Z Pizza is 'z' pizza

If you're lucky enough to have a Z Pizza store near you, then you've encountered one of the premier pizza chains in the country. They aren't everywhere (sorry Mom, none in Michigan yet), but it seems like they have appeal to pizza fans of all types. Riding the organic wave, this eatery is filled with organic ingredients, but also healthy ones too. (Yes, organic does not equal healthy.) With items like the 100% certified organic Montana Winter Flour whole wheat crust, which is highly flavorful but even more highly fiberful, you can instantly replace some empty pizza crust calories with fiber and nutrients. They also have a gluten free crust available and one of the best white pizza crusts I've ever tried.

Their low-fat Wisconsin mozzarella is a charmer among their selection of at least six cheeses. This includes parmesan, feta, gorgonzola, ricotta and even soy cheese. The mozzarella for being low in fat tastes just as good as any other pizza mozzarella, which was a nice surprise.

They seem to care not only about health but about flavor. Their available sauces include a 100% certified organic tomato sauce which was delicious, along with barbecue, pesto (basil or chipotle), roasted garlic, and Thai.

And their premium pizza topping list is impressive to say the least, complete with all the regular toppings, but shining brightest with kalamata olives, three kinds of wild mushrooms, four kinds of chicken (grilled, barbecue, lime and chicken sausage), pine nuts, avocado, artichoke hearts, truffle oil and even veggie sausage. To make the pizza really pop, they will add fresh cilantro, basil, oregano or oil on to your pizza for no additional charge.

It is so fun to build a pizza at Z Pizza, because you can customize it to be just how you like it – as healthy or unhealthy as you want, as complex or simple as you want, as vegetarian or meaty or vegan as you want, even as gluten free as you want. And the pizzas look gorgeous and taste fresh every time. So maybe it's a few dollars more for our pizza nights now that we go to Z Pizza. But as Julia says, “I'll always pay a couple more dollars to get something that's exactly what I want...and perfect.” I couldn't agree more.