Recently, a new “build-your-own” pizza place opened up near us, on the edge of CSUN: Pieology. This is competition for the other “build-your-own” pizza place three blocks north, Pizza Rev. So tonight we went over to Pieology to give them a try. I think we’ll stick with Pizza Rev. Here’s why:
- Both have gluten-free crusts (important for my wife). But Pizza Rev has sauce for gluten-free crusts in separate squirt bottles, with a separate utensil to spread the sauce, and separate trays for cooking. Pieology uses shared sauce and shared spreaders. Bzzzzt, you lose, if you are celiac.
- Pizza Rev has a greater variety of sauces: olive oil, red sauce, white sauce, BBQ sauce. Pieology has red sauce, herb butter, and olive oil.
- Pieology optionally spreads olive oil on their crusts. Although this results in a browner crust, it also results in a greasier pizza.
- Pizza Rev has a greater variety of cheese: mozzarella, reduced-fat mozzarella, feta, bleu, ricotta, and vegan cheese. Pieology: mozzarella, ricotta, parmesian, and gorgonzola.
- Pizza Rev has a greater variety of protein: pepperoni, spicy pepperoni, beef pepperoni, Italian sausage, sweet fennel sausage, spicy chorizo, crumbled beef meatball, canadian bacon, crispy bacon, grilled chicken, and anchovies. Pieology … quite a lot less: pepperoni, sausage, meatball, chicken, ham, bacon.
- Pizza Rev has a greater variety of veggies: Pizza Rev: mushrooms, red onions, green bell peppers, tomatoes, pineapple, black olives, kalamata olives, basil, spinach, garlic, pepperoncinis, jalapeños, fennel seed, arugula, capers, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes. Pieology: black olives, mushrooms, red onions, green peppers, artichokes, tomato, pineapple, jalapeños, basil, cilantro, and garlic. The only thing unique to Pieology is cilantro, whereas Pizza Rev is the only one with kalamata olives, spinach, pepperoncinis, fennel seed, arugula, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes.
The pizza at Pizza Rev was about $1 more, and I think it tastes better. It will be interesting to see which wins in the long run. It all depends on the fickleness of CSUN students.
