Malawi's Pizza, Provo: Gluten Free Restaurant Review

It almost seems like gluten free pizza options are easy to find these days. It's great to see how fast the gluten free landscape is changing. As long as we can feel confident that the restaurants providing gluten free food will take the proper steps to avoid cross contamination!

I was in Orem with my coworkers recently and we chose to go to lunch at Malawi's Pizza in the Riverwoods (north Provo). I had heard their gluten free pizza was a decent bet for avoiding cross contamination.

When I ordered, the cashier explained to me that she was also Celiac. It was interesting, however, that the employees couldn't agree on what ingredients were in the pesto (I'll give them a free pass on that one, and I didn't order the pesto). The menu makes it sounds like you can have any collection of pizza toppings on the gluten free crust, but it would be wise to ask the cashier which pizzas with pre-determined toppings are gluten free. The list is shorter than you would think, which is fine, as long as you know what's on the list!

My other top suggestion for ordering at Malawi's pizza is to go to the cash register on the north side of the restaurant to order (you will be able to see Provo Beach Resort out the window from this register, if you're not good with directions). The station seemed to have less orders processed through it, which seemed reassuring on less cross contamination. I was also pleased to find they offer Daiya dairy free cheese as a topping, and I happily ordered that on my pizza.

One of my favorite things about this pizza (I chose the BBQ chicken, upon the recommendation from the cashier) was that it was well cooked. The crust was the right amount of brown and was cooked so that it wasn't doughy or gummy, and the Daiya cheese was melted perfectly. When gluten free ingredients can be a little finicky, and can often have the wrong texture if prepared poorly, it was a nice surprise to have a pizza with nicely toasted crust and "fake" cheese that was melted correctly. 

This is still a place to order with caution, and I recommend you politely ask a lot of questions and make it clear to the staff that your needs are serious. The longer I do this, the more I'm convinced that a lot of eating success at a restaurant is one's ability to order well :).

Malawi's Pizza
4801 N. University Ave Suite 110
Provo, UT 84604
801.225.2800