Pieology Gfree Pizza Pies

Hello loves!

Happy (late) Valentine's Day! I hope all of you had a fantastic time celebrating and spending time with your loved ones. I was incredibly thankful and blessed to be able to spend mine with a good friend- nothing beats good conversation, good laughs and good company. Throw in some chocolate... and it's a party!

Today's post is another of my food adventures here in Berkeley. This time, my two friends from church decided that 1) we never spend time together and 2) we need to fix this. And so what do three friends do to remedy this situation? We eat.

As I was going through the innumerable list of restaurants in Berkeley that I have yet to try, I figured that there's got to be a place that I've overlooked. And sure enough there was! Pieology Pizza.

Pieology has just recently opened up a new branch here in Berkeley. I could tell it was a success because the line was almost out the door when we were there. Pieology offers unlimited toppings for a flat rate of $7.95. Adding in tax brings you to $8.64. Not too bad for a personal pizza. The gluten free crusts do tack on an extra $2 so just be aware of that.

Of course, the gluten free crust option on their menu and some other gluten free bread product got me super excited and ready to have a feast! One thing I do want to mention is that there is a high degree of cross contamination. They bake the wheat pizzas with the gluten free crusts in the same oven (because they only have the one ) and some of their gloves and utensils are contaminated with gluten because of application on the wheat pizzas. If you are sensitive, I would not recommend eating here. They were very nice about changing their gloves and I'm sure you could ask them to use different brushes to spread on the sauce and oils, but the bucket of toppings/sauces would still be a bit contaminated. I ate here and had no adverse reactions, so this level of gluten was okay for me. Still, be cautious and know how much your body can handle. They also mention the cross-contamination potential on their menu as a FYI for people who order the gluten free crusts.

Anyway, I ordered my pizza with the gluten free crust and got all of my favorite toppings. I mean, if it's unlimited, I might as well have a field day with it! Here was the finished pizza:

   
The thin crust was very nicely browned and caramelized on the sides. It was also the right amount of crunch on the crust and deliciously soft in the middle. The pizza had marinara sauce with the herb butter base and fresh basil, olives, juicy pineapple, sliced ham, soft red onions, mushrooms, chicken and mozzarella topped off with what the restaurant calls, "after bakes," which are sauces/toppings that you can put on your pizza when it's out of the oven. We topped ours off with a BBQ sauce after bake and it was SO SO good. Oh my gosh.

I will definitely be back here again. The food was great, inexpensive and the atmosphere of the store was bright and lively. Service was decent (I think it could be better when there are less people). There are other places in Berkeley that serve gluten free pizza (like Build on Shattuck), but they charge for each individual topping and brings the total to around $15 for a personal pizza. And that's not including switching over to a gluten free crust (at least I don't think!). However, Build's ingredients are fresher and of a better quality so you really cannot compare on that level. But, hey, I'm a college student with little money and a big appetite. So, Build's just going to be left in the background and Pieology moved up to center stage. Overall, if I want to satisfy my pizza cravings, I know where to go.

Up next, get excited for my future post on ALCOHOLIC BOBA! (:

~Kris