• tomato joe’s, PLEASE move to los angeles

    14
    April 6th, 2009quarrygirlLA restaurants, tomato joe's

    if there is one food on this whole planet i miss from when i was a vegetarian, that food is definitely pizza. a huge slab of dough covered with fresh vegetables and melted mozzarella was my all-time favorite meal and until very recently there was just no vegan substitute. plus, you can’t beat the convenience of picking up one huge plate, enough to feed several people, and ripping into it slice by slice without any utensils.

    for ages, the only way to get a vegan pizza in los angeles was to order one with no cheese (boring) or wait hours for a mediocre pizza from damiano’s (blech). however, over the past year three amazing pizza joints within driving distance have started offering pizza with both vegan cheese and vegan meaty toppings. over the weekend we made the thirty minute drive all they way out to santa clarita to test out the new vegan pepperoni at tomato joe’s and i can safely say it was worth the trip.

    tomato joe's pizza on micro-brew crust with vegan mozzarella, vegan pepperoni, mushrooms, tomatoes and fresh garlic. $23.39

    tomato joe's pizza on micro-brew crust with vegan mozzarella, vegan pepperoni, mushrooms, tomatoes and fresh garlic. $23.39

    i first read about tomato joe’s offering vegan pepperoni on scvegan.com, and couldn’t wait to try it out. i was already a huge fan of tomato joe’s…i mean, their fluffy vegan beer crust is absolutely amazing and they work wonders with follow your heart cheese. the vegan pepperoni was no different…this stuff was insanely delicious. i’m not sure what brand of pepperoni they use, but it has tons of spicy flavor and a pretty decent texture. it’s definitely not quite up there with the artisan field roast meat that purgatory pizza uses, but as far as vegan pepperoni goes it’s definitely the best i’ve ever had.

    tomato-joes-pizza-cu

    vegan stuff aside, tomato joe’s really makes damn good pizza by anyone’s standards. the beer crust is some of the best tasting bread i’ve ever tasted, and is a welcome change from the ny-style pizza i am used to eating. it’s just oozing with hefeweizen flavor from the beer brewed right next door, and has a really fluffy texture with slightly crispy edges. plus, the toppings are fresh and the follow your heart cheese is melted just perfectly…i have no clue how they accomplish it.

    tomato joe’s is so good it actually kind of pisses me off. they have two vegan crusts, vegan cheese, two vegan meat options (they were out of the second one when we went!), and loads of creative toppings from bird seed to tortilla strips. seriously there must be like 8 vegans in santa clarita and 80 billion vegans in los angeles…can’t tomato joe’s move to LA? it’s not fair that i should have to drive 30 miles for a vegan pizza with beer crust and these spoiled santa clarita people can get it delivered to their house. wtf. the ONLY good vegan pizza in los angeles is at purgatory pizza, which is a crime. we should have at least 20 good pizza places around here. you hear that pizza parlor owners? stop fucking around and start carrying vegan cheese! AGJHGHGHGHGHGHGAHAHGh.

    so anyways, the pizza pictured above was absolutely amazing. i would eat it every single day if it wasn’t located so far away. if you haven’t tried tomato joe’s yet, you NEED to drive to santa clarita and check it out. granted, there is nowhere to eat inside because it is a take-out/delivery place…but who is gonna stop you from eating a whole pizza in your car? i’m not.

    tomato joe’s
    27732 McBean Pkwy
    Valencia, CA 91354
    (661) 263-8646

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13 responses to “tomato joe’s, PLEASE move to los angeles” RSS icon

  • damn i want some vegan pepperoni!

  • I’m one of those spoiled Santa Clarita people … and I recently had the thin-crust Garden Combo pizza from Tomato Joe’s. I have to agree with you that their pizza is sensational! So much so that based on your review I plan to try the vegan pepperoni for lunch today! Thanks for all your terrific reviews … and for keeping us up on all the good things to eat around L.A. … and around the world!

  • That looks delicious!

  • Ahh! I’ve been trying to convince Jonathan to go up to Animal Acres, I think this will tip the likeliness of that happening in my favor!

    I want/need that pizza dough!

  • I live in Santa Clarita and I have an unhealthy obsession with Tomato Joe’s. It’s the best pizza I’ve ever had, vegan or not! I think I need to go get some for lunch now….

  • Tomato Joe’s is great, and I feel good buying pizza from there because it is a local, small business. Owners Joe and Sally really do want to have the best vegan pizza around, and you know they are getting the vegan support because of the expanding vegan toppings selection on their menu.

    In regards to us spoiled Santa Clarita vegans; I have received word that a new Italian restaurant opening in Canyon Country has been spying on Tomato Joe’s, apparently with plans to have a great vegan pizza of their own. What is going on here?

  • As a regular and enthusiastic follower of your vegan blog (and one of the 8 vegans in Santa Clarita), I must tell you that if you make the ONE vegan restaurant here in Valencia go to LA where there are THOUSANDS…I’m not sure what I can threaten you with without scaring you since we’ve never actually met, but just don’t do it! We’d starve.

  • We had Tomato Joe’s yesterday and it was deelish! Sally was a total sweetheart and so open to accomodating us vegans. We will definitely go back next time we’re in the area.

  • Few thing are cooler than having some of the best vegan pizza anywhere delivered right to your home.

  • The birdseed is a joke.. they kept it on the menu to see if anyone would order — i should know i was their very first customer ordering it.

  • Tried it for the first time yesterday and immediately after the first bite, I wish I had ordered a whole pie for myself. My hubby and I split the thin crust with red sauce, tomatoes, basil, garlic, and FYH cheese (’twas PERFECTLY melted, hot and bubbly). Next time we go in hungrier, we will try the beer crust (it is only available for a 16 slice vs. a 12 slice pie), since we had already munched on a Vegan cookie and sipped on a soy sorbet smoothie from Robek’s (next door), while we waited! 😉 Next time I go on my own, I’ll try the pepperoni (the husband hates veggie “meat” on his pizza)with mushrooms(he hates those too) 😛

  • LET ME SAY:
    there are WAY MORE than eight vegans in scv. im the fifth one just to comment on your blog.

    second, i agree with kt mo. i travel thirty to forty five minutes a few times a week to eat great vegan food in l.a, there is no way the ONE vegan place is going! sorry!
    and even if im moving to the west side soon, i need SOMETHING to eat when i visit my parents!

    p.s: now you got daiya at purgatory anyway! our whole foods isnt even serving daiya yet! i have to go to porter ranch! so YOURE the spoiled one dear!

  • So last weekend we went to Wolf Creek and Tomato Joe’s just because of your excellent recommendation, and…

    Oh my goodness. Life changing.

    We got beer crust, red sauce, pepperoni, pepperoncini, and Daiya cheese. That cheese is WAY better than cow cheese!

    It’s probably a good thing they’re not in the San Fernando Valley, or we’d be ordering that pizza way too often.


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