Crosta

Verdict

Three founders, a small room, serious dough, wine by the glass at fair prices: Crosta is the kind of Makati spot that outperforms its casual format. If you want honest pizza made with high-quality ingredients in Salcedo Village without paying fine-dining prices, this is the right booking. First-timers should go straight for the round pizza with salami; it is the clearest expression of what Crosta does well. Booking is easy, which is rare for a venue this focused.

About Crosta

Crosta sits at the corner of HV Dela Costa and L.P. Leviste Street in Salcedo Village, one of Makati's most expensive and densely dining neighborhoods. The venue is small by design: few seats, a focused menu built around multiple dough styles, a wine list curated to offer quality at accessible prices. That combination; low fuss, high ingredient standards, genuine craft, is exactly what the casual excellence format requires, Crosta delivers it.

The team behind it is worth understanding before you arrive. Ingga S. Cabangon Chua brings a deep interest in dough; Thomas Woudwyk handles the wine side with a clear bias toward affordability without sacrificing quality; and Yuichi Ito, the chef and pizza maker, trained for years in Japan before joining. That Japanese precision in technique applied to pizza dough is not a marketing angle, it shows up in the consistency of the crusts across different styles. The toppings move from direct and traditional to more complex combinations depending on what you order, which means the menu works for guests who want something simple and for those who want more to think about.

The gelato is worth noting as a closer. If you are finishing a meal here, skip sourcing dessert elsewhere, it rounds the experience properly.

For context on where Crosta sits in the wider Manila dining picture: it is a neighborhood-scale venue in a city that also has destination restaurants like Toyo Eatery in Manila and ambitious regional operators like Antonio's Restaurant in Tagaytay. Crosta is not competing in that register. It is a well-executed, ingredient-led pizzeria doing something specific and doing it well, which is its own category of value in Makati.

Practical Details

Location: 104 HV Dela Costa, corner L.P. Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City. Booking difficulty: Easy, the format is casual and walk-ins appear workable, though the small seat count means earlier-in-the-week or off-peak timing reduces friction. Dress: No formal requirement given the casual format; Salcedo Village norms skew smart-casual. Budget: Price range is not published, but the positioning, quality ingredients, neighborhood pizzeria scale, wines by the glass at accessible prices, places this below Makati's fine-dining tier. Expect a reasonable spend per head for pizza and a glass of wine. Dietary restrictions: No published accommodation policy; contact the venue directly before booking if you have specific requirements. Groups: The small seat count makes large groups a logistical challenge, this is a better fit for two to four guests than for a party of eight or more.

How It Compares

More to Explore in Makati and Beyond

If Crosta is the kind of focused, quality-led dining you are looking for in Makati, our full Makati restaurants guide covers the range from casual to destination. For wine-focused venues, check our Makati wineries guide. If you are staying in the area, our Makati hotels guide and bars guide are useful companion reads. Elsewhere in the Philippines, Linamnam in Parañaque and Lantaw in Cebu represent very different but equally compelling regional options. If you are benchmarking against international pizza or casual excellence references, Lazy Bear in San Francisco shows what an refined casual format can look like at the other end of the ambition spectrum, while Le Bernardin in New York City is the useful reminder that technique applied with discipline, regardless of format, is what separates good venues from forgettable ones. For broader Philippines dining, Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill in Pasay and Asador Alfonso in Cavite are worth bookmarking for different occasions.