There are few things I miss more than pizza and beer. Yes, there are a lot more gluten-free beers out there, and more places than ever are offering gluten-free pizza crust options... but let's face it, most of them suck. Gluten-free beers are bad. They either have a sour finish and/or taste way too sweet; and they all are missing true hoppy-ness. The carbonation is lacking, and they just don't taste like BEER. Gluten-free pizza crusts have their own host of problems, both taste and texture related. Please don't even get me started on ones filled with soy or chickpea flour - mehhck flavor and lead to tummy bubble city.
This leaves me on my important mission of trying and reporting back on any and all pizza and beer options. Yes, it is a difficult task, but someone needs to do it.
I first heard about Naked Pizza from a friend living in New Orleans. He mentioned that all locations have gluten free crusts, but these were sight unseen. When I heard they opened up a branch in Brookline, MA, I knew what I had to do.
I was a bit surprised when I walked in. The shop is very small, only 2 tables and a few counter seats. The menu is cute and quirky; imagine if your android phone made 2-d, minimalist icons for toppings. The decor is a combination of silver and GREEN. The place clearly is not designed for people to linger, but there is a large tv playing little videos about how the pizza's are made, where the ingredients come from, etc. Staff were super friendly and knowledgeable... but you are reading cause you want to know about the pies!
This is probably the best restaurant gluten-free pizza I have had. This beats out every gluten-free frozen pizza too. I still think my homemade version is better, but not by much. The crust is thin, crisp, but not cracker-like. It is substantial enough to hold up to toppings and cheese without disintegrating. Oh and it doesn't taste like cardboard! It actually tastes pretty great, but the flavor does not outshine the toppings - and the cheese is worth a shout out. It is some of the best mozzarella I have had on a pizza. Guys, this pizza was so good, after it was devoured, I ordered a second one.
This is the look of surprise and shock at such a great crust. (Or I have been hypnotized by the neon green walls.)
Thank you for the Boston tip! I miss pizza and beer more than anything, too. However, I am almost entirely dairy-free these days...and dairy-free cheese is 800x worse than gluten-free pizza crust.
ReplyDeleteJessica - unfortunately their crust is dairy-full, so this might not be the pie for you. Glutenous Minimus in Belmont just started doing pizza. (Zing pizza used their crust for their gf pies until they closed) It is really good. Might be worth seeing if they do any dairy-free.
ReplyDelete