Tempe Pizza Restaurant Unexpectedly Closes

A local pizza restaurant has closed.Photo byEvan WiseonUnsplash

If the old adage of “there’s no such thing as bad pizza” was true, you would never see a pizza restaurant go out of business. However, there certainly are better pizzas than others. And in order to justify spending more than the three bucks you’d drop on a Red Barron or Tombstone pizza out of the Walmart frozen food section, the pizza restaurant needs to offer quality for the price point. While there are always other factors involved with the closure of pizza eateries around Phoenix, the price to quality ratio always plays a big roll. That may be a reason why one local pizza restaurant closed after less than two years of operation. 

With regards to Crust Brothers, the quality of the pizza might not necessarily be in question, as it has performed well in various competitions, national pizza chain rankings, and taste tests. So, when a restaurant is well received and still closes, there’s almost always an issue with money. Purchasing quality ingredients for a pizza has increased dramatically over the last several years, especially with dairy products. And to make a quality pizza, a restaurant needs to have fresh, excellent cheese. Combined with surging rent and fewer people going out to buy from restaurants (that $3.99 frozen store pizza looks better and better all the time) and it’s difficult for eateries to remain open. It likely contributed to the closure of Crust Brothers Pizza at 5100 South McClintock Drive (Unit 101) in Tempe. 

The Tempe closure came as a surprise, as the restaurant was actively marketing itself on social media up until a week prior to its closure. Despite having an active presence on Instagram, the restaurant did not make any formal announcement to the closure. Instead, the Tempe location was removed from its website as well as the Facebook profile. 

When ordering a pizza, there are three sizes, ranging from 10 inches up to 16 (plus a 12-inch gluten free pizza). You can choose from marina, BBQ, and olive oil “sauces”, and then you have over two dozen topping options. Some of the house special pizzas include Cory’s Creation, BBQ, Meat Lovers, Dori’s Favorite, and Margherita. And, as Crust Brothers originally started in Ohio, it might be the only spot in the Valley where you can buy freshly baked peanut butter and chocolate buckeyes. 

If you enjoyed the Tempe location you can still visit the Scottsdale spot, located at 7342 East Shea Blvd in Scottsdale.