The West Coast is known for a lot of things… among them – amazing vegan food!
Just last week, I had the opportunity to visit one of my best friends, Callie, in LA. She happens to run a local yoga studio and has a spare room in her apartment, which she was gracious enough to let me use for a couple of weeks.
Callie knows that I absolutely love vegan pizza, and told me that there were tons of great vegan pizzerias in the city. So, I made it my goal to visit as many as I could during the two weeks that I was in town.
I had some great vegan pizza, some so-so pizza, and some downright awful vegan pizza. So, to save you the trouble of having to learn things the hard way, I decided to show you guys some of the best vegan pizza in Los Angeles, based on my experience!
Are you hungry yet?
Is LA A Vegan-Friendly City?
Perhaps it’s the climate. Or maybe it’s the beautiful beaches, culture, and recreational cannabis. Los Angeles has always been a city of dreamers, visionaries, and artists. These people tend to have a broader view of the world and are statistically more likely to lead plant-based lifestyles.
California has always been ranked among the top states for vegans. Los Angeles, specifically, features a number of great vegan restaurants and a higher-than-average vegan population there.
What City In California Has The Most Vegan Restaurants?
California is a huge state. From San Diego in SoCal to San Francisco in the cooler northern half of the state, it’s a state that’s full of amazing vegan food.
However, Los Angeles is, by far, the most vegan-friendly city in California. There are over two-hundred vegan restaurants in LA, which is a higher concentration than any other city on the West Coast!
In fact, the only city in the US that can rival LA in terms of vegan food in New York City. NYC is massive and has one of the highest concentrations of restaurants in America.
Among them are some true gems of vegan cuisine. To this day, the best pastries I’ve ever had in my life were from the vegan bakeries I visited in NYC.
The Best Vegan Pizza In Los Angeles To Try In 2023
There are so many different types of vegan restaurants in Los Angeles. Whether you’re looking for vegan sushi, vegan “burgers”, or even vegan BBQ, you’ll find it in LA!
At first, I was going to make this a post on the best vegan restaurants in Los Angeles. However, that would’ve been such a long article that I would’ve never been able to finish it. So, instead, I decided to simplify things a bit and stick with the best vegan pizza in Los Angeles.
This list is, by no means, comprehensive. I was only about to visit around eleven spots that sold vegan pizza. However, of the places I visited, these were some of the ones that really stood out to me!
Conversely, if you have some time and talent in the kitchen, you can make your own vegan pizza at home:
1) Cruzer Pizza 100% Vegan
- Website: http://www.puravitalosangeles.com/
- Address: 5051 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
- Favorite Dish: Jamaican Pizza
Cruzer Pizza has an awesome hometown vibe to it. Even though Cruzer is one of the top-ranked vegan pizzerias in LA, it feels more like a local pizza joint than a large-scale operation.
When I went, I tried Jamaican Pizza. Unlike most Jamaican-themed pizzas, though, this pie was 100% vegan and plant-based. No cheese, no meat, or any other type of animal-derived ingredients.
It features a spicy Jamaican-style jerk sauce, cilantro, onion, red and yellow bell peppers, vegan chicken, and Daiya vegan cheese. The Daiya vegan cheese is incredibly delicious and tastes almost exactly like real mozzarella.
The same goes for the vegan chicken that the pie is topped with. It tastes absolutely delicious with the spicy jerk sauce. There was so much flavor in my pie that I completely forgot that I was eating vegan food.
So, whether you’re a hardcore vegan or you’re just interested in seeing how good vegan food can be, I’d definitely recommend Cruzer Pizza!
2) Purgatory Pizza
- Website: http://www.eatpurgatorypizza.com/
- Address: 1326 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90033
- Favorite Dish: White Reaper Vegan Pizza
Purgatory Pizza is widely recommended as one of the best all-around pizzerias in Los Angeles.
Although it’s not specifically a vegan pizzeria (as they offer a number of real meat and cheese items), they have several really delicious vegan pizzas. All of the vegan pizza is made with a whole grain wheat crust and a cashew cheese mozzarella.
I went with my friend, Callie, and we each got a medium-sized 14-inch pizza. She got Thor’s BBQ pie and I got the White Reaper pie, so we each got to taste two very different pizzas.
The Thor’s BBQ is a simple yet delicious recipe that uses a house-made vegan BBQ sauce base, pineapple chunks, red onion, and vegan chicken. I sprinkled a bunch of spicy red pepper on my slice as well for a hot kick.
While Thor’s BBQ was definition a bit spicier and smokier, the White Reaper was smooth and savory. It’s made with a classic Italian base – garlic and olive oil. Then it’s topped with almond milk ricotta cheese and parmesan, black pepper, and sesame.
I really liked the pizza crust and the consistency of the pizza. It’s thick, rich, and has the perfect blend of soft breadiness with a toasted, crunchy outside.
3) Lucifers Pizza
- Website: http://www.luciferspizza.com/
- Address: 1958 Hillhurst Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
- Favorite Dish: Build-your-own vegan pizza
Alright, so Lucifer’s Pizza isn’t even close to a vegan restaurant. The majority of their pizzas contain some type of meat and are made with real dairy-based cheese.
That being said, they’re more than willing to make you one of the best vegan pizzas you’ll eat in your life. While most of their signature pizzas are non-vegan, you can make your own vegan pizza from scratch using your own choice of toppings!
Personally, I started with a small 10-inch personal pie. I got it with a vegan cheese and tomato sauce base and selected the “fiery” level of spiciness (which is the level right before the hottest).
Then I topped it off with roasted garlic, green bell pepper, mushrooms, rosemary, and zucchini. I dubbed my creation “Emma’s Forest!”
If you’re the type of person who likes to create their very own pizza from scratch, then I highly recommend this place. The quality of their ingredients is incredible! All of the plant-based toppings were super-fresh, never frozen, and made for a truly excellent vegan pizza.
4) Hot Tongue Pizza
- Website: https://www.hottonguepizza.com/
- Address: 2590 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039
- Favorite Dish: Sicilian Square Pizza
If you’re looking for options, then you can’t go wrong with Hot Tongue’s vegan pizza. They have one of the widest selections of vegan pizza in the entire city. They offer awesome vegan apps, such as garlic knots, fried buffalo cauliflower, and a traditional vegan caesar salad.
I started with the garlic knots since I was starving. Unlike most pizzerias that coat their garlic knots in parmesan cheese and butter, these were tossed in garlic olive oil and topped with almond parmesan. Then, they’re served with a side of house-made tomato marinara sauce.
The garlic knots were very filling, so be careful not to eat too many of them if you still want to save room for pizza!
As far as pizza options go, Hot Tongue Pizza offers traditional round pies as well as thick-crust square pies. I got the latter, as it sounded like the more unique of the two varieties.
The Sicilian “Square & Thick” features a thick-crust, pan-baked crust and is topped with red sauce, pesto, garlic, almond ricotta, and basil.
The flavor was unreal. I love that deep crispiness of a pan-baked pie combined with the rich herbal notes from the basil and pesto.
5) PIZZANISTA! DTLA
- Website: https://pizzanista.com/
- Address: 2019 E 7th St, Los Angeles, CA 90021
- Favorite Dish: Vegan Seitan Meats Jesus
Pizzanista in Downtown LA was an awesome vegan pizzeria that I almost missed. I actually swung by on my way to the airport, because I’d heard some really good things about it.
Sure enough, I was not disappointed. Unlike the majority of vegan pizzerias that I’ve been to, Pizzanista sells vegan pizza by the slice!
This was perfect for me since I was on my way to the airport and couldn’t bring any leftovers past security. Upon recommendation, I got the Vegan Seitan Meats Jesus. The Meats Jesus is one of their best-selling meat pizzas, so I’m glad they’re offering a vegan alternative!
It’s made with vegan sausage, cashew mozzarella, and vegan pepperoni, and features Pizzanista’s signature house-made tomato sauce and a hand-tossed sourdough crust.
As somebody who loves sourdough bread, I especially loved the crust. The light, sour flavor of the dough blended perfectly with the savory vegan cheese and sausage!
Conclusion – Where’s The Best Vegan Pizza in LA?
Based on my visit, I’d say that Pizzanista! in DTLA has the best vegan pizza in Los Angeles. I love the fact that they sell pizza by the slice and their unique sourdough crust tastes AMAZING.
While I certainly love visiting locally-owned pizzerias, I don’t live in LA. Outside of large vegan-friendly cities like LA, it’s hard to find good vegan pizza.
However, I can always count on Pizza Hut. To learn more about Pizza Hut’s new vegan menu, keep reading my latest post on the popular pizza delivery company!
