WHERE CRUST IS KING It seems like Bower Hill Road near St. Clair Hospital has always had a pizza place, at least until Chicago’s Pizza closed a few years ago.

But now, neighbors and the kids at nearby Hoover School have a pizza shop once again: King Crust opened this year to rave reviews, at 1105 Bower Hill Road.

As the name would suggest, the crust is the key to the pizza’s good taste. “We have been trying to find a perfect, healthy, lightweight and tasty crust for a while now, and with King Crust, we think we obtained that result,” says owner Inobat Tuhtamisheva. “Our variety of healthy and nutritious crusts make us different from the rest of the pizzas in Pittsburgh. We provide whole wheat, multigrain, unbleached white and gluten free crusts.”

The margherita pizza is King Crust’s signature pie, ordered most often and resulting in the most compliments, especially with the fresh chopped basil on top. The shop provides halal meat, prepared in accordance with Muslim dietary laws.

“We felt like the Mt. Lebanon community would appreciate a quality food, which is healthy and tasty. We didn’t come just to sell people pizza, but we want to become part of this community,” Tuhtamisheva says, noting his shop can prove pizza doesn’t have to taste like fast food. “Stone oven baked pizzas tend to be a bit pricey and not available everywhere and anywhere. We wanted to change that and make stone oven pizzas available for anyone and make them affordable.”

King Crust is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. They deliver within a four-mile radius, taking 20 to 45 minutes depending on time ordered. Kingcrust.com.