An Italian Restaurant and Speakeasy are Coming to Downtown Mesa

The restaurant will include a wrap-around patio and garage doors that create an indoor-outdoor feel. Pictured here is Crust's Gilbert location. Crust Simply Italian

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Crust Simply Italian, an East Coast-style Italian restaurant, will open its fourth location in Mesa this fall. And, the eatery is upping the ante by opening a speakeasy-style cocktail lounge alongside it.

Owner Michael Merendino, a first-generation American, grew up in his father’s Long Island pizzeria. He wanted to share pizzas and pasta reminiscent of the Italian-American restaurants he loved in New York with Arizona. So in 2007, he launched Crust in Scottsdale and started serving classic Italian comfort food.

click to enlarge

The original location of Crust opened in Scottsdale in 2007.

Crust Simply Italian

The restaurant has grown, adding locations in Chandler and Gilbert, which also include adjacent cocktail lounges The Ostrich and The Blue Heron, respectively.

The new Mesa location will be downtown in The GRID, a commercial and residential complex under construction on Main Street.

click to enlarge

Crust will open in The GRID, a new commercial and residential building under construction on Main Street.

Crust Simply Italian

“We are thrilled to open our fourth Crust concept in downtown Mesa,” Merendino said in a news release. “We look forward to welcoming families and friends to our restaurant to enjoy a delicious meal in a fun, friendly, and inviting atmosphere.”

The yet-to-be-named cocktail bar will stay within the “birds of a feather” theme of Crust’s other bars, according to the release.

There will be a naming contest and people can submit their ideas for the chance to win an invite to a friends-and-family opening and a $100 gift card. Updates will be posted to @birdsofafeatherbar_mesa.

Crust Simply Italian

Opening in fall 2023
240 East Main Street, Mesa
crustrestaurants.com