The Crest Gastropub

[DouginCMH]

I have two concerns about the Crest at this point: (1) Regarding the beer menu, the prices are on the high side. I’ve only been there during happy hour, which lops 50% off of the price. But IMHO, there are too many $10/10 oz. beers, and especially as we move into summer, way too many high alcohol beers (time to ease up on the Russian Imperial Stouts); (2) the place seems to want to be everything to everybody – neighborhood bar…check, sports bar (i.e., HDTVs with ubiquitous sports programming above the bar)…check, family-friendly bar…check, young person bar…check, foodie bar…check, (related) locally-sourced/sustainable business plan kinda bar…check, after work destination bar…check, beer bar…check, specialty drinks bar…check… and so on.

Not that you can’t do more than one thing. I just get the sense they want to do everything, and I’m not sure they can do everything well enough simultaneously. Again, they’ve only been open since April; they’re still finding their way, getting up to full speed (like getting their pizza oven fired up). I hope they work out the kinks.

[mrpoppinzs]

I quite liked the beer selection. I don’t mind a heavy beer and I much prefer spending an evening sipping on one dense craft beer than watching someone piss through 3 Miller Lites. I am sure they will find what works and if it takes an initial shotgun approach so be it.

[Twixlen]

Finally checked this place out over the weekend – Sunday, early evening. When my group first got there, the patio was totally full, but within 20 minutes, half of the tables had cleared out, and it seemed from then on, there was always a patio spot available.

The beer list is pretty great. I didn’t get fancy, just happy to have Elevator’s Angry Goat on tap.

For food, we tried Brezel’s pretzels, and the pork sliders. The pretzels were as good as I wanted them to be, and the mustard & cheese sauces were great – tho, $8 for 4 wee pretzel sticks is O_O. The pork sliders were solid. I think they would have been better with the pickled onions the menu said they came with – instead they were fried. The fact that they had pickled onions is why I ordered them in the first place – as pickled onion + pork = delicious.

[mbeaumont]

I still haven’t been to the Crest unfortunately, but I keep hearing stories of people getting dishes that are missing ingredients. They really need to get that sorted.

[News]

The Crest Gastropub | Columbus, OH
Posted on September 14, 2013 by Breakfast with Nick

Ah, finally here we are: having brunch at The Crest. I’ve been sitting on this post for a while because the Crest is one of the more talked-about new restaurants in recent months. This is my first time here for any meal, although Mrs. Bfast w/Nick has visited for drinks and snacks, and many trusted friends have been here multiple times at different times of the day.

READ MORE: http://breakfastwithnick.wordpress.com/2013/09/14/the-crest-gastropub-columbus-oh/

[Gil Ligg]

Wow. The service sucked and the food was inconsistent. That’s exactly what I said, yet people on this message board wanted to take my head off.

I have to disagree with you on one small detail. This place will not succeed if things continue to go as they are. The hype will wear off and new competition will eventually take its customers.

The word on the street is that the owner is purposefully running The Crest as a campus-like bar because he feels like the alcohol sales will keep the place running despite shitty service and food. That, in my opinion, is the definition of a douchebag.

[Snarf]

Douchbag definitions are so nuanced, hobbyist.

[Walker Evans]

Gil Ligg said:
Wow. The service sucked and the food was inconsistent. That’s exactly what I said, yet people on this message board wanted to take my head off.

You really want to know the difference?

The difference is that Nick Dekker has proven himself as a worthwhile member of the community, both online and offline for years and years and years. He’s a supporter of the arts, supporter of small businesses, an educator, and all around level-headed guy. He’s not afraid to stand by his opinion and attach his real name to his word. He’s the kind of person who’s earned many people’s trust so that his opinion on things is worthy of listening to, whether you agree with him or not.

You on the other hand, do nothing but anonymously complain. Very few people take that seriously.

[Mister Shifter]

Well done, as always, Nick.

Great photos.

[groundrules]

gil, i’d appreciate it if you could just give a us your short list of restaurants that WON’T fail, that way i can do some planning.

[Lauren Wilson]

Walker said:
You really want to know the difference?

The difference is that Nick Dekker has proven himself as a worthwhile member of the community, both online and offline for years and years and years. He’s a supporter of the arts, supporter of small businesses, an educator, and all around level-headed guy. He’s not afraid to stand by his opinion and attach his real name to his word. He’s the kind of person who’s earned many people’s trust so that his opinion on things is worthy of listening to, whether you agree with him or not.

You on the other hand, do nothing but anonymously complain. Very few people take that seriously.

Preach.

[DouginCMH]

The reasons you took so much flak were:

1). Despite there already being a thread about the Crest (um, this one) you just had to go and create your own, and;
2). No, pointing out those flaws wasn’t exactly what you said. You, like you just did again, took that logical starting place and ran off into hyperbolic statement land.

Plus, a lot of people agreed with you that the place has serious issues. Of course, that discussion had already been taking place. It’s not as though anyone needed your opinionated newsflash to learn that the service there is poor.

You reference the owner… what I wonder about the Crest is: 1) has whoever is calling the shots at the Crest ever run a restaurant before and/or; 2) is there anyone really playing that role at all, or did the owner just kinda hope it would all come together with different people in charge of different parts of the business (food, drinks, beer, service)?

Thing is, as even this review states, the place is popular. It has two obvious things going for it: location and timing. Clintonville is starved for a place like this, and this spot on Indianola is in a location where a lot of people can just walk to the Crest. Parking is a bit of an issue but, come on, compared to the Short North it’s irrelevant. Timing-wise, again, Clintonville needs places like this, and the area has become a lot more laid back about drinking establishments in recent years. It’s now (finally) making baby steps toward attracting restaurants and pubs. The Crest is getting into this game pretty early. And the craft beer angle is clearly a growing industry. I’ll give them a third plus, as well: they did a nice job taking an old dive bar and making it into an attractive venue.

I don’t like the noise and crowds; I don’t like the non-happy hour prices; I don’t particularly like the food; I don’t like the service; I don’t like the wooden plank ‘plates’; I don’t like the lack of a real, informative website; hell, I don’t even like the TV’s. But a lot of people aren’t bothered by any of the above. Even if there is a general agreement that The Crest is lacking in a few important areas, doesn’t mean the place will fail.

[geoyui]

Walker said:
You really want to know the difference?

The difference is that Nick Dekker has proven himself as a worthwhile member of the community, both online and offline for years and years and years. He’s a supporter of the arts, supporter of small businesses, an educator, and all around level-headed guy. He’s not afraid to stand by his opinion and attach his real name to his word. He’s the kind of person who’s earned many people’s trust so that his opinion on things is worthy of listening to, whether you agree with him or not.

You on the other hand, do nothing but anonymously complain. Very few people take that seriously.

[chaptal]

Walker said:
You really want to know the difference?

The difference is that Nick Dekker has proven himself as a worthwhile member of the community, both online and offline for years and years and years. He’s a supporter of the arts, supporter of small businesses, an educator, and all around level-headed guy. He’s not afraid to stand by his opinion and attach his real name to his word. He’s the kind of person who’s earned many people’s trust so that his opinion on things is worthy of listening to, whether you agree with him or not.

You on the other hand, do nothing but anonymously complain. Very few people take that seriously.

^^^ That.

[mbeaumont]

Walker said:
You really want to know the difference?

The difference is that Nick Dekker has proven himself as a worthwhile member of the community, both online and offline for years and years and years. He’s a supporter of the arts, supporter of small businesses, an educator, and all around level-headed guy. He’s not afraid to stand by his opinion and attach his real name to his word. He’s the kind of person who’s earned many people’s trust so that his opinion on things is worthy of listening to, whether you agree with him or not.

You on the other hand, do nothing but anonymously complain. Very few people take that seriously.

YES.

[Author]

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