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The yumminess that is zpizza

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At our house, we try to have a pizza night once a week. Sometimes I make it from scratch, but more often than not we get takeout or delivery. It’s great getting a break from cooking, but even more fun trying out new places! Some of the best pizzas we’ve had in a long time was this past week, from zpizza.

Founded in the art colony of Laguna Beach, zpizza was inspired by California and a healthy way of eating. Combining unique recipes with quality ingredients is what makes this pizza different from any other.

zpizza uses:

  • certified organic wheat flour in their crust (contains no dairy)
  • certified organic tomato sauce
  • part-skim, rGBH-free, award winning Wisconsin cheese
  • msg-free and nitrate-free sausage and meatballs
  • msg-free pepperoni
  • vegetables that are roasted in-house
  • other options, including gluten-free crusts and soy cheese

In addition to pizza, you can also find a variety of sandwiches, salads, and pastas on zpizza’s menu, made fresh with those natural ingredients listed above.zpizza yumminess

We were given the opportunity to sample some of what zpizza has to offer. Deciding what to order is so hard, though! Since I couldn’t narrow it down to just one favorite, I thought I’d make it easy and ordered three small 10″ pizzas for the four of us – one for me, a second for my husband, and the third for the girls to share. The two other size options include a large (14″) and an extra-large (“18), with the latter being the best value.

I ordered the Mexican pizza for myself. It’s topped with salsa, part-skim mozzarella, spicy lime chicken, green and red onions, fresh avocado, a drizzle of sour cream, and garnished with cilantro. O. M. G. It was amazing. Even though the pizza was topped with so much goodness, the crust was still perfectly thin and crispy. The avocado, which I love, was plentiful and added a wonderful creaminess to every bite.

My hubby’s not big on tomato sauce, so I thought he might like the Casablanca, which is topped with a homemade roasted garlic sauce, part-skim mozzarella, ricotta cheese, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and sprinkled with parmesan. I reluctantly traded him half of my Mexican pizza for half of his, and it was completely worth it. The flavors of the Casablanca are delicate, yet rich. Biting into a dollop of ricotta was a delicious surprise. This pizza had a wonderful texture, and different layers of flavor in every bite.

The girls shared their favorite – a Pepperoni pizza. This is just a classic cheese pizza topped with reduced fat, msg-free pepperoni. I took a bite, and wasn’t blown away, but the girls loved it and left nothing but a little bit of crust behind. A small pizza was the perfect size for the two of them to share!

I was impressed by the high quality of the toppings, and astonished by the sheer quantity of choices available. They offer a ‘build your own’ pizza that you can customize with any of these ingredients:

a little zpizza fan

Cheese
Soy  ~  Feta  ~  Gorgonzola
Mozzarella  ~  Parmesan
Provolone  ~  Ricotta

Sauce
Basil pesto  ~  BBQ  ~  Thai peanut
Chipotle pesto  ~  Roasted garlic
Tomato 100% certified organic

Meat
Anchovies  ~  BBQ Chicken
Chicken sausage  ~  Meatballs
Grilled chicken breast  ~  Ham
Italian sausage  ~  Lime chicken
Pepperoni  ~  Salami
Veggies
Artichoke hearts  ~  Arugula
Avocado  ~  Bell peppers
Black olives  ~  Capers
Caramelized onions
Cucumbers  ~  Greek olives
Jalapenos  ~  Zucchini
Mushrooms
Onions – red and green
Pineapple  ~  Pinenuts
Roasted eggplant
Roasted peppers
Roma tomatoes
Serrano chilies
Sweet corn  ~ Truffle oil
Veggie burger crumbl

The staff at my local zpizza was incredibly nice and didn’t even blink when I used a promotional gift certificate and a discount coupon to pay for the pizza. I did find it to be just a little on the pricey side, but considering the quality and huge variety of ingredients they use in their dishes, it’s completely understandable. Our three small pizzas came to just around $30 with tax, and the rest of the menu ranges in price from $2.75 for a single slice to around $20 for an extra-large. Prices can vary by region, however.

BUY IT:
Order online! The process was painless and only took a few minutes. There are zpizza locations scattered across the country, with several in the Washington, DC area, including:

Every Tuesday at these locations there’s a ‘Buy 1 Get 1 FREE’ special. Buy any large pizza & get the 2nd free. And, if you join the ztribe you can instantly receive a $5.00 off coupon towards your next visit to zpizza ($20 minimum). zpizza is on Twitter: @zpizza_dc.

WIN IT:
zpizza is giving one of my DC-area readers a $20 gift certificate to try out one of their fantastic pizzas. To enter, please visit the zpizza website, and tell me what your favorite flavor is.

For extra entries:

  • Blog about this giveaway, linking back to this post and to zpizza.
  • Subscribe to my feed (or let me know if you already do).
  • Follow me AND zpizza on Twitter (@OhMariana and @zpizza_dc) and tweet about this giveaway: Live in the DC area? I just entered to win a free pizza from @zpizza_dc and @ohMariana, and you can, too: https://bit.ly/mOPDs
  • Grab my button and link to me in your sidebar or blog roll.
  • Become a fan of Riding With No Hands on Facebook.
  • Add my blog to your Technorati Favorites by clicking on the button in my sidebar.

Gift certificate is only valid for DC-area zpizza restaurants. Please leave a separate comment for each entry and leave a valid email address or blog URL in your comment. US entries only. This contest ends at 11:59 pm EST on August 18th, 2009. Winner will be chosen at random, and has 3 days to claim their prize.

I’ll leave you with this…
DSC_0019

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Wow, I live in the dc area and am moving to right by them and never heard of them. This would be great for when we move. I thought the greek looked the best.
    .-= jodifur´s last blog ..Shoe Friday #41 BlogHer Edition #3 =-.

  5. I’m a DC Metro reader and we love zPizza! Luckily there is one close by and since our kids love mushrooms (wierd, I know!) our faves are the Casablanca and Tuscan pizzas!
    .-= Leticia- Tech Savvy Mama´s last blog ..Discounted WNBA Tickets Through One2One Network =-.

  6. I subscribe to your feed!
    .-= Leticia- Tech Savvy Mama´s last blog ..Discounted WNBA Tickets Through One2One Network =-.

  8. I’m a Facebook fan!
    .-= Leticia- Tech Savvy Mama´s last blog ..Discounted WNBA Tickets Through One2One Network =-.

  15. I love the Mexican, but the ZBQ comes a really close 2nd. Also, there is a zpizza in Silver Spring, MD as well.

    • I love the Mexican pizza the best (but almost anything is better when you add fresh avocado!) but I don’t love the fact that the pizza is always cold when I get it. It doesn’t matter if I order it from the Springfield store (by my office) or the Falls Church store (by home) it still manages to be cold before I get it. I even ordered one on line this last Saturday at 7:00 am for a 12:00 noon delivery. It still didn’t get there until 12:35 and it was just barely warm. It would really be great if they would get some of those special bags that Domino’s use to keep their pizzas hot.

  16. I love the Tuscan Pizza, because the collection of mushrooms on there are just so tasty. But my son always insists on the plain pizza. I tell him we should save the plain order for plain pizza places, not fancy ones like Z Pizza, but he insists!
    .-= Lynette´s last blog .. =-.

  30. There’s a zpizza near me but I never tried it before. The Greek pizza looks amazing, I’m going to have to try it!