Well, here she is, the last option for non-DIY vegan pizza in St. Louis (as far as I know/for the time being!), PW Pizza.

PW opened just a few months ago in the first floor of the Centennial Malt House on Chouteau, also home to Moulin, Malt House Cellar, Vin de Set and Grand Petite Market. Named for the first initials of its creators, PW offers up gourmet pies, salads, soups and desserts, plus a grand selection of craft beer and wine.

The idea is that ingredients here are fresh, seasonal and (as much as possible) local. Of particular interest to you and I, in addition to the pizza basics, PW also has options for veggie, vegan and gluten-free diners. Woot!

This is where Andy and I had dinner on my birthday last month (yeah, I’m that serious about pizza you guys) and it was mmm, mmm good! The ingredients do indeed taste super fresh and the selection of toppings is so large that it made it fairly difficult to choose – good problem to have. I believe I eventually settled on caramelized onions, artichoke hearts and wild mushrooms. Like Whole Foods and Pi, the vegan cheese option at PW is Daiya.

As far as the crust here, I’m torn. Negative: it’s thin. Positive: it is still fairly soft and chewy. Overall, the taste is good though, and that’s what really matters. The original crust at PW is vegan but the gluten-free is not. Unfortunately, the Honey Wheat crust is a no-go for obvious reasons, which I was bummed about (I sort of despise eating refined grains, they feel like a waste of calories).

I actually can’t recall if PW allows half and half splits, but it doesn’t really matter because the pizzas here only come in one size (12′) and it’s too small to share (for us anyway!). Unfortunately, that means you’ll spend a little more than you might expect for pizza, but on an occasional basis, it’s acceptable.

Overall, I really enjoyed PW and I’m sure we’ll be stopping in from time to time. Always great to have yet another option for vegan pizza in St. Louis!

So here’s the second “buy” option for vegan pizza in St. Louis. Unless you’ve been living in a hole for a while, it’s pretty likely that you’re familiar with Pi if you live in the area. It’s a very hip and tasty pizza joint that first opened up shop in STL a few years ago in the Loop (my hood!) and quickly rose to prominence due to a certain pre-election POTUS showing it some serious love when he passed through town.

These days you can get yourself a slice of Pi (see what I did there?) at five different locations around the St. Louis area, including a mobile Pi truck. There will also be a DC location opening up shop any day now to better serve their biggest fan (I’m sure that’s not the only reason, but I’d like to think so!).

Back to the issue at hand though, in addition to their traditional Chicago-style, Pi also happens to serve up a pretty decent vegan pizza! The thin crust here is naturally vegan, as is their tomato sauce. Of course, garlic olive oil is also a vegan sauce option, if that’s how you do.

As any respectable vegan pizza should, the vegan pizzas at Pi feature Daiya cheese. They’ve got a wide variety of delicious veggie toppings to choose from as well, but unlike the other two “eat-out” options for vegan pizza in St. Louis, Pi also offers up Match meat substitutes for their vegan patrons. So thoughtful!

If memory serves, the pizza pictured featured Match sausage, red onions and mushrooms. I mentioned in an earlier post that I’m not a huge fan of thin crust, and this is definitely the crunchiest of the three options, but it is still darn tasty. My husband actually gives Pi top billing for vegan pizza in St. Louis. If you’re down with thin crust, you might agree.

Downsides at Pi include a fairly rigid policy on halfsies, in that they don’t allow them, period. If you and your companion(s) are vegan, that works out ok. If you’re the only vegan at the table though, not so much. Pi is definitely not the cheapest place in town, so having to order two whole separate pizzas for two people gets pricey pretty quick. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from taking home leftovers though, and thankfully, this reheats well.

Finally, in what must be a new addition to the menu since I was there last, Pi also offers a vegan dessert option! Vegans can now follow up their pizza with 2 chocolate chip sandwich cookies. Very cool. If you stop in for a vegan slice before I visit again, sink your teeth into one of these and report back!

Say hello to a new series of themed posts!

Fact about me (and my husband): if it’s Wednesday, we’re eating pizza for dinner. We started this tradition about three years ago and it stuck – big time.  My husband was working overseas for several months last year and even then, it was a weekly ritual we never missed (he even got nearly the entire crew he was working with started on it!).

Obviously this started pre-vegan, but the transition certainly hasn’t slowed me down (Daiya, anyone?). Since I know pizza is a fave for a lot of people and something you might think isn’t well-suited to veganizing, I figured this series would be eye-opening and useful for prospective or current veg-heads!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be publishing these posts (when else?) every Wednesday. Most of the time, we “make,” but there are several good places to “buy” as well, so some of these posts (like today’s) will also double as “Local Vegan Eats” features.

I’m kicking things off with my favorite place for vegan pizza in St. Louis: Whole Foods. When you see the other few establishments I’ll be featuring, you might be surprised to know that I think Whole Foods takes the cake in this matter. Why? Despite the fact that Whole Foods isn’t actually a restaurant, it’s the cheapest “buy” option by far. Very far. Regardless, I think they’re the hands-down winner on taste.

I think the primary reason that Whole Foods is my favorite comes down to the crust. I am not a fan of thin/crispy crust. The two other places I’ll be reviewing are in that camp. The crust here is a deliciously doughy and chewy New York style. Can’t beat that. Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE the taste of Daiya and quality of the ingredients is certainly also a factor in taste, but those things are a constant in all three options for dine-out vegan pizza in St. Louis.

You’ve probably noticed that Whole Foods sells fresh-baked pizza by the slice in their stores. What you may not have been aware of is that you can place custom orders for whole pies just like any other pizza joint! Not only are all of their ingredients of excellent quality and freshness, both of their crusts (white and wheat) are naturally vegan and you can get Daiya cheese in place of regular dairy cheese on any order.

As you can see from the picture above, they allow half and half orders on any pizza, even for cheese (my half is on the left)! If you have an allergy or are not comfortable with the possibility that you may end up with a smidge of dairy cheese on your half, this is obviously not a good solution for you. However, if you’re a bit mellow in that department and married to a non-veg, this is perfect!

The one down-side to pizza at Whole Foods: they’re only available in one size. The good news there is that the size is huge and it warms up really well for lunch the next day. As I mentioned before, the price here is super reasonable. When you consider how much pizza you’re getting, this is especially true.

So there you have it! The first of many posts proving that pizza is absolutely not off-limits to vegans. Be sure to check back next Wednesday for more ooey-gooey goodness!