• pizza fusion hollywood: an awesome place to dine.

    24
    January 22nd, 2010quarrygirlLA restaurants, pizza fusion

    just a few days ago, we were lamenting that there’s not enough vegan-friendly eat-in pizzerias, where one can relax with a bottle of red wine and a tasty pizza in a comfy dimly-lit environment. well, pizza fusion hollywood has come to the rescue.

    pizza fusion hollywood has been open for a while, but up until yesterday the only vegan cheese they offered was follow your heart. after being spoiled by the countless places to get daiya in LA, i vowed to never eat FYH again…and even wrote an open letter to pizza fusion hollywood begging them to carry daiya. earlier this week, they sent me an email saying they would finally be introducing daiya to their menu (in addition to FYH), and inviting me over for a pizza tasting. of course my reply was, hell yes!

    i hit up pizza fusion hollywood along with brittany from sick of lettuce, to try out their daiya-covered pizzas, and i must say the whole experience was pretty wonderful. when i arrived i was floored by how inviting and cozy the restaurant was. i’d been to pizza fusion in santa monica before, but the hollywood location is much more my style. it’s smaller and more intimate, but with a pretty big bar, and cute tables looking out on sunset blvd. our server was extremely friendly and brought us a drink list with all the vegan options clearly marked.

    we ordered a glass of beer and wine and spent a while poring over the menu, deciding what we could veganize. ahhh, this is so the pizza experience i have been looking for! tap beer, wine, and all the time in the world to just hang out and chill.

    we started out with the flatbread and dip trio appetizer, which is not vegan by default, but can be made animal-free by omitting the artichoke spread and olive tapenade.

    flatbread and dip veganized: served with marinara and olive oil.

    they brought it out with extra marinara sauce and olive oil for dipping, and the whole thing was downright delicious. the portion was huge, but we had no problem polishing off every last triangle. the bread was moist and covered in delicate seasonings, and the sauce was rich and flavorful.

    very vegan: crimini mushrooms, roasted garlic, tomato sauce, and daiya cheese.

    the first pizza we tried was the only one that is vegan by default: the very vegan. it came with mushrooms, garlic, tomato sauce and daiya cheese. i’ve had this pizza before with follow your heart, and i must say this was a huge improvement! they didn’t put too much cheese on the pizza, but rather just the right amount, so it wasn’t overly gooey. mushrooms and garlic are pretty much my two favorite pizza toppings anyway, so this was right up my street.

    vegan bbq chicken pizza: bbq sauce, roasted red onion, fresh garlic, basil, daiya cheese.

    the next pizza we tried was the bbq chicken pizza, with daiya and vegan chicken strips. this thing was awesome, and the faux chicken was soft and chewy. it was pretty light and healthy tasting too, again pizza fusion didn’t overload the thing with cheese and soy meat. sweet and tangy with a kick of garlic, this pizza was perfect.

    farmer's market vegan: roasted artichoke hearts, red onion, zucchini, roasted portobello, tomato sauce, and daiya.

    the last pizza we sampled was a vegan version of the farmer’s market, a pie loaded with roasted vegetables. pizza fusion did not skimp on the toppings one bit; there were huge chunks of everything from portobello mushrooms to zucchini to artichokes. while we chose the white crust option for the first two pizzas, we got this one with multigrain crust. i’m not gonna lie, i like the white crust better, but the multigrain one was pretty good as well.

    just when i thought i was gonna explode, they brought out some brownies and ice cream for us to try as well. the brownie was vegan and gluten free, and while i’m used to more decadent desserts, it was definitely great for a GF item. i’d had a pizza fusion brownie before at the santa monica location, and this one was much better and softer on the inside. the real star of the dessert plate though, was the vegan strawberry ice cream. completely rich and insanely delicious.

    overall, our experience at pizza fusion hollywood was lovely and i can’t wait to return. the food was good, the vibe was chill, the staff was nice, and the beer was on tap. plus the place is really easy to get to, close to my house, and validates parking for up to an hour. for convenience and atmosphere, pizza fusion hollywood has everywhere else in town beat.

    so check this place out when you have a chance. get some vegan pizza and take your pick of either daiya or follow your heart. isn’t it great to have all these options?

    pizza fusion hollywood
    7950 W. Sunset Blvd.
    Suite 104
    Los Angeles, CA 90046
    Phone: 323-375-3390

    Sun–Thur 11am – 10pm
    Fri–Saturday 11am – 11pm

    PS: the pizza fusion in santa monica also carries both daiya and follow your heart. yay!

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21 responses to “pizza fusion hollywood: an awesome place to dine.” RSS icon

  • Whoa, that’s a lot of food. I’ve never seen a place indicate vegan beers. Pretty cool.

  • i will go there tonight. when are they introducing a quarrygirl pizza?

  • The brownie is soooooo good. Also, they have a happy hour where you can get a personal size vegan pizza for really cheap. In addition, they deliver really fast and are super nice…

  • “…they didn’t put too much cheese on the pizza, but rather just the right amount…”

    I implore you to try what some might call an overabundance of Daiya piled on your pizza. The top gets slightly crunchy and underneath is good and gooey. You might just change your mind about what is enough!

  • Don’t forget Vegan Drinks is partying it up at the Santa Monica Location this month! http://www.meetup.com/vegandrinks/calendar/12348142/

  • Oh shit is that Lindeman’s Lambic on the menu?!?!? BEST BEER EVER

  • Good stuff! I really liked the WeHo/Ho location.

  • What a great experience! I can’t wait to try it for myself.

  • thank god they still have fyh. if another place switches to daiya instead of follow your heart i’m gonna go insane. carrying both is just better for everyone.

  • I’ll be honest here: Pizza Fusion’s crust SUCKS. It’s over-priced and the toppings are sparse. A nice dine-in atmosphere is no substitute for bland pizza. Instead, stick to Cruzer or Purgatory. Trust me on this.

  • Right on the Strip, huh? What’s the parking situation there?

  • Their beer selection is impressive, actually. Also, i never would have taken VeganAvenger for a Lindeman’s guy. Who knew?

    Also, not sure why Anderson Valley and Unibroue are not listed as vegan. I am pretty sure both breweries do not use anything animal derived but i will check and see. Can’t read what that second beer is, Paulaner i think. If so then it should also be vegan because i believe they still adhere to the Reinheitsgebot purity law which means beer can only be made from the four basic ingredients; Water, Malt, Hops and Yeast.

    Don’t get me wrong, i like Fat Tire but i can get that anywhere. Unibroue on tap, however is pretty cool.

  • thanks so much for inviting me!! always a pleasure dining with the one and only QG.

    i just had a slice of the bbq pizza right out of the fridge, it was delicious.

  • And the owner, Michele, is very cool…

  • @TheVeggieGrill, michele is awesome!!

  • I had an AMAZING beer there as well. As for the pizza, it was good (but they forgot the veg chicken).

  • I’ve been meaning to stop by here this weekend to talk about my Pizza Fusion experience on Friday, but I’ve been dealing with a sick kitty. 🙁

    After a bad experience a few weeks ago (which I commented on elsewhere on Quarrygirl), the boyfriend and I were invited back to Pizza Fusion by both Michele and Tia. We swung by on Friday night and they took very good care of us. Our waitress (also named Michelle) was fun and chatty, but not overly so (which is perfect for me) and the owner Michele was very sweet.

    We got the Very Vegan with added veggie chicken on the whole pizza and mushrooms on only one half (the boyfriend hates mushrooms *shrug*). The pizza was very good, though I might have liked just a little more seasoning, but the Daiya was perfect. The thing that I liked most about the pizza was that it was satisfying without being overly filling. We ate the whole thing (I usually can only eat two or three slices) and didn’t feel like we had to be rolled out the door. And it really was yummy!

    I also ordered a spatini, which was a new drink on the menu which they had actually not yet made for any customers – I was the first one! The alcohol is soju, and the drink has a nice sweet cucumber taste.. A little too sweet for me personally (I’m more of a dirty martini gal – the dirtier, the better), but definitely refreshing and perfect for someone who likes drinks that are sweet but not cloying. I really liked the cucumber garnish – it was a nice palate cleanser. Boyfriend isn’t much of a drinker, so he just had a root beer. Which he liked.

    And we finished the meal with those oh so wonderful vegan brownies. Seriously – those things are fantastic.

    Thank you, Michele and Michelle, for a very nice experience. I can safely say we’ll be back.

    (Though now we’ll have to split our time between Pizza Fusion and Veggie Grill whenever we go to the DGA. Decisions, decisions…)

  • I want to die.

    I am currently STILL waiting for the bill at Pizza Fusion in Santa Monica, but that’s not why I want to die. There was real, dead chicken in my vegan pizza, under the fake chicken. The chef misread my order and instead of starting over, cooked some faux chicken separately and put it on top. Not only that but the food took a good hour and a half and our server forgot everyfuckingthing we asked for. They didn’t even offer to comp
    my order. Fuck this place forever and be warned!!

  • Umm it really bothers me that you constantly force restaurants to use daiya, because then they stop using FYH. I prefer FYH… Just because YOU prefer daiya, doesn’t mean ALL vegans do…
    FYH has a better taste, and daiya sometimes gives me a tummy ache for some reason.
    As of now, I travel ALL the way from Burbank to Valencia to go to Tomato Joes (they have a website) to get my FYH vegan yummy pizza. So please cut that out…

  • I wish Pizza Fusion had a gluten-free pizza crust that was also vegan. If they ever add such an option to their menu, we’ll be able to call them again for delivery.

  • I can walk to Pizza Fusion from my house but only have twice. The first time I ate there it was terrible. I thought the pizza on the front of the menu looked good so I ordered it. (I think it was the artichoke and spinach – I’m vegetarian, not vegan, but vegan doesn’t scare me.) When it eventually came, it looked nothing like the menu photo. It had maybe a quarter of the toppings, the sauce was slopped down thick in the middle with almost none on the sides, and it was tasteless. The only thing I liked about it was the crust’s texture.

    The second time was recently with a friend that had read a review and really wanted to try it, so we went. I was hoping I had just gone on a bad night before. We ordered the greek pizza, because we both love kalamata olives, which was the first topping listed. When the pizza came – no joke – it had 3 olives for the entire pizza, along with sparse other toppings and sloppy assembly like before. Same tastelessness but good crust texture.

    For vegetarians (yes I know this is a vegan blog), Cheebo down the street nearer Cal Vegan has much better pizza that’s similar style and it’s cheaper. (Though I prefer Pizza Fusion’s crust.) I’d bet the owner of Cheebo would veganize a vegetarian pizza if requested, provided there’s no milk or egg in his crust.


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