Two Gluten-Free Pizzas, One Delicious City

Gluten-free pizza from Jet City

Product Review: Jet City Gluten-Free Pizza and Z Pizza on Capitol Hill

              

As most of you know, I love to try new things. Gluten-free, delicious new things. Well, Jet City Pizza and Z Pizza are now delivering – gluten-free, that is.

So, let’s talk about these two pizza joints and what they have to offer those of us in the food sensitivities world. The good, the bad and the ugly…or the delicious!

Jet City Pizza (www.jetcitypizza.com):

This traditional wheat-based pizzeria now offers a gluten-free crust that is soft, pliable, moist and delicious! One of the better gluten-free crusts I’ve ever had from a pizzeria, Jet City says they buy the crusts from an outside source (dedicated gluten-free) and they strive to keep all the ingredients and toppings away from glutened sources. They bake the pizzas on dedicated equipment and use separate utensils for cutting and topping the pizzas. And the best part is: they deliver! I love having delicious food brought to my door.

Good news on the vegan front: another egg-less, dairy-free crust on the market! They offer dairy-free cheese as well (the brand was unconfirmed), but at the time of this post, they were out. They had some on order and try to keep it in-store at all times. I did notice that when you order online, this isn't an option to choose from, but call the store and someone will get you hooked up for a delicious dairy-free offering.

I was most impressed by the softness and crunchiness of the crust - sort of halfway between a crispy, thin crust and a soft and chewy thick crust with plenty of flavor. Jet City cuts big slices like a New York style pizza, so I had a great time folding my pizza in half to take a bite. With plenty of locations around the city and a craving for a good gluten-free pizza, Jet City really delivers!

ZPizza on Capitol Hill (www.zpizza.com):

This lovely establishment has a great concoction of standard pizzas and crazy, delicious pizzas with gourmet toppings and artisan flavors. And good news for the dairy-free and vegan world – they offer Daiya cheese and vegan offerings!

I’ve been here twice and the pizzas are fabulous, the crust is pretty good, but hands down, the toppings are what make the pizza. The Tuscan Mushroom is a lovely combination of cheesy goodness with mushrooms, onions, thyme and truffle oil. And the Daiya cheese makes it divine!

I love the staff at ZPizza too. They are sweet, helpful and always friendly. When I called to find out more info about the makings of the g-free pizzas, they were all too happy to offer their knowledge. The gluten-free crusts are made off-site by an independent gluten-free company and when they are prepared at ZPizza, they are kept away from the wheat products as much as possible. Although the crusts are baked in the same oven as the wheat pizzas, they are placed on dedicated pans and the staff use dedicated utensils for cutting and topping the pizza. The possibility of cross-contamination is still there, but they are working hard to minimize it.

The rice-based crust has some basic other gluten-free ingredients and good news for the vegans out there: it’s completely dairy, egg and animal free. Now you can have your pizza and eat it too!

The gluten-free crusts come in medium or large (get the large for leftovers!) and you can sub Daiya for any of the cheeses. It is primarily a thin, crispy crust with a decent flavoring on its own. The one downside is it seems to get a little burned on the edges as they cook it. Still pretty good, but next time, I’ll ask them the bake it a little less. I’m not a fan of the charred edges. Overall, the pizza is pretty darn good! And if you sign up for their newsletters, you get coupons, freebies and birthday offerings. Yum! Another great gluten-free offering.                      

Gluten-free pizza from ZPizza