The environment was nothing more extraordinary than any other pizza place; it smelled like pizza, it had tile on the floor and friendly people behind the counter.
The only major distinction was a vegan dish on the menu. The girl behind the counter greeted us with a smile and was very friendly and didn't even bat an eye or make any judgmental expressions when we asked for vegan ingredients. She gladly obliged and punched everything into the register tap, tap, tap. We paid, sat and waited.
The wait time wasn't any longer and shorter than any other fast food/pizza place and they even delivered it on a cute little stand with little checker board paper. Unfortunately, the gluten free crust is only available in a small and I do not believe it's a vegan crust. I believe she said that it contained eggs but I may be wrong about that.
So, yes, there was a problem getting a pizza that's gluten free and vegan which made It more a chore than fun trip for me. If you get the gluten free crust they only come in small so it would be a pizza that my husband and I wouldn't be able to share. You see, when the Hubs wants a special treat like pizza, he doesn't want to have to split a tiny pizza. He wants gooey, cheesy, loaded topping pizza. He wants multiple pieces and he doesn't want to have to worry about who gets the last piece and if I have had enough to eat yet. I fully understand as I just want a small gf/vegan pizza to myself.
Now, had I ordered the small, gluten free crust with vegan toppings, the vegan beef crumbles are NOT gluten free. So you see the conundrum. It is a rarity to find a vegan/gluten free dish, especially in Hampton Roads, unfortunately.
So I decided I would just have a taste of the regular crust pizza and get it with Vegan toppings. The pizza was okay the crust was decent but the toppings weren't anything to write home about I'm not sure that they were very fresh, there weren't very many and Daiya cheese is my least favorite shredded vegan cheese on pizza. Now don't get flustered, Daiya cheese is one I actually really like in the block form. The shredded kind just doesn't seem to melt or come out very well on pizzas and tastes nothing like real mozzarella to me. I actually love Follow your Heart vegan cheese for pizza!
Needless to say my husband and I were less than impressed with our outing to this pizza place but if it hadn't been for the very sweet woman behind the counter then I would most likely be giving this an even less enthusiastic review than I am now. Its not by any means a terrible pizza place and it's certainly nice to have an option close to home.
I would like to note that I have a great appreciation for the fact that there are growing Vegan options in the Virginia Beach area, I just feel this could be better and have more topping options. There are, after all, gluten free faux meat products out there!
My recommendation? We baked up a thick crusted Vegan pizza at home using whole foods already prepped pizza dough (not gf) and I sprinkled on some Italian herbs (per instructions of Miscellany) and smothered my pizza in a block of Follow Your Heart "mozzarella cheese" that I shredded myself. It came out awesome! You could also grab a pre-made gluten free crust from the freezer section or perhaps do a DIY with this killer Gluten free/vegan crust recipe from Minimalist Baker. ENJOY!
Amarie Halley (aka SupernaturaleGirl) is a total Foodie, DIY nerd, Holistic health fanatic and is always testing out and reviewing healthy beauty and lifestyle products.
Check her out at www.supernaturalegirl.com to see her videos and blogs, or find her on Instagram (#supernaturalegirl),Twitter (@AmarieHalley) and Pinterest!
Also, be sure to check out her Vegan Clothing & accessory shop!
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