Pizza Fusion

CLOSED
Absolutely heart broken that they closed this past Tuesday.
First came here with my ex-​coworker and great friend for a lovely Saturday lunch. We had a great time and liked the food.
They had amazing organic white crust pizza with delicious and healthy toppings. Amazing fresh salads with various dressings (my favorite was green goddess) and a wonderful array of beers and wines (plus a hard cider, my favorite brand natch). Excellent array of hot and cold/​bottled teas.
I am not a fan of the Italian restaurants in the area and will sorely, sorely miss this fantastic, close-​to-​true-​Italian pizza place. Especially since they were the only green-​conscious and friendly place for many, many miles.

Went there this evening and the sign says Closed– Out of Business…

Upon walking in, reminded me of a place you’d find downtown Chicago like Wicker Park/​Bucktown. It’s small, kinda narrow layout, semi-​open kitchen and bar.
I ordered the large chicken brushetta salad which was generous and enough to share for at least 2 people, maybe enough for 3. Not much chicken. Balsamic dressing was fairly light. Nice chunks of fresh mozzerella.
I ordered personal size ‘Big Kahuna’ pizza (bacon, pineapple, red onion) and my finance ordered the spinach artichoke. A little small (4 pieces), thin wheat crust. Reminded me of California Pizza Kitchen but smaller.
For dessert we had the 3 chocolate chip cookies served warm like fresh baked.
The staff was friendly and attentive, food and ingredients were fresh. A little pricey but they offered 20% discount at the time we went –great! Oh and eco-​friendly everything!

I like it as a healthy (or healthier) alternative to my neighbor pie. It’s nice they try to be Eco-​friendly.

Ended up here, once again, with time to kill after I dropped my daughter off to school. I now LIVE in that center bc of Whole Foods, Nordies Rack, Home Goods, etc. So we went today and plopped at the bar, in a bit of a hurry. Waiter was very accomodating, we put in an order ASAP. I got a pizza w/​organic mozz, free range chicken and mushroom. Husband got BBQ chicken. The tortilla soup (gluten free) to begin was great. Fresh, tasty and a little kick. We both ordered on whole grain crust… Not that great. It seemed very dry… which is a normalcy for gluten free. Everything gluten free falls/​cracks apart. I still enjoyed my pizza, and will be back. The atmosphere won’t bring me back for a dinner bc it’s much too casual and lacking coziness, but I will be back.
I appreciate very much what they’re doing and will whole heartedly support a business trying to make the world more compassionate for animals. As for the price complaints??? Aurelio’s is much more and not half the thought is put into it. God I wish people cared where their food came from and didn’t mind spending a buck or two more… God forbid. Eat your gross meat pizza where the meat comes from FILTHY, disease ridden animals. Yummmmm.

I like the thought of Pizza Fusion more than I like Pizza Fusion. I like that they are eco-​friendly. I like their toilets that have a half flush option. I like their friendly easy going staff. However their efforts on sustainability is the only differentiating quality this pizza joint has. It’s not that I think the pizza was bad, it just wasn’t anything memorable.

As far as taste goes, there is no denying that they make a pretty damn delicious pie. I’m also surprised that they offer vegan options. My issue is the value. $ 17 is about standard for a large pizza, fine I’ll concur, but these pizzas are half the size of a regular one. If they were $ 10 each and an extra $ 1 for each topping, then they’d make a killing purely from the amount of business they would get. Everyone knows the cost of pizza ingredients are low. It’s simple economics: lower the costs + higher the price = higher the profit. But you’re price gouging like you have a mandate. And you have competition all over the place. I can get a legitimate sized large pizza at Whole Foods with Vegan Cheeze and Upton’s Sausage for $ 8.99. That’s a bad sign that you’re more expensive than Whole Paycheck. For shame…

I am rating the pizza as pizza, nothing else. I ordered with some coworkers for pick up. 3 of us got a large pepperoni, and 1 got a build your own personal size with just cheese and spinach.
I will start off saying that I could eat a large by myself, but would be more comfortable splitting amongst 2 people. Their was one large pepperoni on each slice, 4 middle slices and 4 corner slices. The crust was soggy and flimsy, much like next day microwaved pizza.
$ 17 for the large and $ 9 for the personal, I think there are way too many better pizza places to spend this much here.

I finally got to try this place with a group of my friends. We went here on a Wednesday night which is their ½ off bottles of wine night. Needless to say, the place was packed! I had called ahead and made reservations, but when we got there they were a table short and some of our party had to stand until another table was free.
Once our entire party got seated, we were greeted by an overly-​sarcastic, borderline rude waiter who thought being rude was somehow cute/​funny; it was neither. It took an entire hour to get our party seated, and get our drinks and meals ordered which I thought was a little much — but I was with good company and didn’t really mind waiting. I will say that I was happy that they agreed to do separate checks, but was reminded by our witty waiter that it was a «pain in the ass».
We all ordered personal size pizzas and were happy that everybody could get what they wanted rather than having to split large pizzas between a group. I ordered the Founders’ Pie, which was great and they hardly batted an eye when I asked to substitute feta for the gorgonzola. Okay, that isn’t really true — the waiter had a sarcastic remark but at this point I had tuned him out. I loved my pizza, but some of the other dinners didn’t like theirs as much. I heard that the one with Eggplant was a little bitter tasting. I was hoping after $ 10 for a pizza, I would be full — but I left wanting more. So if you come here, make sure it is for a light meal or plan to add a salad or something to your meal. The personal pizza won’t be enough alone unless you are looking for a small meal.
This place is pretty good, and it seems to be popular judging from the Wednesday night crowd. However, I feel like this is a little pricey for what it is and the service could use a little work.

I will give Pizza Fusion another shot. They have so many varieties, it’s hard not to order again! Using the easy on-​line option, I ordered the large Farmer’s Market pizza which was topped with roasted artichoke hearts, red onion, roasted zucchini and roasted portobello with tomato sauce, mozzarella, provolone, and parmesan. The taste was clean and not greasy. Definitely not Chicago-​style pizza, but really… rewarding. The ingredients were all delicious. I would love for coupons to be available because $ 17 for an 18“x9″ pizza is a bit steep.

Great food and great prices! Vegan pizza in Chicago is rare but this place was great!

We drove out here from Oak Park, a 30 mile trek, so that colors my take on things. The gluten-​free pizza with soy cheese is darn good, and my son was very happy to have a «real» pizza. But it’s not cheap. The regular large pizza, which only serves two (really), is around $ 20, and you add $ 7 to that for the gluten-​free crust. With drinks and dessert, our tab came to about $ 70 for two adults and two kids, before tip. Coupled with the drive out, it’ll be a special occasion if we ever come out again. But, it’s yummy, it’s certainly eco-​friendly (not counting our carbon footprint for the drive), and a nice option if you live closer. The gluten-​free vegan brownie, BTW, is really, really good, even if you eat meat and wheat. Oh, and service was friendly and prompt.

Great pizza with a wide variety of toppings and cheeses. Tasty salads with fresh, organic produce. Some excellent featured beer and wines. Friendly, knowledeable staff. Honestly, I can’t think of anywhere they could improve, other than opening more stores.
On a specific note, the vegan brownies were quite a surprise. How do you make a chocolate baked good without eggs or dairy? You’ll have to try it to believe it.

I have to say this place is pretty good.
What I like most about this place is that it’s different than most other pizza joints out there. Their pizza is pretty tasty — especially with all of the fresh veggies on it. It also makes me feel better about myself when I’m eating a pizza with all organic ingredients. I opted for the whole wheat crust — which was good. I will say however, that the portions are somewhat small. and since it’s thin crust, it goes pretty quickly. When my girlfriend and I ate there, I left wanting a bit more. Maybe this is for the better, considering 70% of our population is obese…
They also have a nice wine selection and pretty good prices. Wednesday is half price bottles of wine — which is awesome. they have other days that are devoted to gluten free products — which I don’t really understand — i think it only appeals to a very small population. I personally could care less, but for the vegans out there — I’m sure they’re delighted.
Overall, a cool place that is worth going to. Don’t go expecting to leave stuffed. but bring a few friends and drink wine on wednesdays!

what’s the big deal about this place? yes, the ingredients are fresh but it comes at a cost. i think the salad was 10 bucks and the large pizza for 2 – 3 was 20 bucks… i was disappointed with the portions. the flavors were also nothing extraordinary.
i understand that this place might be a nice alternative if you’re a vegan or cant eat gluten, but for the rest of us, i’ll stick to my traditional pizza places.
all and all, this place uses «earth/​green» gimmicks to sell food. it’s also a total chick place. :P

STILL 5 STARS!
Maybe this is my favorite place… my BF and I went here for Earth Day (I really wanted to win a wind turbine!) which was on a Wednesday and Wednesday at Pizza Fusion means ½ price bottles of wine! PHWOOSH! That was the sound of my face being blown off by the fantasmo ½ price wine, vegan brownie, and vegan pizza with added kalamata olives. Had I died after dessert, I would have been fine knowing my last memory was wine, pizza, and dessert at pizza fusion.
Next stop, Pizza Fusion Thursday for ½ price Gluten Free Beer– nummy, nummy!

A friend and I checked this place out for dinner last night; I’d read about it in venuszine, and the draw of organic pizza only a hackeysack’s throw away was too great.
The place is fairly small, only a handful of tables (each with a little vase of daisies on it – so sweet) and pretty quiet on the Tuesday night we were there.
We started with a salad; my friend suggested the roasted beet and feta. The beets most definitely did not taste roasted — they were cold and also did not possess the sweet, caramelized flavor of roasted vegetabled. We felt gypped. Ditto for the supposedly candied walnuts on said salad, which seemed to me to be raw. The roasted red onion was indeed roasted, at least. Overall, not the best executed salad.
The pizza more than made up for it, though. I Created My Own, on multigrain crust topped with roastd garlic, roasted red onion, roasted tricolor peppers, roasted portobellos and bacon (real, not canadian). The crust is crisp but not too thin, and the toppings were the perfect amalgam; I did well to choose all the roasted ones — it just gave the flavor more dimension.
My friend opted for the Greek pizza on multigrain, which she also enjoyed.
On the whole, I would certainly return, perhaps try a different salad (pear and gorgonzola was my initial option), and definitely save room for pizza. (If you take home leftovers — in a cute box bearing the legend «Made with love by _​_​_​» — bring the box back for 25 cents off next time, the waitress said. I guess you’d have to come back soon, or store it in your fridge for a while, or it might get funky…)
Close by, organic and darn tasty. I’ll be back for more.

The only vegan pizza in the Chicago burbs…
Plus– Gluten Free pizza/​beer/​brownies, and vegan brownies too.
My girlfriends and I took the afternoon off from work and drove out from the city to Naperville just for this– and those sky high expectations?
EXCEEDED.
Please move to the city?

In a word: wow. I did not expect an innovative, cool place like Pizza Fusion to open in the sprawling, pedestrian-​unfriendly, faceless suburbs of Chicago.
Pizza Fusion is expanding rapidly and seems to be opening a new franchise somewhere in the country every day. That’s a huge win for veg*ns and eco-​minded people, as 75% of the food here is organic, they use LEED design principles, and deliver all their pizzas in Priuses and Smart Cars.
Ironically, this Pizza Fusion is located in a brand new strip mall on what used to be verdant farmland not even a year ago. Next to it is a place called «MeatHeads» that is decidedly eco-​unfriendly. That said, Pizza Fusion is at least leading the way with better practices.
I came here with my father and we had a large «Very Vegan» pizza ($ 17) which was delicious: thin and flaky crust, rich tomato sauce, delectable crimini mushrooms, and soy cheese that looked, tasted and melted like real cheese. It was golden brown, didn’t look like plastic and melted thoroughly. For a moment I thought they’d gotten the order wrong, because I’ve never seen soy cheese this perfect before. While I’m not anti-​soy cheese like some people, I’m also not a huge fan of it; that said, this stuff tasted excellent and even impressed my father, who a) had never tasted soy cheese before and b) doesn’t even like pizza very much. Even he had to comment, «This is very good pizza,» and he doesn’t say that often about anything. And no, there’s no casein in the cheese; Pizza Fusion is completely casein-​free and even says so on the menu. They have some kind of proprietary soy cheese that is amazing; their gluten-​free crusts, also, are made of an interesting mixture of chickpeas, fava bean and rice flour. Amazing stuff.
I also had a Boylan’s bottled cola, which is made with cane sugar, and has a refreshing taste ($ 2.50).
We finished the meal with a vegan brownie ($ 4.50), which was moist, fluffy and rich, but not overly sweet, as it’s made with carob. It came with powdered sugar, powdered chocolate and ripe strawberries and was delicious, again impressing my father, who doesn’t like desserts or anything chocolate-​y.
The service was impeccable and super-​friendly. Our waiter went out of his way to discuss the principles of Pizza Fusion, pointing out the bamboo flooring, the bamboo menu, the recycled aluminum tiles on the wall, and the tables, which are made from reclaimed waste wood. He was caring, genuinely interested in our questions and was knowledgeable about all aspects of the business.
The atmosphere here is comfortably modern and classy; you could bring a date here, or bring your parents, or young children. I would give this place five stars, but they need more vegan items (maybe some fake meat toppings? one more vegan dessert? a few vegan appetizers?) for me to justify that. That said, this place is otherwise wonderful and is hopefully a sign of things to come in the suburbs of all major cities.

I’ve now been to Pizza Fusion 3 times since opening and had a great experience each time. I’ve also went with different people each time: omnis, veggies, and vegans, who all enjoyed it as much as I did.
Almost everything on the menu, including drinks, is organic. And many items are locally grown and eco-​friendly. They have hybrid cars for delivery, fixtures made from recycled & renewable materials. Staff is very helpful and pleasant, and willing to take time to explain the menu to those who aren’t familiar with the «green» aspect.
The pizza itself is delicious, and so glad they have so many vegan options. The crust is always cooked to perfection, and the tomato sauce is yummy. My favorite so far is the Farmer’s Market pizza with soy cheese which is loaded with organic veggies.
I admit it is a bit pricey, but you don’t mind paying a bit for the top quality ingredients, service, and the knowledge that you are supporting a great company that is hopefully a trail-​blazer for new & renovated eco-​friendly places of business.
ETA: Vegans & people with allergies beware — always check your pizzas if getting carry-​out or delivery! We ordered a pizza that had soy mozzerella written on the box, and receipt, but the pizza clearly had dairy mozzerella, and after sitting on hold for 5 minutes, hung up and brought the pizza back to them for a refund. Still a fan, but really disappointed with this wasteful mix-​up.