Extreme Pizza, Walnut Creek, California, Offers Gluten-Free Pizza
04/21/2010 – Press Release

(Walnut Creek, Calif., April 20, 2010) – – Isn’t it about time for some GOOD news? Extreme Pizza thinks so, and now for those who think they can’t indulge their love of pizza and a good cold beer because their life depends on a gluten-free diet, can now easily satisfy their craving thanks to Extreme Pizza in Walnut Creek.

Franchise owner, Dave Wright was determined to offer gluten-free pizza after talking with his wife, Catherine Wang, a medical doctor, who has patients with either wheat allergies or celiac disease – both of which require following a gluten-free diet. Dr. Wang mentioned to Wright that her patients living gluten-free sometimes have challenges navigating their diet due to limited food choices that are flavorful and easy to prepare.Extreme Pizza is known for its gourmet pizzas that feature a variety of unique toppings such as Mandarin Oranges, homemade hummus, and BBQ pork. The company takes great pride in a menu offering ‘something for everyone.’ “Offering a gluten-free pizza at our location allows us to take our philosophy one step further. The smiles we get from our customers makes it worthwhile,” said Wright.

While Extreme Pizza offers regular and wheat pizza crusts, their gluten-free pizza crust is made of rice, bean, and tapioca flours. Wright has partnered with Still Riding Pizza (www.stillridingpizza.com) – makers of the gluten-free crust. To maintain the crust’s purity, it’s produced and pre-baked at Still Riding’s Gluten-Free and Kosher-Certified facility in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Gluten is the common name for the binding protein in all forms of wheat (including durum, semolina, spelt, kamut, einkorn, faro – and related grains rye, barley and triticale, a hybrid cross of wheat and rye) that are particularly harmful to people with wheat allergies/intolerance or celiac disease. Celiac disease is an immune-medicated toxic reaction that causes damage to the small intestine and doesn’t allow food to be properly absorbed. Approximately 3.2 million people in the United States have celiac disease.

“Since wheat flour is used in most everything that we eat – pizza doughs, breads, pastas, pie crusts, desserts, sauces, and gravies, we are thrilled to offer gluten-free crust to our customers that can’t have traditional pizza because of their diet. We’ve also gone one step further and are serving Red Bridge gluten-free beer,” added Wright.

While eager to rollout a gluten-free crust, Wright was hesitant to do so until he could assure that the potential for cross-contamination had been addressed. “Still Riding Pizza has been instrumental with helping us on an operational level. We prepare the gluten-free pies in a dedicated area of our kitchen, using dedicated equipment including pizza screens, peelers, baking trays, and cutters. We carefully follow that pie all the way to the box to ensure that there is no cross-contamination,” explained Wright.

Wright and his staff are always happy to take time to explain the gluten-free process to their customers, so that they can be confident in the process. “Customers who have been ordering the gluten-free pizza have been extremely pleased and saying that the crust is light and flavorful. Several customers have commented that they can’t tell the difference from regular thin-crust pizza. Customers have also enjoyed the surprisingly classic taste of the gluten-free beer, which is brewed with sorghum, not with wheat or barley,” added Wright.

Five out of the 19 Signature Pizzas offered at Extreme Pizza are not gluten-free. For example, the Everest contains meatballs make with breadcrumbs; Poultry Geist and Holy Cow both have gorgonzola cheese, which starts as a culture on bread; Wingin’ It’s secret sauce contains grains; the Kickin’ Chicken’s dressing contains soy sauce (which is made from wheat). It’s never a problem to customize a pizza order and also include one of Extreme’s healthy varieties of salads with their homemade gluten-free vinaigrette dressing.

All menu items, including gluten-free pizza, can be ordered online, by phoning in, dining in, or taking out. Home and business delivery service is available. To place an order, call 925.930.6100 or go to www.walnutcreek.extremepizza.com. Extreme Pizza is located at 1630 Cypress Street in Walnut Creek and is open Sunday – Thursday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. – 2 a.m. Indoor and patio seating are available.

There are many choices for gluten free restaurant meals in the Walnut Creek area.