Cruzer Pizza; featuring Daiya cheese

[Guest guest]

When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is, and this is exactly

what I thought when I heard about Cruzer Pizza in Los Feliz. Cruzer Pizza is

one of the first places in LA to serve the rumored gloriousness that is Daiya

Cheese on its pizza. Daiya is the latest and greatest in vegan cheese

technology. I love pizza, so this was a phenomenon that I had to check out.

 

When I arrived at Cruzer Pizza, I was a little worried. The establishment is

little more than a door into a building with a small countertop, three barstools

and a kitchen. Clearly, their business is based on delivery sales. A stack of

bright yellow vegan menus sat on the countertop. I picked one up and my eyes

glazed over. It's been a while since I had that much choice before me, and

especially at a pizza place. All of the items on the vegan menu use 100% vegan

ingredients. Here is a sampling of what you can expect:

 

Vegan Pizza - Vegan cheese pizza, vegan chicken pizza, vegan meat pizza, vegan

bbq chicken pizza, vegan veggie pizza, vegan Hawaiian pizza, vegan margareta

pizza, vegan calzone.

 

Vegan Pasta - Vegan meat spaghetti, vegan lasagna, chicken parmigiana, vegan

spaghetti, vegan veggie lasagna, eggplant parmigiana.

 

I was overwhelmed. What to do? I had to go all the way. I ordered to vegan

meat pizza, which boasts Daiya cheese and mock pepperoni, sausage and ham. I am

usually not a huge mock meat fan, but since I was there, I wanted to be

impressed. We waited about 20 minutes for our food to be prepared. As we

lounged about at the countertop bar, I noticed that there were a few stacks of

pamphlets from Farm Sanctuary on the counter. This was a place I could really

appreciate as they were clearly doing their best to appeal to the vegan

community. The one irony I couldn't ignore was the bottled water in the fridge

that touted the March of Dimes logo; an organization that relies heavily on

animal testing for its research. It just felt odd to be looking at that plea

for support on the water bottle with the Farm Sanctuary pamphlet in my hand.

 

The pizza was ready and I was full of anticipation. Trust me. No one is a

bigger cheese-substitute skeptic than I am. When I opened the box, I was almost

sure they had given me the wrong order. I was looking at a pizza with a

bonafide cheese melted all over it. I could see the gooeyness even before I

pulled out a slice of the pie. I have to tell you that I've tried them all, and

nothing even comes close to what Daiya offers. Despite what you may think when

you take a bite of its melty, creamy deliciousness, it is, indeed, made from

100% plant based ingredients and Cruzer puts together a vegan package in its

pizza that is simply impossible to dislike. The sauce was amazing and it was

cooked perfectly. The area around the edge of the crust had little crispy bits

of the Daiya cheese that had been slightly overdone, just as you would expect

with a 'real' cheese pizza. As I pulled a slice apart from the whole, the

cheese pulled and stretched and had almost the exact consistency of its cruel

counterpart. It was phenomenal. I wasn't too impressed with the mock meats and

picked most of them off, but, to be fair, Cruzer can't be blamed for that; I'm

just not a fan of mock meat. The staff were friendly and it was pretty busy

while I was visiting. For future orders, I will probably take my food to

go...and there will be future orders.

 

If you are in the Los Feliz area, go check out Cruzer Pizza. You won't be

disappointed. If you aren't in the Los Feliz area, make some time to drive out

there and check it out. You won't be disappointed. It's worth the drive.

 

Cruzer Pizza: 323-666-0600 4449 Prospect Ave, Los Angeles Ca 90027

Author: Kerri Walsh

Kerri Walsh is an Examiner from Los Angeles.