Road Trip! Patxi's Pizza in Lafayette

I went to the Bay Area a few days ago to visit my parents and my son, and we decided to have lunch at Patxi's (pronounced "pah-cheese") Pizza in Lafayette. I had heard they offered a vegan pizza, and I wanted to check it out.

Sure enough, the menu described Patxi's vegan pizza as a Chicago deep dish combo with whole wheat crust, fresh spinach, crushed garlic, red onion, and Daiya vegan cheese. But I decided to choose from among the available pizza toppings to create my own vegan pizza instead.

My first decision was which style of pizza to choose. While the thin crust and pan pizzas both sounded good, I couldn't resist the authentic Chicago "stuffed" pizza after reading this description:

"Our flagship pie. A deep dish pizza with a layer of crust on the bottom, followed by toppings and cheese, all covered by another thin layer of dough, and topped with our homemade sauce. Also available in whole wheat dough. Prepared and cooked in a deep dish pan."

I had my pizza made with regular dough, rather than whole wheat dough, and requested Daiya vegan cheese. For my toppings, I ordered mushrooms, black olives, and artichoke hearts, but there were plenty of other vegan toppings to choose from. I can certainly understand why they called this pizza "stuffed" -- it was so filling that I could only eat two slices of my ten-inch pizza.

Patxi's has restaurants in Northern California and Colorado. More information about their menu and their locations is available on their website at http://www.patxispizza.com/.