Pizza and pasta places: vegetarian options

Most fast food pizza chains have pleny of options for vegetarians, and vegan pizza usually just involves skipping the cheese and loading up with extra veggies. Olives are a nice salty addition to a vegan pizza.

Rennet can be a concern for vegetarians that eat cheese. It can be from an animal (calf stomach) or non-animal source. According to Wikipedia, microbial rennet is used more often in North America today because it is less expensive than animal rennet, whereas cheese from Europe is more likely to be made from animal rennet due to tradition. When known, we have noted the rennet source below.

Canada only

Khalsa Pizza

1 Brampton, Ontario  location.
Our family-owned pizza place is the one and only 100% vegetarian pizza restaurant in Brampton. We also offer vegan options, including vegan and veggie burgers. www.khalsapizza.com

Panago Pizza

Over 160 locations in Western and Central Canada, but mostly in the West. In Ontario there are one or two locations in Toronto (44 Gerrard St at Bay), Ajax, Whitby, Oakville and London.

Lynsey wrote us Dec 12, 2007: "Panago offers six different vegetarian pizzas: grilled veggie and goat cheese, quattro fromaggio, garden veggie, primo vegetarian, mediterranean vegetarian and veggie pepperoni – made with Yves-like veggie pepperoni slices. A pretty good variety for vegetarians I think."

They have a strict no-trans-fats policy. Sam reports that he got an email from them on Dec 28, 2008 stating that all their cheeses contain microbial enzyme (instead of rennet from animals), except the Parmesan which may contain rennet.

www.panago.com (there is no detailed information about ingredients)

Pizza Nova

Several locations in southern Ontario

Seven vegetarian pizzas to choose from or you can custom make one. You can request a pizza without cheese. Both the dough and the two pizza sauces (spice and regular) are vegan. What appear to be two cheeseless pizzas – the Veggie (mushroom, green pepper, spanish onions) and the Bruschetta (herbed olive oil, diced fresh tomatoes, garden fresh herbs) – in fact contain some cheese according to Melinda who emailed us Feb 23, 2007.  "...there's no tomato sauce, but there is olive oil and cheese -- with the bruschetta, the tomato is put on top of the cheese after the pizza is cooked, so it kind of hides the dairy from view." When we initially contacted them, they were using a mozzarella with synthetic rennet. Salads and olives are also available.
www.pizzanova.com

Pizza Pizza

Pizza Pizza has a long list of vegetable toppings including broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes and zucchini – far more than Pizza Hut carries. The dough and sauce are both vegan and contain NO crazy preservatives. All their cheeses contain microbial enzyme instead of rennet from animals. For vegans a cheese-less pizza or stuffed sandwich is a great choice but you don’t pay less for eliminating the mozzarella. On their website you can access the ingredients and nutritional infor for all the products they sell. They have a strict policy of not using nuts.www.pizzapizza.ca

Pizzaiolo

Nine locations in the Toronto Area

There are nine veggie pizzas on the menu (more than the number of meat ones) and their cheeses don’t contain rennet. They carry two thin-crust vegan slices - Vittoria (fresh tomato, zucchini, roasted red pepper) and Freda (potato and rosemary). There is also a slice called Diana with everything the Vittoria has plus mushrooms and a pesto sauce that contains parmesan. They use extra virgin olive oil for their pizzas and never use trans fats. Take-out or eat-in. Open late. They even use a separate pizza cutter for vegan slices and for vegetarian slices www.pizzaiolo.ca

Canada & US

Domino's Pizza

Approx. 8,500 locations in 55 countries

Of the four crusts available only the Crunchy Thin Crust is vegan, the others have dairy and L-cysteine. The pizza sauce is vegan and the cheese appears to be rennet-free as the ingredient list just mentions "enzymes". The basic menu has one vegetarian pizza called Vegi Feast with green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and black olives, topped with extra cheese. Each location may have extra selections and presumably you can make your own. Veggie toppings are limited to the basics. There is also a garden salad with Italian dressing that is vegan. They don't seem too concerned about health or natural ingredients. There are trans fats in many items and chemical additives. For example the sandwiches come with:

"Butter Flavored Oil: Liquid and Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Beta Carotene (Color), TBHQ And Citric Acid and Dimethylpoysiloxane."

See "General notes" for some scary information about TBHQ and Dimethylpoysiloxane.
www.dominos.com

East Side Mario's

Over 100 locations across Canada and four in the U.S.

Restaurant and delivery chain serving what they call "American Italian" cuisine. The menu on their website has a symbol to indicate which dishes are vegetarian. You can also build your own pasta or pizza dish.

Thanks to an inquiry by Josee in January 2008, East Side Mario's wrote him to say that each location has a printed document with ingredients and allergens listed. Anyone can ask to view it.

"Currently the items that are vegan on the menu are our Napolitana and Arrabbiata sauces for pasta (they do not contain chicken stock), and our DeCecco rigatoni pasta and DeCecco angel hair. Garden Salad (request "no cheese"). Soho Chicken Salad (request "no chicken). The sautéed vegetables are also vegan as is our pizza sauce and pizza dough.
   The other pastas state that they may contain egg due to the fact that they are manufactured in a facility that uses eggs. The only pastas that do directly contain egg are cappelletti, asparagus cappelletti, ravioli and Milanese. Please do note that all pasta is cooked in the same boiling water."
www.eastsidemarios.com

Little Caesar's

2,700 locations in the U.S. (in 2003) plus locations in four continents

Little Caesars's website has a page that outlines the vegetarian options.  Any pizza can be ordered with cheese-only or with any of their fresh vegetable toppings including onions, green peppers, tomato slices, mushrooms, ripe olives, hot peppers and pineapples. Vegans can order a pizza without cheese. Their pizza crust is made with high-protein flour and contains no animal products or by-products. The sauce is vegan and is made from crushed tomatoes and is seasoned with a blend of herbs and spices. The pizzas contain no trans fats.

Other vegetarian options include: Crazy Bread (warm sticks of freshly baked bread topped with faux butter and garlic, then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese – for a vegan version skip the cheese) and Crazy Sauce (a vegan tomato-based dipping sauce). In Canada there is also a veggie deli sandwich, and Greek or tossed salad.
www.littlecaesars.com

Papa John's

3,300 locations, including over 2,600 in the U.S., 18 in Canada (mainly Calgary and Laval), and more than 500 in over 30 other countries. 

The menu has a Garden Fresh pizza topped with cheese and "fresh-sliced onions & green peppers, gourmet baby portabella mushrooms, ripe black olives and juicy, fresh-sliced Roma tomatoes." You can also create your own pizza. They also have bread sticks and dipping sauces.

Their FAQ page details the options for vegetarians and vegans. The original and whole wheat crusts are vegan as is the garlic sauce and tomato sauce that are added to each pizza.

In addition to cheese, the following items contain dairy: thin crust, garlic ranch sauce, Alfredo sauce, spinach Alfredo sauce, garlic Parmesan sauce, crisp topping used on Sweetreats, Chocolate Pastry Delight. All cheese items are free of animal enzymes and rennet, except the pan crust and the cheese blend used on their Tuscan Six Cheese pizza which contain animal-derived enzymes. Note: the garlic ranch sauce and the Honey Mustard, Cheese, Ranch and Blue Cheese dipping sauces contain eggs.

All of their pizzas, sides and other menu items have zero trans fats.
www.papajohns.com

Pizza Hut

Approx. 34,000 locations in 100 countries.

U.S. – Pizza Hut only has the Cheese Lovers Pizza and the Veggie Lover's Pizza according to their website, but you can create your own (except not online). All three of the tomato sauces are vegan and most of the doughs are except for the Pan Dough and the Personal Pan Pizza Dough which contain dairy. There are no vegetarian pastas. See  http://www.pizzahut.com/Nutrition.aspx

Canada – There are five vegetarian pizzas and you can create your own (except not when ordering online). The only vegan crust is the Thin N' Crispy except in Quebec the Hand Tossed crust is also vegan. The one pasta option is spaghetti and tomato sauce, but it contains egg. The bruschetta and garlic bread are vegetarian (contains whey). There is a vegan Warm Spinach Salad with French dressing. See http://www.pizzahut.ca/nutrition.htm

UK – Each vegetarian dish has a symbol. There are four veggie pizzas and you can create your own. The Pan Pizza and The Italian crusts are vegan and so is the tomato sauce. There are also four vegetarian pasta dishes. The Arrabiata pastas is vegan. And there is a soup, salad, garlic bread and potato wedges (vegan), bruschetta (dairy) and Crispy Tortilla Pizza. Some stores have vegan fries and onion rings. See http://www.pizzahut.co.uk/restaurants/menus--deals/dietary-information.aspx (click on the Allergy information)

See our main Fast Food page for a full list of cuisines and vegetarian-friendly chains.