I have been to the Sanlitun location on multiple occasions now and my experience last weekend has given me hope that things are changing for the better. The first couple times that I went I experienced very slow and poor service. The waitstaff was indifferent and rude when we asked for anything and our order took well past an hour to come out. When it eventually came out the pizza was not of good quality and the whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth (literally). I was at the point where I swore I would never go back but reluctantly decided to give it one last try.

I met up with my friends only to find out there was an hour wait which was something I did not want to deal with, but I was persuaded to stay since we were already there and wanting pizza. I asked for an imported beer and they went to get it for me. I saw them looking high and low for my request and after 5 minutes they eventually found it. I mention this not as an insult but as a complement. They were very busy and it was chaotic since it was a Saturday, but they still took the time to find what I ordered instead of just saying they were "sold out".
As we waited for our number to be called one of the employees made sure to go to each group of people and let them know what number was called. This would seem like a no-brainer but in the past this establishment would just call the next number and move on. When we were seated the staff was very attentive and the food was delivered quickly. The food was of very good quality, many times better than my previous experiences. As we left I asked one of the foreign workers behind the register if he was the manager. He said his name was Kimmo (sp?) and that he indeed was the manager. He was extremely friendly and even offered my party a round of shots. I thanked him for the changes he has made and the noticeable improvements to the establishment.

My experience overall was excellent. The staff was friendly, courteous and efficient. The food was of good quality and the drinks were good as well. I am very impressed with the changes that were made and I hope they can continue down this road. I will be going back this weekend again because of the impression it made on me last time. I hope it will be just as enjoyable. Keep it up Kimmo!

big but "cheap"(bad ingredients) Maybe I am spoiled by NYC pizza but the ingredients are definitely not up to par. If you want the definition of a GOOD pizza go to Numero 28 the next time you are in the West Village.
However I have to say, it is at least better than 90% of the uneditable crap they call pizza in beijing.

gonna try kro's and hutong pizza, hopefully one of these 20 million people can make a god damn pizza.

We lived in Beijing from 2008-2009, and were big fans of Kro's Nest Pizza. Their pizza was so good that I preferred it to almost any pizza we can get in the US. When we came back to Beijing to visit this summer, I was looking forward to eating hot pot, sichuan green bean, any dish loaded with cumin, and Kro's Nest Pizza. All of the Chinese food was as good as I remembered, but Tube Station Pizza is not Kro's Nest. Tube Station's pizza is o.k. by Chinese standards, but I had to search to find even the slightest trace of pizza sauce. The toppings were fine, the crust was fine, but it was far from the amazing pizza that the Kro's Nest served up. Of course the service was bad, but we expected that. It was the pizza that was truly disappointing.

--Tube Station Pizza--

I haven't been to The Kro's Nest/Tube Station Pizza in a while, though I keep lying to myself that I will go back.

Since I had the long weekend, I gathered up some friends and we had Kro's pizza for dinner. We ordered the BBQ Hawai'ian Pizza, mozarella sticks and several brews.

Pizza-
These pizza's are well priced for the size, I don't mind spending 36RMB for a 10", but tonight we all ordered a medium. The large is OMG large, so bring friends if you're going to tackle that one. It had a doughy, American pan pizza style crust- thank goodness it wasn't one of those cracker-thin crusts. No herbs or flavoured oils in it, just plain old dough, which is fine with me. Decent sauce, again nothing super distinctive, but that might be because of the BBQ sauce which easily can cover spicing in sauce. The onions and pineapple were good, a little firmer than you get at most American joints, which was nice- Who likes limp, soggy things on their pizza? The ham (it's not Canadian Bacon) was decent, good flavour and great texture. The diced chicken was good, well seasoned, but the BBQ'd pieces were like jerky. Cooked too long, probably but hey, I have to kvetch about something.

Mozarella Sticks-
Good coating, good cheese and decently portioned. We were so happy when we could actually eat the things, and that they weren't lava-hot inside, which does happen from time to time.

Beer-
Standard Yanjing, and it was actually cold! Thank you thank you thank you.

Service was fast, not overly friendly but not as bad as other restaurants. We ordered, food showed up quickly, and they were happy to box up the leftover slices. Love the decor, we got a small booth off of the door, and it reminds me of my favourite pub back home. Music was good, though overpowered by Vicks next door (we went at night- you can feel the bass through your seat, yow...) We were able to pay up quickly, which was nice too!

Overall, great place to go, good environment, food, and price.
I love this place- if you haven't been already, try it!

I have to disagree with people saying the pizza is getting much worse. It's a little worse, but maybe I haven't had it regularly enough to notice a huge slide in quality. Greasy pizza is greasy pizza, no? In my opinion, it's still the best American style pizza Beijing has to offer.

However, the Chinese owner taking over has seemed to affected customer service and some food quality. The fact that he booted his friend/Western co-owner out of the partnership, that's just 100% wrong.

Edit:
Pizza is actually acceptable quality. A better deal than Pizza Hut, Dominos or Papa Johns. Kro's Nest is better quality but also pricier. If you want reasonable pizza for a fair price, go with Tube Station Pizza.

My Unbiased REVIEW of the PIZZA of this RESTAURANT

If you're new to China and Beijing and you want the Western taste pizza, this is one of the best places to go to.
If want a kickass pizza that goes up to UFO sizes for under 200 kuai enough to feed a local village part of a prefecture city, come here. If yer hungry for Western pizza three places to go is Kros Nest, Tube Station and Papa Johns ( not in any order ). You will be thoroughly satisfied however Papa Johns is cheaper and it is pretty much verbatim exactly the same quality as the one from the States. Woot, raise the roof.

But..But..I heard Tube and Kros is the same.
Yes "Kro" Bauer essentially created both. If you want to read about the banter there's this really great search engine called Google that you can use to research. Nevertheless, its still good pizza.

My Response to the Foreigner commented revolt and the "stories":

Yeah it sucks what happened to Kro and most of us foreigners have been through similar if not worse for those of us that have worked at a non-foreign managed or ran company. I've been to both the New Kros and the Tube, quality of the pizza is still the same at the Tube, the new is of course different and unique under a sweet new environment, but the Locals didn't change sh*t to the Tube except the name. Tube wouldn't risk crapping up their (yes strangely enough) legitimately "inspired" foreign designed business plan by "localizing" the flavor when they know people go there just for that Western taste. Clearly the foreigners griping, and protesting haven't lived in China long enough to realize what happened to Kro happened, happens, is happening, and will continue to happen to all foreign partnerships that exists or has existed at some point and to some extent. Its the risk you take here in this country.

Oh boo my money isn't going to support bla bla.. Yeah the Locals could give two shits about where your chump change is contributed to. You think your little protest and out cry of boo hoo "unfairness" is going to make a difference? Right, cause the foreign population clearly dwarfs that of the locals in BJ... That sh*t works back home in the West. So these people complain and support the story in one hand then in the other you'll find them at the corner Dvd Stores getting an oh-so "legal" copy of the latest Harry Potter movie... on bluray while its still being shown in theaters back in the western world. Professionally this protest is actually doing more harm to his new business than good. That is not how you win over fairness and respect here.

Now going back to the pizza at Tube... Look if I'm hungry for pizza, some trivial protest (which is about as effective as a fart expelled from Vern Troyer's ass in the midst of a Mongolian sandstorm) isn't going to stop me from eating this pizza that has been pretty consistent in quality and the location is close in proximity.

Even before Kro was summarily "removed" from this place, I never really understood why Kro's was so popular. The pizzas are really really big, I'll give them that, but like so much that comes out of America, big doesn't necessarily mean better. I always found the pizzas bland and overly oily.

There are much better options for pizzas in Beijing, especially around the Gongti area. Do yourself a favor and check out Pizza Buona or Scott's. Both near Kro's, and both better.

The prices at Kro's are kinda steep too.

For three years I regularly organized farewell parties for my exchange students at the original joint near Beida. Kro was the heart and soul of the place. Kro's Nest was THE place with the best "American style" pizza in town and the best pizza in Haidian. The Wudaokou competition couldn't touch them in terms of food quality/quantity, service and general "feel good" atmosphere.The Gongti and Beitaiping locations could not completely recreate the Beida feeling. The enlargement of the Beida place already was a setback.

In 2009 the deliveries were still fast and the Kro-type slices well worth the money and time waiting. But my last order a few weeks ago was a huge disappointment. If I wanted a mediocre tasting, half cold and hardly topped pizza I could have chosen "P****a H*t" (they are not affiliated with the US chain).

The ousting of Kro is an awful thing. He is a great guy and did a lot for Beijing. It leaves a bad feeling when the Chinese side think they can dump the laowai once they outlived their usefulness. But this attitude easily translates into a certain attitude towards foreign customers in general. Eat, shup up, and pay!

Actually, some Chinese folks out there do know how to prepare a decent pizza, how to deliver good service and how to create a great place. Sadly to say, but the "owners" that run the Kro's now, clearly don't!

So to me Kro's Nest is dead. Rest in Peace!
Good luck to Kro (the real one) for whatever new endeavor he is up to.

Kro's used to be a great place to go with a few people for some pizza and some drinks. Unfortunately the place has lost all that I used to love. The quality of the pizza has been going down hill, and the tuesday free beer deal (free beer for the first keg of tsingtao) is becoming a joke. Last time my boyfriend and I went there the place had 6 other tables, no one else drinking beer but after one free round the waitress said there was no more. When my boyfriend went down to the bar he found out that they still did have the free beer going on. This place has lost all integrity that it once had and has become a sad stereotype of the ruthlessness and uncaring on chinese business towards its customers.

Ever since Kro left this place the food quality has been gone very bad. Should not go there..