The main dining room downstairs is narrow and cluttered with tables. A wood-burning oven glows (thanks to a little gas boost) in the rear while rough brick walls form the boundaries left and right. One flight up there’s a landing—also narrow. The third floor is dedicated to a cool urbane ice bar. In summer months this spills out into a rooftop patio overlooking what remains of old downtown. It’s a clever space, in other words—one worthy of the hottest district in any city.

Indeed, if this set-up found a perch in Uptown or Bishop Arts, it would earn praise from the fawning types. Ah, but Urban Crust happens to reside in much-maligned Plano, without the poseurs and the forgiving media. Pizzas tend toward the non-pedigreed gourmet style: pear and gorgonzola, sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and set on a neatly charred crust, roasted chicken, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes over the same crust.

This breaks from the current Neapolitan authenticity craze gripping the region, breathing in the fresh air of that place where restaurants aren’t bound by fad...although, to be sure, “gourmet” pizzas were once a craze. Other dishes sometimes falter. But a trip upstairs will quickly erase any bad memories.