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the best pizza ever…happens to be vegan
16September 23rd, 2008follow your heart, LA restaurants, pizza, products, tomato joe'swhen i was a vegetarian, pizza was my favorite food. at least once a week, i’d treat myself to a piping hot slice (or 10) of cheesy pie. even then i was pretty picky, and finding a truly awesome pizza (in my mind) was rare. as you can imagine, now that i’m a vegan, it’s damn near impossible.
luckily for me, tomato joe’s has made it possible for me to eat exceptional pizza that can please vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike. all i have to do is pay a visit to my home town, santa clarita. i first heard about tomato joe’s from scvegan.com, and being both a vegan and a pizza lover, i knew i had to check it out. plus, it gave me the perfect excuse to drop by and surprise my parents with a meatless dinner.
large pizza with vegan mozz, mushrooms, tomatoes and chopped garlic on micro-brew crust. $21.39
dude, i can’t even tell you how good this pizza was. if i lived in santa clarita, i would be eating this every other day…and now that i found it, i KNOW mom & dad will be getting sick of me pretty quick. i’ve been on the vegan pizza hunt for quite some time. i’ve tried eating out, cooking countless recipes at home, buying it from the store, and it’s never been quite right…until now. tomato joe’s pizza is perfect. they even use follow your heart cheese, which i have never been a great fan of, and it STILL tastes just right. they get it melty and everything!
i can tell they use only the best ingredients at tomato joe’s—the toppings are fresh, the sauce is delectable, and the crust is off the chain. i can’t speak highly enough of the soft on the inside and crispy on the outside micro-brew option. it is unbelievable. the menu describes it as “hand tossed dough flavored with a locally brewed hefeweizen. puffy edge and thick center.” this crust was so delicious, i think if this pizza were cheeseless and toppingless, it would still be some of the best out there. the menu goes on to specify that the micro-brew crust is entirely vegan and only offered in 16″ (large). i just LOVE it when restaurants know what “vegan” means, and mark items that i can eat clearly on their menu. this is not the small town santa clarita that i remember from when i was growing up! i also love that this scrumptious crust only comes in large…it just forces me to get more pizza. damn. 😉
best. pizza. ever.
my parents, on the other hand, opted for the garden combo pizza with a thin crust. they assured me that it was absolutely delicious. i still refused to go near it, though, ’cause it was covered in bell peppers (which i hate).
medium garden combo pizza: vegan mozz, white shrooms, red onions, fresh tomatoes, artichokes, green peppers and black olives. $14.99
one trick i did pull, was to not tell my mom that she was eating vegan cheese. when she said the pizza was wonderful, i let her know that it was dairy-free. she was astonished. if this vegan pizza could fool my southern, meat-eatin’ mama, it must be pretty damn good!
vegan mozz in all its glory
the crust on this one looked yummy as well. my parents loved it, and my dad told me it was just as good as the micro-brew, which he also tried. the menu describes the thin crust as “slightly more crispy dough flavored with garlic and extra virgin olive oil,” and also vegan. mmm mmm mmm.
so as you can probably tell, tomato joe’s was a great find. i am gonna make it a point to go there as often as possible, and my parents have vowed to switch over from pizza hut. so great to find a vegan-friendly pizza place with genuinely great food.
so all you vegan LAers, next time you go to magic mountain, YOU NEED TO CHECK THIS PLACE OUT.
the service is also great at tomato joe’s. the man behind the counter was super-friendly and gave me a discount because i was ordering 2 pizzas. the restaurant was neat & clean inside, the order was prepared quickly and it was an all around good experience.
it’s even located right next door to santa clarita’s best (and maybe only) actual brewery, wolf creek. if all of santa clarita was like this, i’d move back!
so go there and check out tomato joe’s asap. if you love pizza, you will not regret it.
[googleMap name=”tomato joe’s” description=”the best pizza in the world” width=”570″ height=”320″ directions_from=”true”]27732 McBean Pkwy CA 91354[/googleMap]
Tags: follow your heart, garlic, pizza, santa clarita
13 responses to “the best pizza ever…happens to be vegan” 
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Yum, seems totally worth the drive. Such irony that your parents were even eating a vegan pizza, but which you wouldn’t touch because of the bell peppers!
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OMG thank you for the post about the pizza! I’m heading out there ASAP.
Do go to Flore and get the sandwich. It will blow your mind.
I wish I knew if Jax was coming back or not. My guess is that it’ll be a while, but hopefully will re-emerge with a vengeance.
And look for the Pumpkin Spice Twinkies at the Vegan Spot on Friday. They’re sinfully delicious! -
This pizza looks amazing. We have this awesome place by me called Galactic Pizza, and they also use FYI “cheese”–which I have never much cared for. But (much like Tomato Joe’s), they somehow do it right! Now I want pizza for dinner.
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Argh. That was meant to be FYH, not FYI. Cripes.
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I’m so jealous… I’ve been on a quest for an LA vegan pizza worth writing about. I don’t know how you manage to take photos, I always end up diving in and after a few bites realize I forgot! We do have this to look forward, to, though.
pizzafusion.com
Santa Monica, CA – Coming Soon
2901 Ocean Park Blvd. Ste 123
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone: 310-581-2901
Fax: 310-581-2902
Hours: Opening in 1st Quarter 2009 -
miss anthrope September 23rd, 2008 at 19:12
foodeater: seriously, the irony of it all! ima tellin ya, i wouldn’t even GO NEAR that pizza!
jenn: HOLY CRAP i so wish i was gonna be around for those twinkies! i know they will sell out in like 2 seconds.
jess: duuuude same here. how do they make that meh fake cheese taste SOOOO good. i just hope teese and cheezly start becoming more prominent.
lex: awesome. i really can’t wait. and why don’t you go get some vegan pizza in the scv, it’s only a 30 minute drive!
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Gorgeous garden pizza – wow. Oh pizza, how I wish I could eat it more often.
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Your pictures are so much better than mine, but then you are a veteran blogger. I tried to order the micro-brew crust the other day but they were SOLD OUT!. Dang, so I still haven’t tried it; only the thin crust.
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miss anthrope September 24th, 2008 at 21:40
nikki – yeah, it’s great to get a vegan pizza that actually has fake cheese on it. i am so used to ordering BS pizza w/o cheese!
destiny – for realz. she is coming around to my vegan lifestyle, definitely, but still fooling her is great. 🙂
scvegan – screw the pix, you discovered! i am forever in your pizza debt.
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I can’t believe that’s vegan!! I love me some pizza, but I’ve never had vegan pizza that tastes that great. This looks INSANE, though!
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Are you serious!!! When I’m eating cooked food (I eat a lot of raw) but my bones jones for fantastic vegan pizza (which I’m on the eternal hunt for) so now I’m gonna’ have to make the trek out there to check this place OUT!! THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP!!!
🙂 Candy
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