Order Up! Vegan Pizza Goes International

Menuism|Feb. 20, 2014 8:00 am EST

Photo by Jenni Kotting

Vegans rejoice: You can now get vegan pizza at Domino's! Well, you can if you're in Israel, at least. The Israeli Domino's Pizza franchise recently became the first Domino's chain in the world to offer pizza with a soy-based topping instead of dairy cheese. A new poll showing that approximately 1 million of the 8 million people in Israel no longer eat meat — and that an additional 13 percent of the population is considering going vegetarian or vegan — even suggests that Israel may become the first largely vegan nation in the world.

I'm packing my bags! I hope I can get a window seat.

This is great news, but don't worry if you can't make it to Israel — there are plenty of places in the U.S. that offer vegan pizza and other great-tasting vegan options. In Tampa, near where I live, you can get vegan pizza, not to mention vegan brownies, at Pizza Fusion, which has locations in several states. Mellow Mushroom, another popular pizza chain with locations throughout the U.S., also makes scrumptious vegan cheese pizza.

Several places around Sarasota, Florida, including Vertoris, Pizza SRQ, and Rico's Pizzeria & Pasta House, offer vegan pizza.

And although I've never been to 3 Brothers Pizza Cafe on Long Island, I know it has to be fabulous because it was good enough to win the Best Vegan Pizza contest held by some of the picky pizza fanatics at PETA. The award-winning pizza, the Seitan Bacon Ranch, is topped with grilled seitan, tempeh bacon, tomatoes, and Daiya mozzarella drizzled with vegan ranch. Yum!

The following are some other pizza places that offer ooey-gooey vegan pies:

zpizza, which has locations nationwide, can make a variety of vegan pizzas, including the Berkeley Vegan Pizza, which has marinara sauce, vegan cheese, veggie-burger crumbles, zucchini, and tomatoes.

The Red Dog Saloon is right near PETA's headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, so you know you can get some choice vegan pizza and other options there.

Pizza Pi pizzeria in Seattle is notable for its White Lightning Pizza, which has white garlic sauce, artichokes, grilled onions, mushrooms, and potatoes.

Patxi's, which has locations in several big cities, offers vegan cheese, mock meats, and plenty of veggie pizza toppings, such as mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and black olives.

Pizza Lucé in Minneapolis offers a variety of vegan options, including the Vegan Rustler Pizza with marinated mock duck, pineapple, banana peppers, red onions, Daiya cheese, and barbecue red sauce.

Blackbird Pizzeria in Philadelphia has vegan cheese as well as vegan sausage, bacon, and pepperoni, along with fresh veggies and pineapple.

Poor Richard's Restaurant in Colorado Springs receives rave reviews for its Daiya vegan cheese pizza with avocado, Kalamata olives, and roasted red peppers.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, so be sure to shout out if your favorite vegan-friendly pizza place isn't mentioned here. Vegan pizzas are mouthwatering and also spare cows and other animals from unnecessary suffering. I hope you'll enjoy vegan pies and encourage others to do the same.

"Order Up! Vegan Pizza Goes International" originally published on The Menuism Dining Blog.