Vegan food drives pizza shop’s sales

While the name may not suggest it, T.J.’s House of Pizza in Allston is a paradise for vegans.

Pizza, meatball subs, chicken fingers, buffalo wings, baklava and cheesecake are just a few of the vegan-friendly items adorning the menu at T.J’s House of Pizza, and vegan-lovers have helped their choice items outsell the T.J.’s traditional pizza shop menu.

Owner Hassan Moutouakkil said the once traditional pizza house evolved its menu to become vegan-based two years ago when an employee suggested the restaurant should include vegetarian and vegan options on the menu. So Moutouakkil contacted distributors and purchased some vegan cheese and meat products.

It was a considerable risk, but in the end Moutouakkil’s decision paid huge dividends.

“Every day I get different people,” Moutouakkil said. “‘Wow’ — I hear that word a lot from new customers. They don’t want to move out of the city because of it. There’s something unusual — there’s something truly different about this place.”

College of Arts and Sciences senior Bill Budington said he is a big fan of T.J.’s.

“I eat there all the time,” he said. “I love the vegan cheese pizza.”

Budington added he eats at T.J’s, wich as stopped serving veal, frequently with his vegan friends.

Moutouakkil said he is unsure how eager other pizzrias will be to follow him in offering such a large vegan menu because of the possible risks.

“You put your business in jeopardy, but hopefully some people will offer more, because I think it will help people,” Moutouakkil said. “I think it would help the community. I don’t look at it as competitive.

“I’m just doing my part, and people deserve more than they are getting,” he continued. “They have been so kind to me. People need this — they get sick of Asian food. It’s like, you got to get meatballs.”

Asian restaurants, along with Greek, Italian, Middle Eastern and Mexican restaurants, are some of the easiest places for vegans to find food they can eat, said Evelyn Kimber from the Boston Vegetarian Society.

“The international food communities are not as influenced by the meat and dairy industries as the American food community, so dining out is a lot easier,” Kimber said.

Kimber added she thinks restaurants are hesitant to adopt large vegan menus because of American mentality.

“I think restaurants are just run by ordinary people who put on their menus what they’re used to, and most of us grew up influenced by the meat industry,” she said.

Kimber said the Boston Vegetarian Society was delighted when T.J.’s began carrying vegan food, and Moutouakkil made a smart move when he hung distinctive signs to show customers that he separates his kitchen to non-vegan foods.

“It’s especially important when it comes to the grill because when greasy burgers are cooked on a grill and then you put a vegan burger on there, it’s going to absorb the animal fat,” she said.

Kimber said restaurants have responded to the high demand for vegan foods and healthier foods in general.

“Animal foods are not healthy for people,” she said.

Budington said he also likes Grasshopper, a vegetarian restaurant in Allston. He added Spike’s Junkyard Dogs on Brighton Avenue offers vegan hotdogs and there Harvard Square features another vegan pizza place.

University Professors freshman Aliston Tyler said she had never heard of T.J.’s House of Pizza, but she also likes Grasshopper, and added Boston is very receptive to the vegan community.

“Boston is a great place to be a vegan,” she said. “That was part of my college decision to come to BU, just because it’s so liberal.”

“I eat at a lot of ethnic restaurants,” she added. “They’re a lot easier to find vegan options. You just kind of learn what restaurants to go to.”

Moutouakkil said he gets customers from as far as New Hampshire, many begging him to expand and open places outside the city.

–DFP Staff Writer Priyanka Dayal contributed reptorting this story.