HomeMade Pizza Co.   

It took two years, but I finally recalibrated my taste for pizza. Gluten-free pies are readily available in the DC region, I can’t complain about that. But a crust made from rice, chickpea or sorghum flour is just a different animal than its wheat-based counterpart. Gluten-eating sympathizers will often compare and acknowledge that g-free is “not bad” or “actually pretty good!” But that “pretty good” pizza is mine forever. Now, when I crave pizza, I salivate thinking about the thin, delicate and often soggy kind. How delish.

One of the better options around town is the gluten-free crust at HomeMade Pizza Co. The DC and Illinois based company is unique to begin with. Gourmet pizza’s are prepared in-house using fresh, locally-sourced ingredients, and packaged with instructions for baking at home. It’s brilliant, actually. After 15 minutes in the oven you have a piping hot pie that taste like a lot more at-home labor.

The HomeMade Pizza Co. menu allows customers to build their own pie if the pre-curated combinations don’t strike it just right. Start with a choice of crust (regular, whole wheat, deep dish or gluten-free), then add a base (tomato sauce, olive oil, BBQ sauce, ranch, pesto), and a selection of toppings from cheeses to meats, vegetables and herbs. The gluten-free crust, offered since 2011, is comprised of rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch and corn starch. The dough is prepared, rolled out, and sealed in an off-site, certified gluten-free kitchen, then delivered to HomeMade locations to be topped off.

Unfortunately the tiny storefronts do not accommodate separate work stations. While staff is careful to keep gluten-free crusts contamination-free, a thin coating of wheat-flour dusts even the cash register at the 14th Street location that I frequent. If I appear antsy when I pick up my orders it’s because I’m anxious to get back outside for a full breath of fresh air! At least the baking takes place in the safety of my own kitchen. Mr. Green Bean’s cheese pizza (sometimes on whole wheat to justify eating a slice too many) goes on the bottom rack. My HomeMade favorite, the Spinach Pie with feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic, pine nuts, Kalamata olives and oregano over an olive oil glaze, sits daintily on the top. The result: well, thin, of course, with a crispy “crust” (indistinguishable from the rest of the pie, except that it’s topping-less) and a light, buttery flavor. Toppings are fresh, plentiful, and easily modifiable (think light-on-the-cheese, extra saucy or added anchovies for free).

Rated relative to other gluten-free pies, HomeMade definitely wins a spot on my fast food rotation. However, the company should make some improvements to avoid cross-contamination and control the wafting flour that us gluties avoid like second-hand smoke.

HomeMade Pizza Co., various locations in Washington DC and VA.