What makes pizza great? A crispy flat dough topped with delicious ingredients of choice bursting with various flavors and spices. Whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner, pizza can be enjoyed whenever and however you like. Do you like pineapples on pizza? Okay, cool! But what really makes a great pizza? When it’s made and served with passion.
Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza is a highly-endorsed and highly-rated restaurant among pizza lovers and commoners alike, and much better is that they offer scrumptious vegan pies upon request.
With great pizza, great service, and a great passion for both, you definitely shouldn’t miss out on this, so, here’s a quick guide to all you need to know about Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza and their vegan options.
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Vegan Options at Anthony’s
Anthony’s pizza place is named after its founder, Anthony Bruno, who grew up in Long Island, NY. When he moved to Florida, Anthony was disappointed with the lack of good, New York-style pizza. So he decided to take it upon himself to reintroduce authentic, char-crispy pizza in South Florida. Using traditional coal-fired ovens, Anthony laid the foundation for his unique restaurant. To date, they have over 60 locations in eight states, mainly in the northwest states and Florida.
Pizza Varieties
Anthony’s Pizza is very accommodating of people with certain dietary limitations, allergies, and food preferences, so they can serve homemade gluten-free crust upon request and various toppings that would well serve any vegan. The first one to hit on would have to be their Roasted Cauliflower pizza, which is casually served vegetarian, but you can ask them to remove the Grande mozzarella, Pecorino Romano cheese, and breadcrumbs to make it completely vegan. As per the coal oven-style pizza, they put the cheese first before the sauce, so skipping the cheese straightforwardly won’t be a problem for them.
Roasted Cauliflower Pizza
A slightly charred square pizza decorated with garlic-roasted cauliflower, crushed red pepper, and drizzled with olive oil. A very simple yet satisfyingly crispy and fresh vegan pie. One slice serves about 320-380 calories, but you have to lean on the lesser side if you choose the gluten-free crust option and rid of the dairy ingredients.
Custom Pizza In 12″ Or 16″ Size
Here’s the real bang for your buck when heading over for a grand, vegan slice at Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza. You won’t go wrong with this custom platter with various vegan toppings to choose from! The pizza base is topped with Grande mozzarella, their homemade Italian plum tomato sauce, Pecorino Romano cheese, fresh basil, and olive oil.
Now, to make it vegan, simply ask to remove the cheese, and then choose one or a few of these deliciously healthy vegan toppings.
- Mushrooms
- Kalamata olives
- Long hot finger peppers
- Onions
- Sweet peppers
- Arugula
I must say the only downer on the vegan pizzas of Anthony’s is that they don’t have a substitute for dairy cheese, especially the Grande mozzarella and Pecorino Romano. You know full well that what’s truly attractive about pizza is the stretchy and oozy delight of cheese at every pull and bite.
However, there’s no doubt that the pizzas served in Anthony’s are one of the most famously delicious coal-fired pies out there, vegan or not, and it’s still a whole lot worth it paying the pizzeria a visit for a taste of their burning passion for both good pizza and good service.
If you’re not that satisfied with their pizzas, you can still enjoy their other vegan dishes that will surely hit a long-lasting, savory taste on your palette.
Coal-Fried Starters
I have to tell you, this place offers a fine menu of vegetarian plates that can be easily made vegan, and they’re delicious too. They’d leave you in awe, from the aesthetics down to the mess.
- Caesar salad – without croutons and cheese, replace the dressing with olive oil. Available in small and large bowls with 410 and 650 cal, respectively.
- Anthony’s classic Italian salad – ask to remove eggs, and you’re still given a healthy mix of fresh romaine lettuce, celery, red onion, garbanzo beans, Kalamata olives, tomato, and a drizzle of their homemade Italian dressing. Anthony’s Italian dressing is vegan as it only contains red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. Small and large bowls with 470 and 960 cal are available, respectively.
- Eggplant Marino – a legendary eggplant parmigiana altered to NFL Legend Dan Marino’s taste, who is also Anthony Bruno’s long-time friend and business partner. A dish piled with thinly sliced eggplant bathed in Anthony’s Italian plum tomato sauce. 100% vegan without the grated cheese. Also comes in small and large bowls with 480 and 960 cal, respectively.
- Garlic knots – crispy knots topped with fresh garlic, parsley, and olive oil. Just ask for no cheese, and you’re good to go. Comes with six or 12-knot options with 140 cal per knot.
There certainly are more than enough fantastic vegan options at Anthony’s Coal-Fired Pizza, considering that the restaurant chain has a very humble menu. They like to keep things simple but extraordinary. Their signature sandwiches, pasta, and dessert aren’t vegan, but each vegan dish and pizza is already great and satisfying at a fair price.
What Is Coal Fired Pizza?
Coal fired pizza is simply pizza cooked in a coal oven and is most popular on the west coast, where the style was invented. The oven burns extremely hot, at around 800 to 1000 °F, making common baked goods cook within minutes. However, since coal doesn’t produce as high flames as wood, it doesn’t burn the pizza too quickly and cooks it slower to a perfect texture and crispiness.
Is It Safe to Eat?
The quick answer to that is yes. A coal oven uses coal in cooking, and there are highlighted carbon emissions in the process of coal-fired pizzas. However, you have to understand that coal ovens use a special type of coal called anthracite, which is tough coal with supreme qualities that truly set it apart as the best-ranking variant.
The King of Coal
Anthracite is the king of coal and the rarest one. Most of the anthracite coal reserves in the US are mined in northeastern Pennsylvania, and the variant only makes a meager 2% or less of the total coal reserves in the country. It has a submetallic black luster and is clean to the touch, with almost no dust. This type of coal is more special because it has the highest carbon content and the least amount of impurities that make the environment cry.
The high heat energy produced by anthracite lasts very long, with the minuscule need for attention to stay hot and clean. The burning barely produces smoke and dust, which is why anthracite is ideal for domestic heating and cooking. However, the cons of this coal are that it’s very hard to ignite given its composure and very costly because it’s not a widely abundant nor readily available fuel.
Good to Eat, Safe to Eat
The coal oven pizza process is not a novel idea, but this traditional way of cooking crispy charred pizza has been going on for more than a century in New York and neighboring states. The only reason it seems new or odd is that the rest of the country is more accustomed to seeing wood often ovens than the coal types, and so are their tastes more adapted to non-coal-cooked pizzas.
Just to add, America’s First Pizzeria in New York has been cooking pizzas the traditional coal oven way and satisfying hungry customers since 1905. But, going over that bandwagon mentality, coal-fired pizza is safe to eat because of clean coal.
There are many arguments about coal ovens that we can’t cover right now, but a satirical article by Chris Shott does. Also, there’s no reason to freak out about this, whether it be you or the environment, as suggested on this blog at Slice of Life.
Other Vegan-Friendly Pizza Places
Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza is a very nice and accommodating diner for vegans, so this place is a top recommendation and may easily find its way up to your pizza hall of fame. Nonetheless, there’s no harm in checking out other great pizza places that offer vegan options and perhaps vegan substitutes for the often-missed mozzarella stretch.
With a helpful guide from Veg News, here are some of the must-try vegan pizzerias in the country.
- Freesoulcaffe in Tustin, CA, offers a great deal of 100% plant-based, cruelty-free foods, including pizzas with vegan sausages, cheeses, and MOZZARELLA! This makes the top of this list as this restaurant is completely vegan with tons of other delights, from sandwiches to pasta and ramen.
- Double Zero has locations in NY, CA, MA, and MD and is one of the exclusive fine-dining vegan restaurants owned by celebrity chef Matthew Kenney. The double zero flour used in the pizza pie is incredibly thin, light, and cooked well-done in an aromatic firewood oven.
- The Pizza Plant is a booming business now associated with Whole Foods Market. The focaccia-based pizzas are famed for their vegan cheese and pepperoni, but more so by the distinctly humorous names of each, such as “Half-Baked,” “Not Your Grandma’s,” and “Take You to Funghi Town.”
- Looking for a vegan menu with almost unending choices? Look no more because Brooklyn’s Screamer’s Pizzeria has got you covered. They serve vegan pepperoni, sausage, buffalo, and chorizo. This is a must-try pizza place with many pies and options.
Want to see more near you? Go to VegNews and see which great-tasting vegan pizzerias could be at your doorstep.
Top It Off
There’s no withholding the fact that Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza is popular amongst commoners and vegans alike for the incredible taste and texture of their homemade pizzas, along with their scrumptious sides. The natural ambiance of the restaurants is bustling, but the service barely fails to accommodate and tend to your needs and requests. The menu is quite meager, but there’s a satisfactory amount of savory vegan delights that would surely settle your tongue and stomach.
They only use the finest and freshest ingredients, some even imported from Italy, like their plum tomatoes, and the dough and special sauces are homemade, so they pay careful attention to their food-making to perfectly satisfy their customers. Once again, coal fired pizzas are safe to eat and environment-friendly. On top of that, the prices are fair for quality ingredients and handcrafted meals.
The only down points of the restaurant are that they still don’t serve vegan substitutes for their cheese and meats, which puts it in between the best and worst pizza places for vegans. It’s great but not the most well-equipped for vegans. Still, I hope you found this article helpful, and I totally recommend you treat yourself to a nice slice at Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza.
