Pizza Research Institute

Cris Bisch
448 reviews
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PRI's Periodic Table of Toppings - Extraodinary & Noble

I thought Eugene had only one place to go for gluten-free pizza. Wrong. There's one more, and it's awesome! Pizza Research Institute has spent a year and a half perfecting their gluten-free pizza dough with secret ingredients. Our waitress was mum... "trade secret", she whispered. I can't imagine how good their regular crust must be. Just as we were leaving, another waitress was serving up a large pizza to a group that looked like a work of art with chunks of corn on the cob worked into what I'll call its "top-ography"... no slurry of thin red sauce with a scant trace of toppings there. Matter of fact, building your own pizza is can be a bit of a food fest with items on their periodic table like sweet potato, peach, pear, walnuts, baked spicy tofu, curried cauliflower, asparagus.... I ordered a half & half: chevre, marinated eggplant and caramelized onion/ grilled zucchini, mushrooms and smoke cheddar. The menu is vegetarian and vegan.

PRI also have specialties like their herb bread spirals served with buttermilk poppy seed or vegan tomato sauce and fresh jalapeno poppers filled with savory cream cheese, fresh Parmesan, wrapped in puff pastry and served with raspberry hoisen sauce.

Lots of beverages to choose from, including certified organic wines, a selection of micro brews, fresh pressed apple and pear juices and PRI's homemade lemonade with Bear Mountain honey.

The space is large overall, but divided between two open, well-lit interior rooms and two outdoor dining areas and a roll-up metal door for balmy evenings. A red metal cargo container, an extension of the kitchen, juts out into the dining area with a window cut into it for the wait staff to pick up their orders. The white-washed cinder block and sheet rock walls serve as a backdrop for some great art. Live music every Wednesday and Friday.

Want to know the daily specials? -Read the plates on the wall. Everything on the PRI menu is available for take-out. You can print the menu from off the website.

Cris' keywords: pizza gluten free appetizers salads soups beer wine vegetarian vegan organic music art