Hillside Pizza

Man, I was really looking forward to eating here at Hillside based on the lavish praise it had received here. But I was sorely disappointed.

Do not go here if you do not want to purchase a full pizza that is ridiculously overpriced.

First of all, if you want to add vegan cheese to your pizza, it's a whopping $3 extra. Then add the rest of the toppings. Secondly, they do not even sell individual slices of vegan pizza. There were no vegan baked goods, and the menu was very confusing and was split up in two different places.

I finally settled for a wrap (the only vegan thing they had on the menu that wasn't a full pizza) without the honey Dijon dressing. Fine. But it came out in a tiny cold tortilla filled with mostly raw onions, some cabbage, and lettuce- clearly the leftovers from unordered salad-making materials. There was so much raw onion that I couldn't even finish eating it.

Save yourself some grief and skip this place.

I can't say enough about this pizza. My family loves it. Such a nice change fro the greasy fast-food pizza that is so common around here.

Hillside has been a favorite pizza place for several years, and the quality has been consistent. The restaurant uses many local and organic ingredients, and the quality is apparent. In addition to pizza, the salads are excellent, and there are sometimes vegan baked goods for dessert. In one of the locations seitan and tempeh sandwiches are available- call ahead to either the Deerfield or Hadley restaurants to find out ahead if you have your heart set on a sandwich. The portions for all items are ample.

The only slightly negative experience I have ever had at Hillside was a couple years ago when I found out that ordering just a slice with vegan cheese meant that staff scraped off the dairy cheese from a slice and then rebaked the slice with vegan cheese. I talked with staff about my dislike for that practice as a vegan who would not want to eat food that had at one time contained dairy, and I do not know if this practice continues. However, if you order a whole pie with vegan cheese there is no cross contamination.

this place is within walking distance of my house, which is amazing. the pizza is made with follow your heart cheese, and I can imagine that may be a turn off or a turn on. Nice thin crust, and a wide variety of toppings (try the tempeh bacon!) the price is a bit high, but if you live near here it's worth it.