Morning, friends!

Sorry for my weekend hiatus.  I needed a break from the internet.  I’m back though, and with some exciting stuff for your Monday morning.  Weekend update to be posted later this week.

If you’ve been following Fitness & Feta for a while, you may remember some of my previous posts about Naked Pizza (click here and here), or seen them on my Bars & Restaurants Page.  I really enjoy ordering from Naked, so I was pretty excited about the chance to work with them for some promotional opportunities!

You might be asking yourself what Naked Pizza is all about.  Well, I got to find out on Friday night by visiting Naked at their Brighton location – right down the street from me!  For all you Boston folks, they offer a Brookline location in Coolidge Corner as well.  I learned that the company actually began with the name “World’s Healthiest Pizza” when it was founded in 2006 as a means for providing affordable and healthy pizza to Hurricane Katrina survivors in New Orleans.  Since then, they’ve obviously changed their name and also opened 23 more locations throughout the United States.  The franchise has plans to open 3-4 more U.S. locations in 2012.

Naked Pizza first caught my eye back in February 2011 when it opened its Brighton chain.  Clearly I was intrigued by the signs boasting all natural ingredients and the marketing tactics geared toward consumers seeking healthier alternatives.  Healthier pizza?  Could it be?

Okay, maybe the giant green sign flashing the word naked at me had something to do with grabbing my attention too.

Anyways, chatting with Sarah at Naked Pizza on Friday during my visit was really cool.  Not only was she super nice and welcoming, but I could tell she takes pride in working for Naked.  That definitely says a lot about a company.  Sarah gave me the run down on why exactly Naked Pizza is a better food choice over some of your other typical za joints that strip the nutrition right out of their highly processed pies.

First of all, “naked” means natural.  As in, there aren’t any additives, preservatives, colorants, or chemicals in their crust, sauces, or cheese.  They also don’t add sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or hydrogenated oil to any of their products.  The restaurant claims that their pizza is  “simply an honest diversity of all-natural, whole food ingredients that taste better and ARE better for you.”

How?

  • CRUST:  Contains 10 different grains, including oats, brown rice, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, teff, spelt, tapioca, and 2 types of wheat.  It’s also made up of prebiotic agave fiber and probiotics.  They offer their regular Ancestral Blend®, the skinny Ancestral Blend® crust, as well as a gluten-free option for all you Chronie’s/Celiacs out there.
  • SAUCE:  The all natural tomato sauce is spiced and herbed, with no added sugar or citric acid.
  • CHEESE:  The real Wisconsin mozzarella cheese is 100% natural and rGBH-free.
  • MEATS:  The pork, chicken, and beef are free of any type of growth hormones or antibiotics.
  • VEGGIES:  All natural with no additives!

This was really interesting to learn because obviously I knew that pizza made with all natural ingredients is a healthier option than Domino’s, but I never knew all these details behind it!

Aside from pizza, Naked also sells breadsticks and salads, but I had never tried either before.  Tim and I have had the Sonoran and the Superbiotic pizzas,  but on Friday we left with a large “Rajin’ Cajun” skinny crust pizza (Sausage – only on half, Chicken, Garlic, Bell Pepper, and Onion) and a side of Cheesy Breadstixx (Tasty mozzarella and cheddar, chewy Ancestral Blend® pull-apart bread with prebiotics and probiotics).  I think I liked the toppings on the Superbiotic more (Artichoke, Spinach, Bell Pepper, Mushroom, Garlic, Red Onion, Cilantro), but definitely a bigger fan of the skinny crust!

While we were waiting for our pizza to be made, I got to take a little tour of the kitchen!  One thing that really stood out to me was the care going into the pizza making.  I noticed the fresh dough and how clean the toppings station was.  I don’t think all pizza places can claim the same!

Tim and I were really excited about our food and a lazy Friday night in.  Thanks, Naked Pizza!

See?  Told you I was excited. 🙂

But enough about me.

Now it’s YOUR turn to be excited for Naked Pizza’s FREE GIVEAWAY:

Naked Pizza has generously offered to give away a $20 gift card to one lucky reader of this post!  Pretty awesome, huh?

I’m offering a few different ways to enter this contest.  You can choose to do one step or all of them, but you have to leave separate comments for each entry in order for them to countAnd you have to do #1. 

  1. Go to the Naked Pizza website and decide what you think your favorite pizza would be, then leave a comment on this post telling me what your ‘za of choice is!
  2. Subscribe to my blog via the “Follow Me!” section in the right sidebar.
  3. Like the Fitness & Feta Facebook page here.
  4. Like the Naked Pizza Facebook page and/or follow Naked Pizza on Twitter.
  5. Post about the contest on your own Facebook page, Twitter, or blog and include a link to this page.

I will be announcing the winner on Wednesday morning.  Good luck!!

P.S.  Since I took my weekend hiatus from the internet, here are three days worth of Be Thankful Challenges:  I am thankful for spontaneous weekend getaways, great sales, and of course – good pizza!