My son Zack and I stopped in at Extreme Pizza recently because I had read that they offered cheeseless pizza and I wanted to check it out. What I discovered when I read their menu is that Extreme Pizza actually offers several different vegetarian pizzas, many of which can be made without cheese.
But since I was there to try the cheeseless pizza, I ordered the White Out, which is pizza spread with tomato sauce and topped with mushrooms, carmelized onions, broccoli, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, basil, and oregano. It was tasty, and I liked the not-too-thick, not-too-thin pizza crust. However, I'm not really a fan of broccoli on pizza, even though I love it in stir-frys. So the next time I visit Extreme Pizza, I intend to try the Peace in the Middle East pizza (without the feta and mozzarella), which is spread with hummus and topped with tomatoes, black olives, carmelized onions, basil, and pepperoncini.
Other vegetarian pizzas at Extreme Pizza that could easily be made without the cheese include:
• Pandora's Box, if ordered without feta and mozzarella, is topped with spinach, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, basil, and oregano. It can also be spread with tomato sauce at no extra cost.
• Drag It Through the Garden, if ordered without mozzarella and cheddar, is spread with tomato sauce and topped with mushrooms, green peppers, red onions, artichoke hearts, broccoli, tomatoes, and basil.
• The Screamin' Tomato, if ordered without mozzarella and cheddar, is topped with tomatoes, garlic, and basil. Tomato sauce can be added at no extra cost.
Extreme Pizza also offers some salads that could be made vegan if the cheese, and probably the croutons, were omitted. I generally omit the croutons wherever I go, as they usually contain Parmesan cheese or some other type of dairy product.
Extreme Pizza is a national chain with restaurants in thirteen states. There used to be six Extreme Pizza restaurants in the Sacramento area, but the only one remaining is located at 1140 Exposition Blvd., Suite 200, near Costco and REI. Their phone number is 916-925-8859, and their website address is http://www.extremepizza.com/. They are open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and on Sunday from noon to 9:00 p.m.
The "cheese" is not vegan but contains dairy. The corporate page shows they use Daiya, but if you call them in Sacramento and ask, it's some weird named off-brand that contains milk. Super disappointed.
ReplyDeleteWhen I wrote this blog post, there wasn't any kind of a non-dairy cheese option -- just a variety of veggie pizza options that could be made without cheese. I agree with you, Melissa, that it's very disappointing if they're now offering a non-dairy cheese, but it's not vegan. There are certainly better vegan pizza options in the Sacramento area than Extreme Pizza, such as zPizza in Pocket/Greenhaven.
ReplyDelete