the crest itself should have more people on a brunch shift for better service.

the best and most consistent bets will be the burger selections. the honey-glazed cheese balls (that would be with flash fried goat cheese) are my consistent starter of choice. the only mainmenuitem i have been disappointed in so far was the grilled cheese. the grilledness (my own invented word) of the bread and how the varied ingredients comingle do not quite mix together.

not a big fan. beermenuis very good. food is average. surprised they didn't ask how we wanted our burgers cooked. i guess when the burger patty is a 1/2in thick it doesn't really matter, you're pretty much getting it one way. sweet potato fries and our soft pretzel app were good. i guess if your going to call yourself a "gastropub" i expect better, and more creative, food. sat and watched as water dripped off the air conditioning ducts across a couple tables and the floor. nobody bothered to wipe it up, despite one of the tables pointing it out. huge accident waiting for a place to happen. not a real fan of the gouged up wood cutting boards they serve the burgers on, seems to me this is not the most sanitary practice. service was acceptable. probably won't be back, too many other places with better food and a good beer menu.

vegan friendly?. i have been two times now, once for drinks and once for dinner. first visit was to the bar, which was great . there are lots of beer selections and the staff at the bar was knowledgeable. the second time i went was just a few days later, this time to eat. our sever was slow and uninterested. i also don't see how they can be advertised as a vegan friendly place. vegan friendly, to me, means that there are multiple items on themenuthat can be made vegan easily, which i didn't not find there to be. taking the meat and cheese and dressing off a salad doesn't make you a vegan friendly restaurant. i ordered the port. mush burger and it was cold and not on bread. perhaps our server was not knowledgeable on the vegan friendly items, but i was unimpressed with the food.

i will go back to drink at the bar and on the patio, but there are better vegan friendly places to eat.