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

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

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.

other toppings included two types of marinated mushrooms…

daiya cheese, garlic, and plenty of olive oil…

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

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.

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.

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!

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