Week 9: Crooked Crust

This week Denton, TX was in our crosshairs and we headed north on 35 to see what the University of North Texas students were being served this semester.  Our original  plan was to check out Hot Box Pizza, a franchise from the Midwest we had recently read about. We drove to 214 E Hickory and couldn't find it, and after making a quick phone call realized the name had changed to Gio's Pizza & Pasta.  Taking the name change as a bad omen, we opted out and started hunting for an alternative.  Which leads me to the moral of this weeks pizza story: Don't judge a pizza restaurant by it's name.  After a spin on Urban Spoon, we were intrigued by the name Crooked Crust, and thought it "sounded" tasty. 

No Thanks...

Location, location, location. Right on the corner of Avenue A and W Hickory sits what appeared to be a golden find in the heart of Denton's Frye Street district.  Feeling young and hip I marched in with the family of four ready for a relaxing evening meal with the local university scholars.  I felt like John Belushi in Animal House when we stepped in the front door. It seemed like everyone stopped what they were doing and thought, "What the hell are you guys doing here?"


There is little to say about the pizza offered at Crooked Crust.  It's a great deal for a broke college student after a night out drinking, but that's as good as it gets.  We ordered half Pepperoni and half Buffalo Chicken.  We couldn't decide who made a better pepperoni pizza, DiGiorno or Red Barron? Seriously, this place made Domino's Pizza taste like Grimaldi's.  From the pre-made crusts to the 6 pepperoni slices the pepperoni half couldn't have gotten much worse.  The Buffalo Chicken half was so hot that we couldn't even tell if there was in fact chicken on it.  The one positive feedback was that our three year old enjoyed it, and the college kids were lined up.

1/2 Buffalo Chicken & 1/2 Pepperoni

Alright.  When I put it into context, Crooked Crust would have been gourmet back when I was in college.  Any place open after 2AM was sacred and earned more of my business than I can remember.  So, if you are looking for a place to take the family on a Friday night, I would suggest you stay away or bring your own high-chair.  But if you plan on having a six pack of Shiner Bock on the roof of the Sigma Chi House... This is your place!

The Final Report: 4.0 out of 10 (Good for a GPA, bad for a Pizza)



I almost forgot to mention... If you ever find yourself at Crooked Crust, get 2 orders of their breadsticks and skip the pizza. 

Crooked Crust: Breadsticks