T.Hanks, Vinnie's Pizzeria!

If you've never been to Vinnie's Pizzeria, I emphatically suggest that you do whatever you have to do in order to get there immediately.  Vinnie's is an authentic, omnivorous pizzeria in Brooklyn that caters to vegans in a most welcoming and impressive manner.  The term "vegan-friendly" doesn't even begin to cover it; they don't just accommodate, they extraordinarily impress. They carry two types of vegan cheese: Teese and Daiya (Team Daiya here); if you don't see what you like, slices can be made to order; there are vegan specials of the day; and, they even have Vegan Treats for dessert (good luck saving room).

Upon my first visit, they could not have left me with a better feeling: we were in a rush, but they didn't hesitate to explain the options and then make us individual Daiya slices on the fly.  They were so delicious that my friend and I have been daydreaming about them ever since (okay, likely me more than him). 

Fast forward a year almost two years (how did that happen?!) and we'd made concrete plans to return with friends.  You can order any concoction you can dream up (we saw more than one avocado-topped slice go by), but the vegan special on that day was the vegan spare tire: chopped broccoli, vegan spare rib, and fresh basil topped with vegan mozzarella cheese and hot sauce.  Oh yeah.  We ordered a large pie: half special/half plain, and wondered how we'd survive the 15-20 minute wait.

Since we were all just sitting around not chewing, I took the liberty of ordering (confirmed vegan) garlic knots for the booth of us.  They were served with marinara and disappeared in seconds.

Then I photographed some of the sights in the small, authentic pizzeria.  Of course, their famous T.Hanks garbage receptacle.

And, this rendering of the Pope in a pepperoni hat. 

Finally, it was time to mangia.  Just looking at these photos makes me want to return immediately.

 

My Daiya slice doused with red pepper flakes and oregano.

And, the special slice: vegan spare tire: chopped broccoli, vegan spare rib, and fresh basil topped with vegan [Daiya] mozzarella cheese and hot sauce, also doused with red pepper flakes and oregano.

Both incredible!!!

Vinnie's is superb.  I'm sure they could be perfectly busy running an authentic, solely omnivorous pizzeria, but for some reason they choose to be vegan-inclusive and knock it out of the park.  Regardless of the fact that there is a constant crowd, the staff is impressively patient, efficient, and generally fab; our whole meal was seamlessly coordinated by a friendly, young woman who never missed a beat.

See, they're even nice about that.

I can assure you that it will not be another two years before I visit again.