Pizza is probably America's favorite default dinner, but it's a dish that a lot of people take for granted. When the average person is hungry, it's easy to call a favorite delivery place or walk down to a local pizzeria to grab a slice. Pizza is cheap, portable, incredibly savory, and seems to have an eternal half-life when left on a unrefrigerated countertop. It makes sense that it claims the position as America's favorite food.
But what if you can't eat the primary component of pizza, the part on which all savory toppings rely -- the crust? For decades, gluten-free folk were out of luck. Aside from making any number of pizza-like concoctions at home, it was all but impossible to order for delivery or find a sit-down place where you could enjoy a pie with your friends. Pizza, as heartbreaking as it sounds, was off limits. Serious fail.
GLUTEN-FREE PIZZA PLACES AROUND THE BAY AREA
I know I keep saying how lucky we are to live in the Bay Area, where a huge variety of gluten-free options are available to everyone. We live in a place where, on a moment's notice, anyone with a gluten-free constitution can get an allergy-friendly baguette at a local bakery and cupcakes at the supermarkets. So what about pizza? Thankfully, we have many awesome pizzerias around the San Francisco Bay that serve up a dish so good, so dripping with ooey-gooey mozzarella and fresh pepperoni, that you've never miss regular, gluten-laden pizza again. Here are a few of my favorite places.
Moraga: Pennini's Ristorante Italiano
Pennini's Ristorante Italiano is tucked away in the Rheem Valley area of Moraga, a town hidden on the south side of Highway 24, halfway between Oakland and Concord. I visited Pannini's with a friend who used to live nearby. He claimed to have found the best gluten-free pizza on the face of the planet, and me being the suspicious foodie that I am, I scoffed. That night we visited the restaurant, and I was shocked to find a pizza crust that rivaled most regular pizzas that I've eaten in my life. The soft, thin crust was filled with a perfectly stretchy mozzarella cheese and a ton of spicy pepperoni. Suffice it to say, this has become one of my favorite pizza places. Note: Last I heard they were planning on carrying gluten-free beer, though I can't say for sure if they sell it at the moment.