By admin 
When you walk into the new Coastal Crust location in Columbia’s BullStreet District, it’s the flame that immediately catches your eye.
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Now that flame — dancing inside a wood-fired oven in the center of the restaurant — is set to draw in the crowds at the new pizzeria.
Coastal Crust, which was founded in Charleston and has several locations across South Carolina, is set to debut on Aug. 4 at 2158 Pickens St. in BullStreet, right next door to the Gather COLA food hall, just west of Segra Park baseball stadium. The pizzeria adjoins The Lawn, a gathering and entertainment space on the BullStreet campus.
This will be the sixth Coastal Crust location in South Carolina, following the company’s spots in the Charleston area and the Upstate. Owner Brian Piesner said Coastal Crust’s growth through the years has been organic, and it has enjoyed its run in the Lowcountry and the Greenville area.
Piesner also noted Columbia is an area where he has spent a great deal of time through the years, as his children have often played in youth soccer events here. (Piesner is, himself, familiar with the soccer pitch, as he played collegiately at Rutgers and later as a professional.)
The restaurant owner said he got to know Robert Hughes, CEO of BullStreet master developer Hughes Development, and became convinced he wanted BullStreet to be the spot where Coastal Crust made its Columbia debut.
Hughes Development and the city of Columbia are in the midst of a two-decade plan to transform the massive former State Mental Hospital site into a mixed-use development with apartments, townhomes, restaurants, Columbia Fireflies minor league baseball, the University of South Carolina’s upcoming new medical school and more.
“It just took getting here and seeing the development and what was going on to sell me on making a run at it,” Piesner said of selecting BullStreet for a Coastal Crust location.
Coastal Crust is located in what was the Williams Building on the BullStreet campus. A portion of that building, including its recognizable front facade, was preserved and has been adapted as part of the modern new pizzeria.
“The development is unique in itself, and then you have the Williams Building, which I feel like is the center and the heart of this whole project,” Piesner told The State. “When I saw it I was immediately a fan and in love with the building.”
Piesner said he first became enamored with the pizza business a number of years ago on the east end of Long Island, New York, when he “stumbled across” a mobile wood-fired pizza concept.
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“That was the very beginning,” Piesner said. “I truly enjoyed it. I did everything from prepping to executing, learning the industry.”
After later moving to Charleston, Piesner started his own mobile wood-fired pizza catering business in 2013. The first Coastal Crust brick-and-mortar location opened in 2015 in Charleston.
The company specializes in wood-fired, Neapolitan-style pizzas, which are handmade with fresh ingredients and cooked in a special Mugnaini oven.
“I truly enjoy working with the wood oven,” Piesner said. “There’s no gas, there’s no other cooking method. The artistry to it, managing the wood oven and the wood-fired cooking aspect, is how I got my start and there’s never been a push to go in a different direction. We stick with that wood-fired method.”
Aside from pizza, Coastal Crust also offers salads, pasta, antipasto dishes, dessert and more. It has a number of craft beer offerings, as well as a robust wine list. The restaurant has indoor dining space, as well as outdoor patio dining.
The pizzeria also will have a separate wine shop — called Coastal Crust Enoteca — located on the opposite side of the building from the restaurant operation. Though hours and the finest details of the wine shop are still being worked out, Piesner noted it will be a place for customers to grab bottles of wine, olive oil, sauces and other staples for making a nice Italian meal at home.
Coastal Crust currently has about 30 employees at BullStreet as it prepares to formally launch its Columbia location on Aug. 4. Piesner said there are always anxious moments, as well as excitement, in opening a new restaurant.
“We have a lot of people we can trust and a lot of really talented people,” Piesner said. “So, there are all those emotions. When we are open and we are doing business and we are meeting customers for the first time, that’s when the nerves will settle.”
Meanwhile, Robert Hughes, the BullStreet master developer, said Coastal Crust is a welcome and worthy addition to the BullStreet District.
“It’s the kind of place that fits naturally here,” Hughes said in a July 30 release. “You can grab a pizza, walk right out onto The Lawn and spend time with family, friends and neighbors. Those everyday moments are what create a strong sense of community, and that’s exactly the vision for BullStreet.”
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