• OMG: vegan chicago deep dish pizza in echo park!

    39
    July 19th, 2010quarrygirlLA restaurants, masa of echo park

    FINALLY it’s here! if you want authentic, vegan, amazingly delicious chicago-style deep dish pizza in los angeles…look no further than masa of echo park. the restaurant has offered vegan pizza for awhile, but as of a few days ago, they have perfected the art of the animal-free deep dish using the new and improved stretchy teese from chicago soydairy.

    i want to start by saying, this pizza is a million times better than any other deep dish we’ve covered on this blog. when i say it’s “authentic” chicago-style, i mean it…and that’s something that masa takes very seriously. in a letter on the restaurant’s website, owner rob rowe explains that he was born and raised in chicago, has worked in chicago pizzerias, and is passionate about making chicago pizza. each pie consists of a 2 inch deep cornmeal crust, filled with whole pear tomatoes, chunky garlic, and cheese underneath the sauce.

    to say this pizza is incredible would be a gross understatement. it’s perfect in every way from the extremely flavorful sauce, to the melty-ness of the teese, to the soft cornmeal crust that basically melts in your mouth. the crust is the most amazing pizza crust i’ve ever tasted, in fact.

    masa also serves tap beer and wine, which is good news, because their authentic deep dish pizzas take about 40 minutes to bake. this is definitely a great place to come and unwind, have a few drinks, and wait patiently for pizza perfection to emerge from the oven. if you don’t want to wait though, you can always call and order your pizza ahead of time.

    please take my advice, and check out masa as soon as you possibly can. order the deep dish with the new stretchy teese, and enjoy what will be without a doubt some of the best vegan pizza you’ve ever eaten.

    Masa of Echo Park
    1800 West Sunset Blvd.
    Los Angeles, CA 90026
    (213) 989-1558

    PS: masa butters the crust of their deep dish pizzas, but when you order vegan cheese they instead use olive oil. i’m just letting you know, because you may wanna remind them NOT to butter your crust…even though it’s policy not to. i’m just paranoid like that.

    Tags: , , , ,
 

30 responses to “OMG: vegan chicago deep dish pizza in echo park!” RSS icon

  • i had no idea they could do the chicago pie vegan. i’d go there with my omni friends, watching them wolf down an amazing looking pie, while i’d have a salad! i will return there tonight and order one of these. completely fucking amazing…

  • Wow, looks fantastic!! Thanks for the review and recommendation 😀

  • OOoooh, I was excited until you said “Teese” 😉 …they don’t offer Daiya, do they?

    Either way, looks great…I’ve got to show some self restraint though…this blog’s put 15 lbs on me… 🙂

  • @Greg C : It’s the NEW TEESE – bears no resemblance to the old Teese (it’s 100% different formula), and IMHO is better than Daiya. Just as stretchy, creamy and full but doesn’t stick to the roof of your mouth!

  • Holy CRAP, that looks good. I need to get to LA ASAP!

  • as if i needed another reason to hangout in echo park. I WANT!

  • deep dish with teese? i’m in.

  • Woot!

    That’s so cool that they finally have a real deep dish pizza. Is that a small? How much was it? I think I would have to get a large and just take the extra home for later.

    Some day I’ll tell you the sad story of the one time I went to Masa and tried and failed to get a vegan pizza.

  • I’ll have to give it a try, though I’m kinda picky about my crust:sauce-and-cheese ratio.

  • Looks like a solid Chicago Pie. i’m game!

  • Now- if only that Cornmeal Crust was gluten free… This review makes it look like heaven though- gotta admit.

  • OMG finally! I love Masa sooo much.

  • Okay I need to try this out, I hope it tastes like my beloved Chicago Deep Dish pizza. I can say I am an expert when it comes to Chicago Deep Dish because I was born and raised right next to the famous Lou Malnati’s original, ate Gino’s deep dish every occasion and lived next to Pizzeria Uno when I went to college. My expectations are extremely high and I have been craving deep dish original Chi Style so I hope I love it!

  • @deblog – I tried the “NEW” Teese at Purgatory, and it had absolutely zero flavor. The guy working at Purgatory even warned me..he said “You sure you want Teese instead of Daiya…we carry both, but I don’t think Teese has much flavor”. Based on QG’s rave review, I wanted to try it….but he was right. ZERO flavor. Maybe Purgatory’s getting a bad batch or something? I dunno….I’ll try it one more time, cuz I was raised on Chicago pizza. If the Teese blows again, I’m 100% Daiya FOREVER! 🙂

  • Now THAT’s what my muthatruckin’ chicagoan ass is talking about! WOOT WOOT!

  • Is it just me, or are there a lot of vegan Chicago natives in L.A.? For those of you who are – do you remember the giant sausage patty inside the deep dish pizzas? I think Uno’s or Lou Malnati’s did this (maybe both). We need a vegan version of THAT! 🙂

  • Do they deliver to upstate NY? No, really!

  • @GregC Lou Malnati’s, Uno’s, and Gino’s East all have that thick sausage patty.

  • @nick: this was a small pizza, and it was way too much for two of us to eat at once. we did the build your own, and it was $20…but it’s cheaper if you choose one of their pizzas. they just won’t let you make any modifications or substitutions.

    @sue: when you do try it, let me know what you think!

    i wonder if we could convince masa to carry field roast…then we could have a vegan deep dish sausage pizza. 🙂

  • On their menu they list veggie chicken, veggie sausage, and veggie pepperoni for other dishes. Wonder if it would be possible to get veggie sausage/chicken in there without it turning into rubber.

    I called the other day and they told me they couldn’t do it cause of the butter and cause chess decomposes in heat. Glad they figured it out!

  • The new Teese IS good! I loved it when I tried it. I also missed Masa. I’m excited.

  • Born and raised in Chgo, I would love to test this pizza. I am not only a deep dish lover, but thin as well. (ok, that sounded a bit weird, but I am talking about PIZZA people, keep it “G” rated!) Ditching high school to go shop and hit up Gino’s East for pizza in downtown Chgo is one of my fondest memories. Malnati’s and others don’t even compare as far as deep dish pizza’s go!!! Still waiting for my beloved thin crusted Aurelio’s to have a vegan comparable, doubt that will happen!! (Those of you who really grew up in Chgo, will know that name.)

  • This reminds me very much of Dove Vivi in Portland, OR. The have two deep dish vegan cornmeal crust pizzas on their menu which just blow my mind. It’s a very popular place, check it out sometime.

  • Daiya makes me GAG – it’s disgusting. So really I’m glad that someone is making a pizza with a different type of vegan cheese.

  • For my Chicago peeps – ever eat a Barnaby’s in Northbrook? That’s my favorite all time thin pizza…super-thin, crisp, cornmeal crust. AMAZING. Next time I visit, I wonder if I could bring a bag of Daiya so they can make me a vegan pizza… 🙂

  • I placed a takeout order after working 12 hours yesterday….OMG. Amazing! I’m from Michigan, close enough to Chicago to have tried an authentic Chicago style pizza. This was hands down the best crust ever. I also bought the small and could only eat 2 slices!

    QG, I think I trust you more than my mother! You have yet to steer me wrong 🙂

  • Oh thank you so much for posting about this! I recently began educating myself on REAL pizza and of course was lamenting the fact about the lack of vegan deep dish availability. I need to get to Cali ASAP!

    That is one delicious lookin pie…

  • Schramm and I destroyed almost an entire large pizza last night on our man-date. It fucking ruled. Pizza then pasties. I highly suggest the combo

  • Exceeded my expectations. Tried the new Teese at Purgatory a while back and I agree that it was bland beyond belief. Not so at Masa: they put tons of it and I think because cooked under sauce for 40min has the taste and texture like the real thing. I actually thought they used real mozz on accident cause it was that authentic. We got our pie with basil and roasted garlic (whole sweet cloves) and the tomatoes and crust were perfect too. 🙂

  • OMG! Was this pizza delicious! Got the vegan deep dish w/ pineapple, mushroom, garlic and it was out of this world delicious! Will go back soon. Does anyone know if their panini’s are vegan too?


9 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

Leave a reply

Let’s stay in touch

This blog is no longer updated, but for the latest vegan news and updates, follow me on Twitter:

Blog categories

Designed by AZ Money

Powered by WordPress