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vegan pizza: daiya cheese, roasted garlic, fresh basil, tomatoes, red onions.

vegan pizza: daiya cheese, roasted garlic, fresh basil, tomatoes, red onions.

los angeles vegans, drop what you are doing and get over to purgatory pizza ASAP. purgatory is known to serve arguably best pizza in town covered with daiya cheese, and in just a few weeks their talented chef ricky is moving to seattle! while he’s trained the other employees to cook his recipes, the place just won’t be the same without him and you should definitely get over there before he’s gone.

we have been fans of ricky for so long, that now when we go in we just ask him to whip up a “chef special,” which means any recipe he can come up with on the spot. our most recent visit to purgatory yielded some of the best pizzas i’ve ever tasted. the first one, pictured above, came with huge chunks of roasted garlic, sliced tomatoes, fresh basil and red onion. the garlic and onion combo was delicious, and even though the chunks of garlic were huge, they weren’t overpowering.

ricky’s next creation was even more adventurous—a chicken taco pizza covered in daiya cheddar cheese, gardein chicken slices, black olives, jalapenos,tomato and red onion.

vegan chicken taco pizza: daiya cheddar cheese, gardein chicken, jalapenos, black olives, tomatoes, red onions.

vegan chicken taco pizza: daiya cheddar cheese, gardein chicken, jalapenos, black olives, tomatoes, red onions.

this pizza was so fucking good, i can’t even describe it. it really did taste like a chicken taco converted into a pizza. i wanted to eat it up with a side of salsa and vegan sour cream. i usually don’t like cheddar on pizza, but this worked surprisingly well and gave it a much more mexican taste. the jalapenos made it extra spicy, and as always, the gardein tasted amazing.

purgatory chicken taco cu 570x321 quick, go eat at purgatory pizza! chef ricky is leaving. :(

other recent chef ricky specials have included a greek pizza topped with kalamata olives…

vegan pizza: daiya cheese, kalamata olives, fresh basil and tomatoes.

vegan pizza: daiya cheese, kalamata olives, fresh basil and tomatoes.

and a vegan cheesesteak pizza with gardein beef strips, carmelized onions and sauteed mushrooms. (so unbelievably good!)

vegan cheesesteak pizza: gardein steak strips, carmelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, oregano.

vegan cheesesteak pizza: gardein steak strips, carmelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, oregano.

i mean, just look at these crazy pizzas. i guarantee that you can’t find pizza this tasty or inventive ANYWHERE else. while ricky is leaving behind his recipes, and purgatory will still continue serving up some of the best vegan pizza around, he is taking with him the magic that goes into making pies like these on the spot. i am pretty sure ricky leaves in around 3 weeks, and he works on fridays and weekends. be brave, and go ask for one of his special pizzas. you really won’t regret it.

and if you want to see even more delicious ricky creations that will help convince you to get your ass to purgatory, check out this older post.

if you haven’t tried purgatory pizza yet, you really are missing out. they are the only pizzeria in town offering daiya cheese AND high quality meats like field roast and gardein. i never ever thought vegan pizza could taste this good.

purgatory pizza
1326 east 1st street
los angeles, ca 90033
323 262 5310
open everyday 6pm – 11pm

we are gonna miss you chef ricky, but thanks for leaving behind the recipes for the best vegan pizza ever.

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  1. goddamn i’ve been missing out. can you believe i’ve only been to purgatory ONCE?! and that was pre-daiya.

  2. Wow… these pizzas look so amazing!! but I am not sure if I still wish to live in socal now :-D

  3. miss anthrope
    8:53 am on August 3rd, 2009

    brittany: you are nuts!!! go to purgatory! get a field roast pizza, it will blow your MIND.

  4. James
    8:59 am on August 3rd, 2009

    Purgatory needs to extend their hours a bit earlier. Those with the children cannot make it out and cannot pick up pizza on the way home from work.

    James

  5. James – Starting september 5th we will be open from 11 to 11. :)

    I’m gonna have to figure out how Ricky made those. He’d better train the guys before he splits!

  6. Jasmine
    10:16 am on August 3rd, 2009

    So where in Seattle will Chef Ricky be going?

  7. B-man
    10:37 am on August 3rd, 2009

    I am pleased to hear the new hours. I was going to add that the existing hours are not conducive to me visiting, ever.

  8. Greg
    1:41 pm on August 3rd, 2009

    How the shit am I supposed to lose weight when I’m so tempted to go eat 10 pizzas right now?!?!?!!

    :)

  9. VeganFoodWhore
    3:35 pm on August 3rd, 2009

    Nooo!!! Ricky was the man. We always talked about good music as I waited for pizza. Sad!!!

  10. i am still so sad i never got there before I left LA

  11. miss anthrope
    3:41 pm on August 3rd, 2009

    happy herbivore: it will be waiting for you when you return!

  12. [...] see some of the incredible pizzas that chef ricky has made in the past, check out this post or this post. chef ricky at purgatory [...]

  13. Kay
    12:57 pm on September 6th, 2009

    Those pizzas look so damn yummy! I have really bad pizza cravings now D:
    I wish there was a place in England near me that would sell yummy vegan pizzas! (Not just normal pizzas with the cheese taken off!)