Marchese's Olive Pit
Restaurant, Bar
$$ - average
Pizza
Vegan-friendly pizzaria
Marchese's Olive Pit is a family-owned pizzaria in the Walker's Point area of Milwaukee...with a VEGAN CHEF! They only have one completely vegan pizza on the menu (Dan's Vegan Pizza-which has olive oil, garlic, and herb brushed crust with soy cheese, kalamata olives, mushrooms, and serrano peppers), but many other pizzas could be made vegan by omitting cheese or subbing soy cheese (they use Follow Your Heart vegan cheese).
The pizza menu is divided in half, with half being "Red sauce pizzas" and the other half being "No red sauce pizzas." All of the spreads served with herb-crusted bread are vegetarian, and three are vegan: roasted red pepper, olive tapenade, olive oil with garlic & herb. As of this writing (September, 2007), the chef says vegan desserts are in the works.
Vegan pizzas are about $18 and serve 2-3 people. When you sub vegan cheese for dairy cheese, it's $3 or $5, depending on what size pizza you get, but it's still affordable. The bread and spreads are $2 for one, or 3 for $5.50.
Their veggie toppings include kalamata olives, black olives, mushrooms, onions, caramelized onions, green peppers, tomatoes, serrano peppers, artichokes, spinach, pepperocini, and basil.
Marchese's has a bar in front with small, candle lit tables for small parties, and has a large table in the back in the V.I.P. section, which also has large, plushy couches, a fireplace, and a huge plasma TV.
They don't have any official closing time on Fridays and Saturdays, which means they're open LATE.
A block north of Greenfield Ave.
- Happy Hour
- Kid-Friendly
Added by Cass Danger on Sep 14 07 (updated Sep 14 07)
Reviews
In a word: AMAZING. I think I've tasted many a vegan pizza over the years and I am confident saying this was the best vegan pizza I've ever had.
We ordered "(chef) Dan's Vegan Pizza", which has kalamata olives, mushrooms, serrano peppers, and vegan cheese, and we added caramelized onions to it and it was fabulous. We also had "Doc's Garden Pizza" which has green peppers, onions, and tomatoes. We added black olives and subbed vegan cheese for the dairy chesse. This was also very good, but I preferred Dan's vegan pizza.
We also had the bread and spreads appetizer with the olive tapenade, roasted red pepper spread, and the olive oil w/ garlic & herb. I found the tapenade a bit salty, but good. I especially liked the olive oil spread because it had huge chunks of raw garlic. Yum.
The pizzas were huge for the price, and the ambiance was great, as was the service. The chef even came out when we were asking about vegan ingredients and hung out for a bit. Very nice and very dedicated. This place goes highly recommended.
This place has the best vegan pizza I've ever had in my life. I got Dan's Vegan Pizza and it was amazing. The appetizer of bread and dipping sauces is also spectacular! The wait is a bit long, but they make all of the dough fresh, so it's well worth it. Great place for a date, or for a group outing. I can't wait to go back.