Blaze Pizza - Wikipedia

American fast-casual pizza chain Blaze Pizza, LLC.

Blaze Pizza in Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Trade name	Blaze Pizza
Company type	Private
Industry	Food and beverage
Genre	Fast-casual restaurant
Founded	2011; 15 years ago (2011) in Pasadena, California
Founders	Elise and Rick Wetzel
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Number of locations	300+
Area served	United States, Canada, Bahrain
Key people	Rick Wetzel (Co-Founder)
Products	Pizza, salad, cheesy bread, desserts, drinks
Website	blazepizza.com

Blaze Pizza is an Atlanta, Georgia[1]–based fast-casual pizza restaurant chain. Founded in 2011 by Elise and Rick Wetzel of Wetzel's Pretzels, the chain is known for serving made-to-order pizzas.[2]

History

[edit]

Blaze Pizza was founded in Pasadena, California, by Rick and Elise Wetzel in 2011.[citation needed] The chain's first location was opened in Irvine, California, in August 2012,[3] which was followed two months later by the opening of their second, and flagship store, location in October 2012 in Pasadena.[4] The chain serves made-to-order pizzas, with a choice of various sauces and toppings. Its business model is similar to other chains such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Subway.[5][6][7] The pizzas are cooked in a high-temperature open-flame oven with an average cook time of three minutes.[8] The only piece of cooking equipment inside each of the restaurants is an oven.[9]

By the end of 2014, Blaze had become the first fast-casual pizza restaurant to achieve 50 opened units.[10] The company planned to have at least 500 locations by 2020.[11]

In 2015, the company began to expand into Canada.[12] In partnership with Alshaya, the company opened locations in the Middle East in 2018.[13][14]

In 2024, the company announced its plans to move its headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia to support future expansion plans.[15]

References

[edit]

1. ^ "Blaze Pizza relocating California headquarters". Fox News.
2. ^ Oches, Sam (September 2013). "Pizza's Arms Race". QSR Magazine. Journalistic Inc. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
3. ^ Lucero, Jaryd (April 17, 2012). "Subway-style pizza outlet to open near UC Irvine". Orange County Register.
4. ^ O'Heron, Dan (November 15, 2012). "Pizza in a flash: Blaze Pizza is the latest hit in Pasadena's Playhouse District". Pasadena Weekly. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
5. ^ Lutz, Ashley (February 12, 2015). "A Chipotle-style pizza chain endorsed by LeBron James is taking over America". Business Insider. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
6. ^ Balla, Lesley (January 6, 2014). "10 Innovative Restaurants Around LA". Zagat. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
7. ^ Giammona, Craig (April 14, 2015). "lebron-backed Pizza Chain Aims to Top Chipotle". Bloomberg Business News. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
8. ^ Marchand, Lisa. "In a Blaze of Pizza Glory". Minnesota Monthly. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
9. ^ Tanyeri, Dana (January 31, 2013). "Blaze Pizza". Foodservice Equipment & Supplies Magazine.
10. ^ Jennings, Lisa (December 12, 2014). "Blaze Pizza to lead fast-casual pizza chains in units open". Nation's Restaurant News. Penton. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
11. ^ Chaplin, Cathy (January 29, 2015). "L.A.'s fast-casual pizza shops: A look at 7 margherita pizzas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
12. ^ Fitzpatrick, Hayley (August 3, 2015). "A pizza chain that emulates Chipotle and counts LeBron James as an investor is going international". Business Insider. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
13. ^ "Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza hosts launch event in Bahrain". Biz Bahrain. September 16, 2018.[permanent dead link]
14. ^ "Blaze Pizza opens its first branch in UAE". UAE News 24/7. September 4, 2019. Archived from the original on September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
15. ^ "Blaze Pizza Headquarters moving from California to Georgia". East Bay Times.

External links

[edit]

• Official website

v t e Pizza chains (list)
Global	Blaze Pizza Boston Pizza/Boston's California Pizza Kitchen Chuck E. Cheese Dodo Pizza Domino's Little Caesars Papa John's Pizza Hut Pizza Inn PizzaExpress Rossopomodoro Sarpino's Pizzeria Sbarro Shakey's Pizza Telepizza The Pizza Company Uno Pizzeria & Grill Vapiano Yellow Cab Pizza Co.
Regional	Africa Debonairs Pizza (ZA) Roman's Pizza (ZA) Asia Origus (CN) Aoki's Pizza (JP) Greenwich Pizza (PH) Mr. Pizza (KR) Napoli Pizza and Fried Chicken (TW) Smokin' Joe's (IN) Pizza-La (JP) Europe Apache Pizza (IE) Ask Restaurant (UK) EasyPizza (UK) Kotipizza (FI) L'Osteria (DE) Peppes Pizza (NO) Pizzaland (UK) Prezzo Restaurant (UK) Speed Rabbit Pizza (FR) Spizzico (IT) Tops Pizza (UK) Zizzi (UK) North America Benedetti's Pizza (MX) Cicis Pizza (US) Donatos Pizza (US) Fox's Pizza Den (US) Freshslice Pizza (CA) Giordano's (US) Godfather's Pizza (US) Greco Pizza (CA) Happy's Pizza (US) Home Run Inn (US) Hot Lips Pizza (US) Hungry Howie's Pizza (US) Hunt Brothers Pizza (US) Imo's Pizza (US) Jerry's Subs & Pizza (US) Jet's Pizza (US) Ledo Pizza (US) Lou Malnati's (US) Marco's Pizza (US) Mazzio's (US) Mellow Mushroom (US) MOD Pizza (US) Mountain Mike's Pizza (US) Mr. Gatti's Pizza (US) Panago (CA) Papa Gino's (US) Papa Murphy's (US) Peter Piper Pizza (US) Pie Five (US) Pieology (US) Pizza 73 (CA) Pizza Delight (CA) Pizza Factory (US) Pizza Haven (US) Pizza Nova (CA) Pizza Patrón (US) Pizza Pizza (CA) Pizza Ranch (US) Pizza Salvatore (CA) Rosati's (US) Rotolo's Pizzeria (US) Round Table Pizza (US) We, the Pizza (US) Your Pie (US) South America Jeno's Pizza (CO) Mario's (TT) Mister Pizza (BR) Oceania Crust Pizza (AU) Eagle Boys (AU) Hell Pizza (NZ) Pizza Capers (AU) Pizza Haven (AU)
Master franchisees	Domino's Pizza Enterprises (AU, BE, FR, MC, NL, NZ) Domino's Pizza Group (CH, DE, IE, UK) Jubilant FoodWorks (Domino's - BD, IN, LK, NP)
List articles	List of Canadian pizza chains List of pizza chains of the United States List of pizza franchises
Companies portal

Portals:

• Companies
• Food
• United States