My daughter and I were down at IUPUI for the regional National History Day competition (she’s a state finalist!) and had a break between her presentation and the awards ceremony, so we hit Blaze for lunch, as it is right near campus.
We both pretty much made our own, although mine was a variation of one of their combos, the “Veg Out” (they are all around $7-8). It was topped with mushrooms, red onion, spinach, Gorgonzola and mozzarella cheese and had dollops of red sauce on it. Ok, I know this is a chain, but I think their pizza is pretty darn tasty. The crust is really thin, and with the blue cheese, it had a nice distinctive flavor to it. It’s not too much, but just enough that you get that hint of flavor in each bite. They are personal size pizzas and I can almost eat a whole on by myself. I like this particular pizza because the sauce is not spread all over the pizza—sometimes I think too much sauce detracts too much. They quick fire them in an oven while you stand there and they are nice and crisp.
My daughter built her own with mozzarella and feta, kalamata olives, chicken, and oregano. She really liked it (and I agreed after my couple of bite of hers). She made a nice Greek combo and with the addition of the feta and olives, it had a nice salty kick to it. I still preferred mine, but hers was very good.
It’s supposed to sort of be fresh fast food, but the one complaint I had was that it was so not fast at all. Luckily we had enough time, but it took a solid 30 minutes to get through the line. I am not sure why the delay, but man, it was slow.
They have some fun drinks too—my daughter had prickly pear aqua fresca and they had a blood orange lemonade. It’s a good place for a pizza fix for lunch near campus, but just be prepared that it may not be as fast as you think it is. And hey, I am spending a lot more time on IUPUI's campus now that I am back in school. What are your favorite places to eat around there?
Blaze Pizza
913 Indiana Avenue
Indy 46204
317/624-1500
In that area I am a fan of City BBQ and Workingman's Friend! Sahm's Tavern on Capitol is consistently good as well.
ReplyDeleteWe've had the same experience at Blaze. (Fishers is getting a Blaze in the parking lot of Super Target, BTWs) Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of good IUPUI area suggestions...when we leave campus for lunch, we tend to go to Bakersfield or Siam Square. BUT, I will be following this thread to see what others suggest. :)
ReplyDeleteI like Blaze quite a bit. I like their spicy sauce and roasted garlic. If you don't mind going a bit farther from IUPUI... Thai Paradise has a great lunch deal and Oso's Republic (Dominican) is a hidden gem.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by Oso's...
DeleteI haven't dined at Blaze in a long time, so I will have to hit it up again. I work at IUPUI and my favorite place to eat near campus is Duos at Eskenazi health. It's so fresh and good! When it's nice out, we'll walk down the canal to the Stardust Cafe at the Indiana Historical Society. It's catered by Hoaglin so there are some good sandwich choices.
ReplyDeleteI keep meaning to go to Duos for sure. The Stardust Cafe sounds like a good choice as well! thanks!
DeleteBlaze has its ups and downs, it can be good one day and then trash the next. when i say trash i mean service is trash, time to wait is trash, and the care they give their pizza can be trash at the iupui campus. I have had a brick for pizza with minimal cheese, and the very next week had one of the best they have ever served.
ReplyDeleteOne time I sent to Blaze and got artichokes on my pizza. As they were finishing up, I realized that they had picked off the "leaves" and THROWN THE HEART AWAY. I thought I was going to die. Who does that?
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