Blaze Pizza - Revisit

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

www.blazepizza.com 

Blaze Pizza

I met my friend @wibia the other day for a quick bite downtown. He had wanted to try this new Blaze Pizza place (what is it about men and pizza?) and I liked the idea of a quick-fired thin crust pizza (thin crust is usually my favorite).

So you walk in and this place is sort of a taqueria-style (or Subway-style I guess)—you wait in line and either order one of their specialty pizzas or you can build your own. They press the (handmade) dough in front of you constantly and then pass it down the assembly line. At the end they throw it in a hot oven for like 3 minutes, cut it and serve it. It only takes 4-5 minutes from ordering to getting your pie.

I went with one of their combinations—the “veg out.” This was mozzarella, Gorgonzola, zucchini, mushrooms, red onions and dollops on red sauce. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the zucchini knowing that sometimes pieces of zucchini can make a pizza soggy because they contain so much water. But they had this all figured out—the zucchini was diced and pre-seasoned and cooked so that it wouldn’t leach water and make a soggy crust. I enjoyed it—and I liked the smaller bites of the zucchini. I also like that since you are walking through the pizza assembly line, you can easily customize a little as you go if you see something you want. For instance, I saw olives and wanted some, so I had them do the zucchini on only half and black olives on the other half. No problem.

Overall, for the $7 pizza cost, I thought it was pretty good and a pretty good deal. The crust was pretty crisp (the way I like it) but still soft enough to fold in half. I really enjoyed the kick from the Gorgonzola on mine. They know just how many toppings to put on the pizza so as to not overwhelm the crust. One thing I would change next time is I would not get the dollops of sauce—those bites were just too saucy. I would just go with the even sauce on the pizza. They also offer a spicy marinara and a white sauce. I might try the spicy one just to maybe zip it up a little.

I didn’t try @wibia’s pizza—he designed his own with sausage, olives and pepperonicini. He seemed to genuinely enjoy it though and agreed it was a good deal.

In a strip mall that is full of chain restaurants (of which Blaze is one) near IU downtown, I can see how this might be a choice above some of the others (except maybe City BBQ, I love that place). They are offering a freshly made product and the ingredients seem pretty decent. It’s fast and it’s cheap for a fair amount of food.

What do you guys think? Have you been there?

Blaze Pizza

913 Indiana Avenue

Indy  46204

317/624-1500

www.blazepizza.com