Proof positive that pizza can be a healthy and delicious meal choice as well as an environmentally friendly decision. However, there is a premium cost for this alternative, and service at this particular location remains in need of some more motivation.
Pizza Fusion boasts a 75% organic menu with many choices for those with restricted diets, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free options. They also construct and operate their stores in an environmentally responsible manner, ranging from the use of hybrid delivery vehicles and 100% post-consumer recycled delivery boxes to following LEED-certified store construction standards.
We stopped for lunch on a Sunday afternoon and found several other diners had done the same, making it reasonably busy at what I might have expected to be a rather quiet time of the day. The store is part of a significant amount of business development that popped up around Gibsonia, which lies at the intersection of Route 8 and Route 910 just north of the Butler exit on the PA Turnpike. So it is a welcome addition to an area that has not offered a lot of differentiated food choices.
We ordered house salads ($4) and bread sticks ($4) w/ olive tapenade ($2) to start. All were made to order. So while it took ten minutes to come out of the kitchen, everything was distinctively fresh and delicious. The organic green mix, tomatoes, sweet red onion, and cucumbers were not overly chilled and generously portioned on large, bamboo plates. The bread sticks were light and fluffy and just greasy enough to be tasty. The tapenade was fresh and flavorful, as was the tomato sauce (clearly no sugar added).
We ordered two large specialty pizzas ($23 each, serves 3-4):
The Seattle was a bruschetta-like topping on an organic white flour crust with a light cheese topping. Very good but probably better as a side dish or an appetizer unless you prefer the fresh taste of tomatoes over a traditional red sauce.
The Prosciutto and Olive pizza was also ordered with organic white crust and is precisely as described. The prosciutto was very good and sufficiently portioned without being overly meaty. The downside of this pizza was the use of rather ordinary (and somewhat flavorless) sliced black olives, where a slightly better quality Italian olive might have worked better.
The Pizza Fusion pies are oval shaped, thin crusted, and cut into squares. The large is a 16-cut (28" x 9"). The medium is an 10-cut (18" x 9").
Service was friendly and articulate, but overall it lacked promptness. The ten minute wait for salads was too long, apparently because we were waiting for the breadsticks (which could have come later). And after finishing our meal, it took a while before our check arrived and our leftover items were boxed. We then had to bring the check to the counter when nobody came back to take our payment. Overall, the waitstaff needs to pay more attention to what is happening in the dining area and be less involved with what is going on back in the kitchen (where there were at least three people working).
Pricing is the only other area of concern. While we ordered far more food than needed for three people, a large pizza and appetizers and drinks still would have resulted in a $40-50 check including tip. Add in beer or wine and dessert and a dinner for three could easily run $75-80 before tip. Which sadly reinforces the fact that healthy and environmentally conscious food options are still somewhat restricted to those who can afford to make that choice.