Engfer Pizza Works — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

I've lived in Santa Cruz for almost five years and have only recently gotten to try Engfer Pizza Works. Where have I been because they really offer one of the better vegan pizzas in town.

They sport a large array of vegetarian friendly pizzas that can be veganized by removing the cheese (obvs) and using their house-made tofu spread and red sauce as a base for any pizza. They also offer a gluten-free crust too.

Being newbies, it was fitting for us to try their New-Bee Pizza (vegan style) - a toasty mix of garlic, olives, and red bell peppers. A large sets us back about $35 including tax. We also ordered their soup of the day, which was this creamy sweet potato stew that was fully plant-based too.

Our pizza was fantastic. Took about 15 minutes to come out but the crispy pizza crust with the fragrant toppings was really great. My only wish would be if they had some plant-based meat options or other appetizers besides the pizzas since we were hungry, but the pie itself was just great.

Drinks are easy to handle as well. You simply serve yourself water or head over to the large fridges to grab another beverage of your choice, and pay at the end along with your pizza.

Street parking is available if you're lucky to find some. It wasn't a problem for us visiting even late at night...

This spot has some great pizza, I like the technique and ingredients they use a lot. Usually I just have a couple slices of my roommates pizza when they order and I've never been disappointed. Today I went in for a salad after someone recommended it, saying "If you like their pizza, their salads are great too." I think they may have been confused, or they've changed their salads since last time he was there. For $8.50 I got a about 3 cups of mixed greens with balsalmic and a scoop of chicken salad. It all fit neatly in a Chinese food box. It's probably the most overpriced salad I've ever bought for what I got. That being said, I bet for 3.50 getting this salad as a side is probably the way to go. That brings me to the strangest thing about Engfer, what's up with the Togo stuff? They put salads in Chinese food boxes and they put their pizzas on a single sheet of cardboard covered in tinfoil. It's a really strange thing to see. Overall, their pizza and beer selection is great but expect to pay a pretty penny for it. They're definitely not priced for a...

Engfer Pizza's work has a chilling atmosphere. The air was too cold for a place with a wood-burning oven. The staff was relaxing by the counter because the place was deserted. They did not appear well-trained in either the art of pizza making or credit card processing operations. The pizza crust was stogy and thin in a way that happens when the dough is not kneaded correctly. I can see that the pizza oven was not running hot enough, which explains the lack of delicious charred bubbles on the pizza crust. The topping was greasy. It was so salty that all other flavors were nonexistent. Side salads had no dressing that I...