Friday, October 09, 2009

Some Vegan Pizza in Portland

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jess sconed.


Yesterday I was walking to the SW 3rd downtown food carts for lunch, and as I semi-regularly do, I optimistically browsed the pies at the Give Pizza a Chance cart on 5th after hitting my nearby ATM.
I've heard of vegan slices being offered by my friends, but I've never actually seen them out. I do enjoy their breadsticks & excellent sauce for an occasional cheap, snack- they're the best breadsticks I've had in Portland. And their homemade sodas? Win, win, win. However, I had two calzones from here when they opened last year, and I was not impressed. I'm a very picky vegan Italian.
However again, I was undeniably won over by the chewy, surprisingly sweet whole wheat crust slice I sampled yesterday. I do think it could have used some more of their flavorful sauce to balance with the thick crust, but that's all the complaining I've got. And this was the last vegan slice of the day at the end of the lunch rush, score!
What made this meal even better? It was part of a $6 lunch special, which includes a basic side salad, dressed with vinaigrette, (requested without cheese) and a cup of soda of your choice. I went with the memorable basil lime. It was like Sprite..but had real flavors, and that beloved garden herb. The slice was topped with spinach, basil, whole cloves of melt-in-your-mouth roasted garlic and mushrooms. I was totally content afterwards.

Lunch Special from Give Pizza a Chance

So, I learned that I may need to get over feeling silly about calling to see if there are vegan slices, because it was good stuff. Bring on more vegan slices! It's nice to think there are a few elusive vegan slices of pizza in downtown Portland. This was one of the better cheese-less vegan slices I've had in some time. It's up there with the actual regular crust pie I had from Hot Lips a few months back with friends.

The glorious non-foccacia Hot Lips pie

Updated!
Of course there are a ton of other places that have tasty vegan pizza, with or without cheeze, processed or homemade, in Portland:
  • Pizza a Go Go - I used to go here for the daily vegan slice at my first job in Portland. <3
  • Pizza Fino - yet to go! hear amazing things. white bean spread, tempeh, North Portland.
  • Bella Facia - same owners as the previous two. great vegan slices with tempeh and roasted red pepper cashew sauce - thin crust, but it can be easily weighed down.
  • It's a Beautiful Pizza - now using Teese! their quality varies, but on a good day, it's great. Some days the sauce is packed with herbs, some days it's not.
  • Hammy's - late! night delivery! I'm half convinced you can take a slice of their pizza and reform it into a ball. I like their sauce and floppy breadsticks best. They now have pretty tasty seitan nuggets with BBQ sauce, but I prefer them with marinara.
  • Pizzicato - vegan pies can be ordered, BIG salads. A new one opened in my hood recently, time to try again..
  • Dove Vivi - superb cornmeal crust slices with creamy housemade tofu ricotta. It's been too since I've had this! Cute place.
  • XV - My friends rave about the pizza here with white bean spread and vegan cheese - I've heard they use Veganrella. I think Liz has single handedly been keeping it in business. Personally, I go to XV for the yam fries and tomato chutney dip. Oh, and cocktails.
  • Mississippi Pizza Pub - I've only gone once, but I dug the thin crust and pepperocini topping. Isa yelled at me for not including this, so I should really check this place out again soon. Karla says they have a happy hour slice deal!
  • Wy'east Pizza cart - towards SE Powell, yet to go, but they come highly recommended and started carrying FYH cheese.
  • Al Forno Ferruzza - the cart at PSU has closed, but their restaurant in Alberta seems hopping. Vegan pizza by request - with glorious crust.

20 comments:

Chelsea said...

XV makes a super yummy vegan pizza and you can get a great peach mojito to go with it. They use a combo of white bean sauce and a vegan cheese substitute (no teese which is a really good thing in my opinion).

Dawn Foster said...

Don't forget about the Wy'east pizza cart on 50th near Powell / Foster! They'll make a vegan pizza with or without Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet cheese. Mmmm, pizza from a cart :)

Debra said...

Wow! What a great looking pizza!

IsaChandra said...

JESS. Mississippi Pizza Pub. It's my new favorite and now they have vegan cheese! Plus, vegan cheese by the slice.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

shit! I always forget about the XV pizza. I've only tried it cheeseless - I like their white bean sauce - the one I tried was the same they used to have as a dip.

Dawn - doh! keep meaning to go there! and the new one in Mississippi! :overwhelmed:

Isa - double shit, because the one slice I had there was super good, I liked the thin crust and the pepperocins all ova it. Karla says they have a super cheap happy hour slice deal..

Anonymous said...

Agree with Isa--Plus Mississippi Pizza Pub has dessert drinks made with soy creamer. Yum!

And--Hammy's has seitan nuggets? YUM!


-Janessa

Anonymous said...

http://beautyandbread.blogspot.com/ is a great suggestion for your bread machine

<3 aplaceforwe.blogspot!

APLACEFORUS said...

oohh Isa is on here? I better get my MoFo butt in gear, maybe she will visit me!! (hoping Jess will put in a good word!)

Anonymous said...

wow, that's nice to hear! the more vegan food in the world, the better for the environment..
i found delicious vegan pizza recipes and other vegan cooking shows on this site: www.SupremeMasterTV.com

The Voracious Vegan said...

Hot damn! That is seriously intense pizza! I haven't had a good vegan slice in a while, that must change...

Karla said...

wait, Hammy's has seitan nuggets?? i can't believe my friend brian (who works there sundays) hasn't mentioned that to me!

yes, mississippi pizza has happy hour deals on pizza and alcohol from 3-5:30 (i'm pretty sure those are the hours. they don't mention it online, which i'm not surprised b/c i just found out today that places aren't allowed to advertise happy hours outside of their place of business). so vegan slices are $1.75 during happy hour and their basil pesto is vegan and omigosh the last time i was there...so good!

Whitney @ Lettuce Love said...

That pizza looks amazing! I didn't know Portland had so many amazing pizza places -- another reason to visit in the future! :)

Michelle Anderson said...

oh, not by the slice, but mississippi pizza also has a really good gluten free crust available! i didn't know they had vegan cheese now, too.. exciting.

aaand i think the pizzicato at PSU still has vegan slices every weekday? they started doing it awhile ago (cough cough) for when you were sick of those hot lips slices, i guess. sometimes hit or miss, but the thai vegan slice?--omigod.

Monique a.k.a. Mo said...

Y'all are so lucky!

Anna said...

Thanks so much for the list, I have bookmarked it for my visit to Portland next year. I was trying desperately to remember where I had the wonderful pizza last time I visited and I think the place is on your list!

No vegan pizza anywhere near me in England, luckily I make a wonderful one myself!

Murph said...

I had no idea XV had vegan pizza! I'd much prefer to mange on this after a night of heavy drinking than the usual Voodoo Doughnut. Sadly, I have yet to find a pizza joint that uses a better homemade cheez sauce than PRI in Eugene. Truly the best vegan pizza I've ever had.

Homegrown Smoker said...

My vote goes to Bella Facia. I love their Vegan Slices! There's somthing about that Alberta St.

keyword said...

I love the vegan cheese...

teacher said...

wow. Vegan food in Portland!

Laura said...

Rudy's Pizza on Powell makes a mean chewy, thick crust pizza... they offer daiya, and sorta sausage (yay)! And it doesn't cost an arm and a leg like most places! We always get a large, topped with daiya, sorta sausage, pineapple, jalapeno, mushrooms, and olives.. and I think it usually runs about $22? Best deal I've seen.