Blaze Pizza oven
7419 Baltimore Ave., last home to Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, has been vacant for what seems like a short eternity. But today, Blaze Pizza opens its doors, and, for the first time in more than a year, the Route 1 storefront is back in business.
Of course, some university students are less than excited, either nostalgic for Lime or maybe wishing instead for a Panera Bread. The university community’s resistance to another pizza shop is something the restaurant’s general manager Chris Handlon acknowledges, and disputes.
“People go ‘Another pizza place? Why?’” Handlon said. But he insists there’s a twist. “If Chipotle was a pizza place, it would be Blaze, that’s the idea,” he said.
And in a city home to a Chipotle that was once the highest grossing location internationally, a similar business model could be a selling point.
The Chipotle-esque assembly line format is one way Blaze differs from other pizza places in College Park, and other pizza places at all.
The setup allows customers to “develop a pizza that is suited exactly to their taste,” said Brad Kent, the franchise’s executive chef. “That’s kind of new to pizza. We’re actually building it from fresh ingredients and cooking it right in front of your eyes.”
No reheating slices required. Customers can choose from nine signature pizzas or build their own. And given a choice between regular and gluten-free dough, six sauces and nearly 30 different toppings, the combination possibilities are virtually endless.
Oh, and it is fast. In an oven that weighs 6,000 pounds and reaches temperatures up to 1,000 degrees, it takes only 180 seconds to bake pizza to perfection. According to Kent, it should only take about five minutes from the time a customer passes through the door to the time they’re holding their pizza, a round, 11-inch personal pie, costing just less than $8.
The ingredients, too, are a point of pride for the company. Blaze uses a dough press rather than the more typical hand-tossed dough, Handlon explained. It’s faster, less talent intensive and prevents dough from sitting out too long, he said. In addition, Blaze’s pizza cheese is made daily, a rarity especially in the pizza business. Kent has even visited the franchise’s cheese supplier in Wisconsin.
“I’m really particular,” Kent said. “I’m really always looking for ways to make our stuff better, and I don’t know that every restaurant out there has someone who can be dedicated outside of the restaurant as well as inside the restaurant.”
Larger than most College Park eateries, Blaze seats 54 in its large dining space. The style is reminiscent of an industrial loft, which is to say, reminiscent of an Urban Outfitters.
“Blaze is the pizza place for millenials,” Handlon said. “Make the pizza any way you want it. We’re not going to say ‘no don’t do that,’ or ‘we don’t do that,’ or ‘it’s going to cost you extra.’”
Tomorrow, Blaze hosts Free Pizza Day, which is, in fact, exactly what it sounds like.
“That’s going to be the hardest day any of us is probably ever going to work in the restaurant,” Handlon said, but promised “there’s no catch to get a free pizza.”
Blaze’s Bethesda location recently gave out 1,644 pizzas for its Free Pizza Day, the franchise record. Handlon, however, said he hopes to make between 2,000 and 2,500 – something he doesn’t think is too lofty of a goal.
“I think we’re a good fit for the neighborhood, I’ve got some good comments from the students. High praise here is ‘I’ll even come here when I haven’t been drinking,’” Handlon said, laughing. “So I’ll take that as a compliment.”
