Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Blaze Pizza Plans to Come to the Boston Area

A small group of California-based pizza restaurants known for cooking pizzas quickly at high temperatures is planning to come to Boston--and one of its investors is a well-known figure in the local area.

The Boston Herald is reporting that Blaze Pizza is looking to expand nationally, with the Boston area being a part of their expansion plans. One of its investors is Tom Werner, who is Chairman of the Boston Red Sox and is also involved with such local restaurants as Empire, Gem, the Red Lantern, and Towne.

[April 18, 2014 update: The Boston Business Journal mentions that Blaze Pizza could be opening at least 15 locations in the Boston area, now that restaurateurs Mitch Roberts and David Peterman have signed a franchise agreement with the chain (they also operate 34 locations of Panera). Thanks to Eater Boston for bringing this to our attention.]

[May 22, 2014 update: The Banker & Tradesman site says that ASAPizza LLC--the company run by franchisees Mitch Roberts and David Peterman--is looking at urban storefronts for its Boston-area locations of Blaze Pizza, with the shops being around 2,500 square feet and "near colleges, entertainment venues and medical centers."]

Blaze Pizza, which is based in Pasadena and has locations in Pasadena and Irvine (with two more Los Angeles-area shops in the works), makes their scratch-made artisanal pizzas on an "assembly line," with the pies then put into a white-hot oven, taking less than two minutes to cook. Their website can be found at http://www.blaze-pizza.com/