The best food sensitivities friendly pizzas: part two

Back in 2017, a few months after launching GFS, I wrote a blogpost about pizza. Nikki had tried a few frozen pizzas, but was wanting to find pizzas at restaurants that met her dietary needs. Finding pizza with gluten-free pizza isn’t that hard, it’s finding places with dairy-free cheese.

Since it’s been so long since the original post about dietary-restriction friendly pizzas, we thought it was finally time to write part two.

[bctt tweet=”Pizza, pizza! ” username=”gfspirit”]

Jet’s Pizza

Jet’s Pizza is newer to Charlotte (at least it was when we first had it). There’s a location about 15 minutes from us, just far enough to be out of delivery range. Originating in Michigan, they have since expanded to 20 states and more than 400 locations. Obviously, they have a pizza with a gluten-free crust. Jet’s Pizza has this disclaimer on their website: While we take meticulous care to please gluten-free Jet’s® lovers, this pizza may have been exposed to gluten from other foods in our kitchen. For that reason, we don’t recommend it for those with celiac or similar diseases & caution customers with gluten sensitivities.

The gluten-free pizza is six slices (they’re slices are cut into rectangles). Nikki ordered hers with pepperoni and cheese. They don’t have dairy-free cheese, so she had to take a Lactaid before eating it.

Nikki wasn’t a big fan of this pizza. It was too greasy (my mom & I tried another type of pizza with a regular crust & it was pretty greasy). However, the pizza itself was okay. We haven’t ordered from there since then because there are other options we prefer.

 

 

Hungry Howie’s

We discovered that Hungry Howie’s had a gluten-free crust on a fluke. We had been to a wrestling show earlier in the evening and were hanging out in the hotel room of some friends to be on their podcast. It was pretty late at night & not much was open, especially with options for Nikki. Hungry Howie’s was one of the places that delivered that had a gluten-free crust.

Hungry Howie’s is the 11th largest chain in the US with over 550 locations in 20 states. They were founded in 1973 in Michigan. Their website states that their gluten-free crust is free of barley, rye, and wheat with less than 20 parts per million of gluten. Here is their legal disclaimer: This is our legal disclaimer: If you have celiac disease, our Gluten-Free Crust is not for you. If you are gluten-sensitive, please exercise your best judgment before ordering. Our kitchens are open environments, leaving our Gluten-Free Crust to possible exposure to other ingredients that contain gluten. We cannot guarantee that your pizza made with our Gluten-Free Crust will be free of all gluten.

Since we had part two of the wrestling tournament the next day, Nikki didn’t want to risk upsetting her stomach. She decided to forgo cheese and just went with bacon and tomato sauce. For it to be sans cheese, Nikki liked it.

 

 

 

MOD Pizza

We had seen that there was a MOD Pizza behind Texas Roadhouse, but never looked at their menu to see if they had options for Nikki. One night, we were going to check another pizza place off our list and discovered they’d gone out of business when we arrived. They were in the parking lot behind MOD Pizza, so I looked up their menu & discovered that they did have a gluten-free crust.

MOD Pizza started in Seattle and has expanded to 27 states and 12 locations in the UK. They’re a fast casual restaurant with artisan-style pizzas (they also have salads and sides). MOD Pizza also has a disclaimer: Since we prepare our food on one serving line, we cannot guarantee that any of our menu items are free of allergens or gluten, and none of our crust options are recommended for those with a gluten sensitivity.

The gluten-free crust is 11″. They also have dairy-free cheese! *insert praise hand emoji* Pro tip: Nikki recommends requesting extra dairy-free cheese because of the way it melts. If there isn’t extra, it bakes away.

 

 

 

Mellow Mushroom Pizza

We had been to Mellow Mushroom years ago before Nikki’s diagnosis. There’s not a location very close to us (though there is one near where we get our eyebrows waxed, but we usually don’t have time to stop in), so it took a while to get back to try their gluten-free crust.

Mellow Mushroom started in Atlanta before expanding to 150 locations throughout the country. Their website has an allergen menu where you can select the ingredients you’d like to avoid. There isn’t a specific gluten-free menu, but gluten-free items are notated on the menu. Vegan options are also noted.

Here is what they say about gluten-free options:

GLUTEN-FREE?

Any pie can be made on a gluten-free crust; however, only those pies and ingredients with the GF designation can be made with our allergy-safe procedures. Additional gluten-free items may vary by location; ask your server for details.

All gluten-free pizzas are served on our 10” signature gluten-free crust.

Nikki was very happy to find that not only does Mellow Mushroom use vegan cheese, it’s her favorite brand, Follow Your Heart. She opted for the olive oil and garlic for her sauce. She topped off her pizza with bacon. Nikki really liked their pizza a lot.

 

 

 

 

Verdict

Nikki says it’s a tie between MOD Pizza and Mellow Mushroom for her favorite. MOD Pizza is closer to us, so we’ve been there quite a few times. I’ve tried some of the pizza from all the places and I’d have to go with MOD Pizza. I’ve also ordered regular pizza from there and it’s really good. Mellow Mushroom has good meatball hoagies, if you’re wondering.

If you’d like to make pizza at home, try this recipe.

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[bctt tweet=”Part 2 of Our Best Pizza Guide” username=”gfspirit”]