• July 22nd, 2011quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants

    just a few updates for you folks regarding cruzer pizza in los feliz, LA’s only vegan pizzeria!

    we’ve got their new whereabouts for this weekend, details on their frozen pizzas, and a reminder of what you already know…

    Read the rest of this entry »

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  • July 1st, 2011quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants

    this is good news by any measure. one of our favorite vegan restaurants in los angeles, cruzer pizza, is under new management….and the food is even better! they’ve completely redone the place and the menu, with improvements all around! don’t worry, they still have a pizza named after me—but it’s even tastier now (if you can believe it)!

    the first thing you’ll notice when you walk into the new and improved cruzer, is a stylish chalkboard menu that has taken over the left side of the counter. new items include starters like potato skins, inventive pasta dishes, a chicken cheesesteak sandwich…

    they’ve even got mexicoke…

    and several flavors of luscious organics cupcakes

    now, let’s get down to what we ordered. we ordered a lot. first up, who can resist potato skins…

    potato skins: marinara and daiya inside potato skins. $5.99

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  • After four years of eating out on LA’s vegan restaurant scene, and in recognition of our “LA’s Top 5 Vegan Restaurants” post a year ago, we thought it would be good to update our “top list” of the establishments we, and the commenters on this esteemed blog, thought were really good. Do you agree with our list? Want to bump a mention off the list, or add your own? Please comment. Don’t be shy. We had to start somewhere.

    Cruzer Pizza “from veal to vegan”

    The story behind Cruzer Pizza is as amazing as the pizza itself. The popular Silverlake gourmet pizza delivery outlet one day threw all its mozarella, sausage, veal (yuk!) and pepperoni in the trash and began stocking Field Roast, Match Meats and Daiya cheese, becoming one of only three entirely vegan pizzerias in the United States. This was all thanks to awesome animal rights activist Michelle Sass who lobbied the owners, and personally took charge of the menu and food items creating pizza that vegans and onmivores alike would love.

    The Quarrygirl Pizza at Cruzer

    Cruzer even reached out to bloggers, magazines and the local community to create pizzas that they thought fellow vegans would like. And so, the quarrygirl.com pizza was born, because we love olive oil, shrooms and Field Roast. And so do you, right?

    Flore Vegan

    The fact that Flore was not on last year’s list is nothing short of a crime. Owner and chef Miranda Megill has been cooking up a vegan storm in the LA area for years from her Silverlake location on Sunset Blvd., and lately also through the ill-fated and now closed Vegan Spot, Flore Care and Meet Market (all the same location). The outlandishly creative Miranda is as picky with her ingredients as she is with the food preparation. She selects only the best organic produce, and is usually to be found supervising the kitchen hands-on to ensure that your meal is top-notch.

    Club Sandwich at Flore Vegan

    Also, everything is made from scratch including the succulent seitan and homemade desserts. Seriously, their flaky and “buttery” croissants are the best vegan pastries we’ve ever tried.

    Stuff I Eat

    We can’t keep away from this place, and we can’t keep raving about it. With an eclectic menu of options spanning the gamut from soul food through Mexican-inspired and down to earth, honest to goodness, American-style favorites, Stuff I Eat excels in every category. The staff are all so helpful, polite and caring that one feels grateful to be in their restaurant. The portions are HUGE, and the quality of every food item, from the way it looks to the way it tastes cannot be overstated.

    Kilamanjaro Quesadilla at Stuff I Eat

    Feeling hungry? The $18 “Organic Soul Food Platter” will fill you up, as well as one or two of your guests. The burritos are to die for (how many burritos have fresh, steamed broccoli topping them?), and any place that has a menu item called “Sumthin-Sumthin” as well as the intriguingly named “Kilimanjaro Quesadilla” (so called, because it’s about as big as its namesake mountain) is just great in my book.

    Shojin

    Situated on the top floor of a downtown shopping mall in Little Tokyo is Shojin, a must-visit vegan restaurant. Serving an inventive menu of veganized japanese staples, as well as some inventive signature dishes, Shojin really is at the peak of artful food preparation.

    Spicy Seitan BBQ Roll and Shiitake & Avocado Roll at Shojin

    Whether you go for the sushi (with seitan, tofu and other faux-fish accoutrements), the pan-fried seitan stir-fry or the incredibly tasty hand-made deserts you will know that such care has been put into preparing your food with prime, organic ingredients that you just can’t go wrong. Order as much stuff as you like — the portions are small, but the taste is big.

    Madeleine Bistro

    LA-resident vegans and omnivores are extremely fortunate to share a city with Madeleine Bistro, one of the world’s finest vegan restaurants. Chef Dave Anderson has spared no expense or time in thinking through and preparing the most minute details of every menu item. From a doughnut that is so light and fluffy it practically levitates, to a veganized carbon-copy emulation of a Big Mac (which I’m told by omnivores tastes way, way better than the real thing), through magical soufflés and German Mac ‘n’ Cheese (complete with Bacon bits!) you are certain to delight in the experience of fine vegan dining with a menu as inventive as it is familiar. Every dish at Madeleine’s has that “HOW DO THEY DO THIS?” question mark hanging over it. Dave Anderson is a culinary genius, and we should all be glad he decided to practice his art on us vegans.

    Lemon-rosemary seitan and cauliflower crepe at Madeleine Bistro

    I’d usually not hesitate to recommend a visit to Madeleine Bistro, but recently their opening hours and menu offerings have become erratic, and there have been rumors of both a closure and a second location opening up. My advice is to get yourself there pronto (in case the worst happens) but call ahead first to make sure they’re open when you want to visit.

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  • March 6th, 2010quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants

    UPDATE 3/6/10: i went to cruzer last night and they were selling huge slices of the candy bar cheesecake for only $6.50 (down from $12)!! go get them while they last!

    check out my slice:

    Read the rest of this entry »

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  • March 3rd, 2010quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants

    FINALLY! cruzer pizza in los feliz (LA’s only all vegan pizzeria) has updated their menu, and we are super honored to be publishing it first on quarrygirl.com.

    have a look for yourself. loads of new vegan pizzas, sandwiches featuring match meats, and even daiya bread sticks! not to mention vegan cheesecake by madeleine bistro. basically, it’s all amazing! (click here for the PDF version.)

    regular customers will notice a new addition to the menu, which is a super tasty sounding peta pizza. this thing comes with eggplant, portobello mushrooms, tomatoes, and daiya…plus, a portion of the proceeds are donated to to help animals. watch this fun video featuring michelle sass from cruzer and royale  & lauren from peta to see how the pizza got selected.

    head over to cruzer asap for their new menu items and a very special peta pizza. lemme know what you think!

    cruzer pizza
    4449 Prospect Ave
    Los Angeles, CA 90027
    (323) 666-0600

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  • January 17th, 2010quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants

    just a quick post to let you know that cruzer pizza los feliz, LA’s only vegan pizzeria, now has some new and delicious additions to their menu.

    starting today, cruzer is offering daiya cheese-filled bread sticks and philly cheesesteak sandwiches with match meats in addition to their vegan pizzas and salads!

    having tried the daiya bread sticks today, i can say they are nothing short of revolutionary. much thinner and richer than a calzone, these long bread tubes are coated in garlic and oil then filled with insanely stretchy vegan mozzarella. dipped in marinara sauce, they are absolutely perfect and remind me of my dairy-eating days more than anything….minus the cruelty. seriously, you must try them!

    the philly cheesesteak sandwiches are equally rave-worthy, with the kickass combo of match meats, daiya cheese, sauteed vegetables, and vegenaise. the bread is soft and fluffy, the meat is salty, the cheese is melty, and the vegetables are cooked to perfection! i of course, ordered my sandwich w/o bell peppers, and it was the best vegan cheesesteak sandwich i’ve ever had. i liked mine spicy, so cruzer was happy to throw in some jalapenos as well.

    so if you haven’t been to cruzer, i dunno what you are waiting for. let’s see…

    1.) they are the only vegan pizzeria in LA
    2.) they offer daiya, field roast, and gardein
    3.) they are the only establishment in the western US to carry match meats
    4.) they have vegan cheese-filled bread sticks
    5.) they serve the best philly cheesesteak sammies ever
    6.) they have a QUARRYGIRL PIZZA

    you have no excuse not to go.

    cruzer pizza
    4449 Prospect Ave
    Los Angeles, CA 90027
    (323) 666-0600
    open at 4pm daily

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  • January 11th, 2010quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants

    hey trusty vegans: i have some great news for you! starting today the official quarrygirl pizza is available at cruzer in los feliz. not just that, but a portion of the proceeds for every quarrygirl pizza you buy will go to benefit compassion over killing. it’s a win/win situation, if you ask me.

    quarrygirl pizza: olive oil, garlic, marinated portobello mushrooms, button mushrooms, daiya cheese, field roast, fresh basil.

    the quarrygirl pizza is super heavy and fully loaded with daiya cheese, marinated mushrooms, garlic sauce, field roast italian sausage and fresh basil.

    i am a huge garlic fan, so that’s what this pizza is all about. there’s no tomato sauce on it, just garlicky goodness that goes perfectly with all the italian field roast. the portobellos are soaked in a red wine and garlic marinade, and there’s even garlic sprinkled on top. field roast is my favorite vegan sausage ever, so i was adamant about using it as a topping. when we started designing my pizza, cruzer didn’t even carry field roast….but i’m happy to say they found a distributor and have it in stock starting today.

    the quarrygirl pizza is surely a crowd-pleaser; it’s hearty has enough fake meat to please vegans and omnivores alike. call cruzer today and order one! not only will you be helping the animals out by supporting compassion over killing, but you will get an amazing pie as well.

    cruzer pizza
    4449 Prospect Ave
    Los Angeles, CA 90027
    (323) 666-0600

    PS: stay tuned for more awesome menu items coming up at cruzer over the next month. lots of exciting stuff in the works!

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  • January 8th, 2010quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants

    i really can’t possibly give cruzer pizza enough love on this blog, ever. the small los feliz pizzeria went from actually offering the dreaded veal on their menu less than a year ago, to being the first place in the western U.S. to serve daiya, and now just months later to being california’s only 100% vegan pizzeria! can you believe it? as vegan.com put it so well, cruzer went from veal to vegan in no time! it’s like a fairy tale.

    while cruzer pizza has already transformed into an entirely animal-free establishment, they are still improving their vegan menu. rumor is that very soon they will start offering various fake meats and cheeses for us to choose from, as well as novelty/gluttony dishes like potato skins, mozzarella sticks and cheesesteak sandwiches. in the meantime though, cruzer has been teasing the vegan community via twitter with specials like calzone samples and free “sassy caesar salads” with a pizza purchase! (if you don’t follow cruzer on twitter, you are crazy and missing out).

    vegan calzone with daiya cheese, tomatoes, and basil

    already a menu item, the vegan calzones at cruzer are delicious. i’ve tried the margherita flavor as well as gardein bbq chicken, and they are both insane.

    cruzer uses daiya cheese and a wonderfully crispy dough, so the whole thing blossoms into this beautiful combo of crunchy and melty.

    the sassy caesar salad is not a menu item yet, but i highly suggest that if you see cruzer tweet about it, you go over and get one as soon as you can. created by michelle sass (a vegan of over 20 years and the food consultant responsible for cruzer’s leap to all animal-free, and for hooking them up with daiya in the first place), this salad is covered in rich and creamy homemade dressing and topped with oven baked croutons. seriously, so good. i am hoping cruzer starts selling this dressing by the gallon, because it’s the best vegan caeser i’ve ever had….even ousting my beloved pure luck. i also think the croutons are key in making this salad a win; imagine fluffy cubed bread doused in oil and covered in herbs, then baked to perfection. yeah, cruzer should start selling these in bulk as well. michelle sass makes an ingenious sassy salad indeed.

    so the lesson you should have learned from this post is to follow cruzer on twitter, and to get your ass over there as soon as they launch their new menu. i have a feeling it will be epic. and let’s hope michelle sass keeps spreading the vegan word around LA, because she seriously helped turn cruzer into something beyond my wildest dreams.

    cruzer pizza los feliz
    4449 Prospect Ave
    Los Angeles, CA 90027
    (323) 666-0600

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  • December 15th, 2009quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants
    vegan calzone with daiya cheese, tomatoes, and basil

    vegan calzone with daiya cheese, tomatoes, and basil

    we told you a few days ago that cruzer pizza in los feliz would be making the leap to become a 100% vegan pizzeria, and as of yesterday they have officially stopped selling animal products! i stopped by on cruzer’s first night of being an animal-free establishment and they even let me test some products and start designing my very own “quarrygirl pizza” to appear on their january menu!

    although they don’t offer it now, cruzer was experimenting with some italian field roast sausage in the kitchen last night. this is one of my favorite fake meats ever, so i had to use it as a topping on the quarrygirl pizza.

    field roast sausage

    other toppings included two types of marinated mushrooms…

    mushrooms at cruzer pizza

    daiya cheese, garlic, and plenty of olive oil…

    cruzer quarrygirl pizza

    i even got to put this in the oven myself and see it through the whole process!

    pizza going in the oven

    the pizza came out absolutely wonderful. it was very rich and greasy, with a heavy mushroom taste and crispy crumbled sausage. there was no tomato sauce on it, but rather an oil base. by the time this actually ends up on cruzer’s menu, the sauce and flavors will be more sophisticated….but hey, it was great for a first try!

    quarrygirl pizza (coming soon!) white sauce, mushrooms, field roast sausage, garlic, and daiya cheese.

    quarrygirl pizza (coming soon!) white sauce, mushrooms, field roast sausage, garlic, and daiya cheese.

    while i was at cruzer, i also got to make a gluten-free pizza and test that out. i must admit, it was pretty damn good! the g-f pizzas are smaller and the crust is much crispier, but i quite enjoyed it.

    gluten-free pizza at cruzer

    it was great hanging out at cruzer on their first night as a vegan pizzeria, and hearing all the orders come in. there were even a few people that called up for meat pizzas, and ended up trying out the vegan ones instead! so awesome. although cruzer is using daiya, gardein, and yves products right now, they are looking to expand and carry a variety of vegan cheeses as well as other mock meats. stay tuned, because i have a feeling that their menu is going to get really fucking interesting. until then, go support cruzer anyway. hooray for LA’s first and only vegan pizza place!

    this is where the meat products used to be at cruzer....all gone!

    this is where the meat products used to be at cruzer....all gone!

    oh and BTW, now you can follow cruzer on twitter!

    cruzer pizza
    4449 Prospect Ave
    Los Angeles, CA 90027
    (323) 666-0600
    Sun-Thu. 4pm-10pm
    Fri-Sat. 4pm-11pm

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  • December 11th, 2009quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants

    vegan pizza at cruzer

    hey people: i’ve got some breaking los angeles vegan news, so listen up! lucky for us, cruzer pizza and pasta in los feliz (the first place in the western US to start carrying daiya cheese) has made the decision to turn into a 100% vegan establishment. they are using up their remaining meat and cheese supplies, and expect to be completely animal-free by monday. not just that, but over the holidays they are revamping their menu and adding loads of new stuff—all vegan, of course!

    do you understand what this means?! this is HUGE. an all vegan pizza place, that delivers, right here in LA!!! there are barely any vegan pizza joints in the country, and to get to the few there are, you would need to take a plane journey. i am soooOOOOOooooOOOOOOOo excited about this. go eat at cruzer now to show your support…they offer huge fluffy and delicious pizzas covered in daiya cheese and mock meats like gardein. and if you see the owner give them a kiss from me, because this is the best news i’ve heard in awhile.

    PS: the glendale cruzer location offers vegan stuff as well, but there are no plans for it to go completely animal-free. just fyi, this is only for the los feliz restaurant.
    PPS: cruzer is in the process of changing their delivery hours, so call ahead.

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  • June 16th, 2009quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants

    recently i brought you the news that cruzer pizza in los feliz was offering pizzas topped with daiya cheese. now just a couple weeks later, i am happy to say they have not just expanded their menu and added many vegan pasta options, but they are also now serving up all their daiya cheese and fake meat creations at both the los feliz location and the glendale outlet. i hit up cruzer in glendale last week to try out their new vegan stuff, and i can tell ya that daiya is just as good (if not better) in pasta than it is on pizza.

    vegan chicken parmigiana. $9.99

    vegan chicken parmigiana. $9.99

    i’ve never had real chicken parmigiana, so i can’t really compare, but cruzer’s version of the italian classic was a bed of fat spaghetti noodles in a thick sauce, topped with soy chicken and covered in daiya cheese. they really piled on the cheddar and mozzarella daiya, and stuck it all in the oven so it melted up right nice.

    cruzer-vegan-chicken-parm-cu

    for ten bucks, the portion was huge. it’s definitely enough to share and even then have some left over. it was really great tasting daiya in a pasta…all scrambled in with the soy meat and noodles, you seriously wouldn’t ever notice that this is ‘fake’ cheese.

    vegan meat spaghetti. $9.99

    vegan meat spaghetti. $9.99

    we also tried out the vegan meat spaghetti, which was the same noodles as in the chicken parmigiana, but mixed up with soy ground meat and covered in cheese. again, the daiya was awesome; perfectly melty, stretchy and flavorful. this tasted just like an old school meaty cheesy pasta dish you get an italian restaurant…i’ve never tasted anything like it since becoming vegan.

    cruzer-vegan-meat-spaghetti-cu

    cruzer also has other vegan pastas that i haven’t tried yet, including lasagna and eggplant parmigiana. my only advice is to call ahead if there is something specific you want, because when i was there they didn’t have the lasagna. oh well, i can’t wait to go back and try it.

    vegan pasta menu at cruzer pizza

    vegan pasta menu at cruzer pizza

    of course in addition to pasta, both cruzer locations are offering up good ‘ole daiya vegan pizza as well. i tried out the thin crust from the glendale restaurant with tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and vegan sausage. definitely some of the best vegan pizza around.

    large daiya cheese pizza with mushrooms, tomato, garlic and vegan sausage. $20.99

    large daiya cheese pizza with mushrooms, tomato, garlic and vegan sausage. $20.99

    by now you all probably know how i feel about daiya, but just to remind you, this stuff is amazing on pizza. it melts, stretches, and feels just like real cheese. cruzer also mixes the cheddar and mozzarella together to give it more flavor, and it makes for an absolutely delicious pie.

    cruzer-glendale-cheese

    just to be clear, cruzer is take-out pizza place, so while there are a few stools to eat at inside, it wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. do what i did, call for your pizza and pasta in advance, take it home and relax with a good movie and a bottle of wine, if that’s how you roll.

    cruzer-glendale-int

    rumor is, cruzer is gonna keep adding more vegan stuff to the menu. i hope that’s true, because everything i have tried there has been excellent. go check it out if you haven’t already, now you have a cruzer in the valley AND los feliz to choose from.

    cruzer-glendale-ext

    cruzer pizza
    1200 N Pacific Ave
    Glendale, CA 91202
    (818) 500-1289

    and

    cruzer pizza
    4449 Prospect Ave
    Los Angeles, CA 90027
    (323) 666-0600

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  • May 29th, 2009quarrygirlcruzer pizza, LA restaurants, vegan cheese

    vegan pizza lovers in los angeles, i have some AMAZING news for you. for the first time ever on the west coast, a local pizzeria is offering daiya as a vegan alternative to cheese on their pizzas. if you aren’t familiar with daiya, it’s a completely revolutionary product that melts AND stretches just like real cheese, i’ve tried it before and was completely blown away by how much it tasted like the real thing. starting today, at cruzer pizza in los feliz, you can order any pie with daiya cheese, and have a the pizza experience that you’ve been missing since turning vegan. you have gotta go try it asap, because i don’t see how dairy-free cheese this good could stay in supply very long.

    i hit up cruzer pizza recently to sample their goods with fellow vegan blogger brittany from sick of lettuce. the two of us are known pizza addicts and huge cheese mourners, and both of us were blown away by what cruzer had to offer. in addition to melty-stretchy vegan cheese, cruzer is also serving up meat analogs such as pepperoni, canadian bacon, and sausage.

    we tried out the wild mushroom pizza with sausage….

    cruzer vegan sausage and mushroom pizza with fresh basil and daiya cheese

    cruzer vegan sausage and mushroom pizza with fresh basil and daiya cheese

    the margherita pizza with yellow & red tomatoes…

    cruzer vegan margherita pizza with red and yellow tomatoes and daiya cheese

    cruzer vegan margherita pizza with red and yellow tomatoes and daiya cheese

    and the hawaiian pizza with bacon, pineapple and olives…

    cruzer vegan hawaiian pizza with canadian bacon, pineapple, olives and daiya cheese

    cruzer vegan hawaiian pizza with canadian bacon, pineapple, olives and daiya cheese

    all of the pizzas were insanely delicious, and cruzer did a great job with the toppings. the vegetables were fresh, the mock meats were perfectly cooked & seasoned, but of course the real star was the oh-so-melty daiya cheese. it did stuff that i haven’t seen cheese do on a pizza since i was a vegetarian:

    it stretched when we pulled the slices apart…

    cruzer-stretch

    it even melted and fell off the pizza as we picked the slices up, but still managed to stay attached…

    cruzer-daiya-stretch

    seriously, i’m not lying when i say this cheese changes everything. it gives a true pizza experience like i never dreamed possible. and how lucky are we to live so near to the very first place on the west coast to have daiya in stock?! dude! this fucking rules!

    i also found out that the reason cruzer even started carrying vegan cheese is because of this outreach program called veg for life, a farm sanctuary campaign, that’s dedicated to getting more vegan options in restaurants. apparently they have been working with cruzer to develop these amazing, daiya covered pizzas, and will soon be adding even more vegan menu items including but not limited to spaghetti and “meat” balls, lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and calzones. i seriously can’t wait to see what they come up with. oh and it gets better…veg for life also convinced cruzer to remove veal from their menu entirely. out with the veal, in with the vegan! if you get your hands on one of the old menus, don’t be alarmed, the veal is no longer available.

    i urge you to get over to cruzer and get this pizza the minute you get a chance. vegans everywhere are talking about daiya, and it’s barely available yet—almost no restaurants carry it and it sells out very quickly online. this stuff is in pretty high demand, so you should probably call cruzer before heading over, to make sure they still have daiya in stock. also, please note: cruzer pizza is pick up/take out and delivery- they only have a limited amount of seating for about 3-4 people.

    here is a copy of the new vegan menu cruzer is offering, although the bbq chicken is not yet available:

    cruzer pizza's vegan menu (click to enlarge_

    cruzer pizza's vegan menu (click to enlarge_

    seriously, let’s get out there and show this place support for offering such a wonderful vegan cheese alternative. they seem pretty open to adding more and more vegan options if this stuff does well, so let’s make sure IT DOES.

    cruzer-pizza-ext

    Cruzer Pizza
    4449 Prospect Ave
    Los Angeles, CA 90027
    (323) 666-0600

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