Tomato Joe's Pizza!

Tomato Joe's Pizzeria: A Review

I was a little offended by what Stephen Colbert said about vegan food not tasting good on his show last night, but then I realized his error was he had probably never been fed good vegan food. (I dont want to believe he's a pig headed traditionalist that rejects veganism purely based on America's meat-eating tradition). It is a little hard to prepare good vegan food if you don't know where to find good recipes. And finding a restaurant with good service, vegan and gf options, and most importantly good food, is damn near impossible at times. That's why i've decided every time I come across a gem of a restaurant I'm going to blog about it!

I thought i'd start off the blog with one of my local favorite haunts since it opened a few years ago, Tomato Joe's! I can't tell you how much I had missed the thrill of ordering up a pizza. The wonderful smell, the ooey gooey first bite of cheese, and the crunch of the crust. So when Tomato Joe's started offering gf/vegan options I was the most excited I had been in years. Vegan cheese, a gluten free crust??!! This had to be some dream...nobody could care that much about poor little me!! But it's really there! Gluten free thin crust and all!! (They also offer vegan pepperoni and sausage, but sadly are not safe for those of us allergic to gluten).

Now, every other tuesday or so (when i'm not totally broke) I treat myself to a gf, vegan cheese, red sauce, artichoke heart, roasted garlic, and spinach pizza. It's become my little tradition of self indulgence. As of this writing, every tuesday they have a buy one full price, get a free regular cheese pizza free (sadly, Bryan has still not committed to being vegan, so he eats the regular and I eat the vegan....which is crazy cuz it's divine). Yummy....just thinking about it is making me regret the fact that I ate the last slices for breakfast and there will be no more in the house for awhile! (I usually eat the whole 14" by myself in about an hour.....)


For those of you who are uber concerned about possible contamination, know that the gf crust is made outside the facility by a gf company, so there is very little chance of exposure. I will have to contact them and ask them about whether or not they put the gf crusts in the same oven as the non-gf's, but I personally have never had even a slight reaction (and i'm pretty damn sensitive). Will do more research!! But I highly recommend everybody go out and try Tomato Joe's and support them, because they're supporting us by offering vegan/gf options! Tomato Joe's is a shining star of hope, in a town that's as backward thinking and corporate minded as Santa Clarita! Four stars Tomato Joe's, keep up the good work! Everybody else: go get yourself a pizza!!!