5015 W. Main StreetSome people are just better than others when it comes to marketing….especially in today’s digital world where word of mouth is amped up to 11 with the help of social media.
For a few weeks now, I’ve been seeing signs of a new pizza place coming in to the West Century Center on West Main and Drake in Oshtemo Township. A couple of weeks ago, I opened up my email to see a note from this new pizza joint. They had found this blog and offered to send me a couple of coupons for a free pizza. It’s not something that happens often with this blog nor is it something I expect. I was going to stop in on opening day regardless just because the concept sounded like something that we were going to love.
Blaze Pizza’s first Michigan location outside of Metro Detroit opened Thursday in the corner space of the West Century Center where a Verizon store was before the big remodel. Before I started seeing signs for the restaurant, I had never heard the name Blaze Pizza before. They’re a fairly new chain concept getting started only a couple of years ago and they have some big name backers from the West Coast….including the founder who is also the founder of Wetzel’s Pretzels.
Opening day wasn’t really announced as they have been advertising Free Pizza Day for Friday. It seems like they were getting in some practice with a live audience before what will probably be an all day rush for the freebies.
The set up is similar to all of the new sandwich/Mexican concepts. You walk up to a counter where they have fresh dough already laid out on a pizza peel. They went over the Signature Pizzas with me before I started, but I decided to just go with the Build-Your-Own.
The first station on the pizza’s journey to the oven is the sauce. They have three choices plus some drizzles. I opted for the Spicy Red Sauce because…you know…spicy. From there, it was over to cheese. I stuck with the classic mozzarella although there are seven options including a vegan cheese.
Next stop was the meats. The great thing about Blaze Pizza is that no matter how many toppings you put on the pizzas, it’s all the same price. If you just want a cheese and pepperoni, fine. If you want something more artisan, great. The price is the same. I selected pepperoni and bacon for my meat options then the pizza was passed on to the veggie station.
There is a pretty large selection of veggies and at first, I was going to only pick fresh basil, but then I noticed jalapenos…..and roasted garlic….so those got tossed on as well.
Once the pizza was finished, they topped it off with sea salt and dried oregano then tossed it in to the open-flame oven where cook time is expected to be about three minutes (I didn’t time it).
While the pizza was cooking, I stepped up to the cashier and gave them one of my coupons for a free pizza. They have Coke products, so I passed on a drink, but they also have Monster and bottles of water next to the counter as well as a half dozen salads if you need something to go with the pizza.
Once the pizza was finished, it was pulled out of the oven, cut, and boxed up. My name was called and I was handed to the pizza to go. They also have a pretty large dining room and your pizza is served on large metal plates when you eat in.
The pizza cooks so fast because it is a really thin crust. The whole thing is baked to a nice golden brown which leaves the crust nice and crunchy. My pizza was incredibly spicy but I couldn’t tell if it was the peppers or the sauce…or, more likely, a combination of the two. Everything on top of the pizza was nice and crispy and since I got to design it myself, there was no doubt that I was going to love every bite.
The pizza from Blaze is exactly the kind of pizza J and I like…and also, on weekends, they’re open until 3 AM! No more McDonalds on my way home from work.
Blaze is not a typical pizza joint and no, they don’t deliver. For $8 bucks you get a tasty gourmet pizza and you get it quick. I was on my way to work when I stopped in and it really didn’t take too much longer than stopping at a sub shop, but much, much tastier.
Build-Your-Own Pizza w/pepperoni, roasted garlic, jalapenos, fresh basil, mozzarella, and spicy red sauce
Build-Your-Own-Pizza
