Lunch, Anyone? Blaze Pizza

Blaze Pizza, named the fastest growing US restaurant chain in the country last year, has just opened its fourth Boston-area location, at 961 Commonwealth Ave. Photo courtesy of Blaze Pizza

There’s no shortage of places to grab a slice of pizza around campus. Between T. Anthony’s, Otto’s (West Campus and Coolidge Corner), Oath Craft Pizza, Upper Crust Pizzeria, BU’s dining halls, and Domino’s, finding a fresh pizza has never been easier. Now, there’s a new contender thrown in the mix: Blaze Pizza, opened last month in the West Campus spot formerly occupied by BurgerFi.

With so much competition, how does a new pizzeria hope to stand out? For Blaze, the answer lies in its customizable menu.

Considered the fastest growing restaurant chain in the country by Business Insider, Blaze boasts over 200 locations in the United States. The West Campus restaurant is the fourth to open in Boston. The chain’s concept is familiar—made to order food put together on an assembly line. And while it offers a few signature pizzas, like the Meat Eater ($8.25), pepperoni, crumbled meatballs, red onions, mozzarella, and red sauce, and the Veg Out ($8.25), zucchini, mushrooms, red onion, mozzarella, gorgonzola, and red sauce dollops, the real draw here is the Build Your Own pizza, where you choose toppings from a range of meats, veggies, cheeses, and sauce for one price ($8.75). All pizzas are made on Blaze’s distinctive thin crust dough. Want a thicker crust? Order the high-rise dough ($2 extra). Gluten free crust can also be had for an extra $2.

The other standout is speed. No long wait times here. Blaze promises to deliver your fast-fired pizza in 180 seconds, great when you’re on the run.

We stopped by on a recent Friday afternoon and found a long but fast-moving line and were able to grab a table without too much trouble. (Many students opt for takeout.)

The assembly line was a little daunting at first, but the staff is friendly and helpful. Meat eaters can select from Applewood bacon, meatballs, and grilled chicken to classics like pepperoni and sausage. The veggie selection is more than ample: artichokes, banana peppers, minced garlic, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and onions. Toss in eight kinds of cheese and you’re in pizza paradise.

We ordered the White Top ($8.25)—bacon, minced garlic, oregano, mozzarella, and a white cream sauce, topped with arugula that’s added after it’s out of the oven. It was a remarkable change of pace, notable for the fresh greens and addictive cream sauce. We’ll surely order it again.

Who could resist the Build Your Own creations? We ordered two. For the first, we selected ricotta, spinach, artichoke, minced garlic, sautéed onions, and the spicy red sauce. The fresh vegetables blended well with the hotter-than-expected sauce. With so many toppings, you can mix and match to your heart’s desire. We went for traditional when we built the second pizza: pepperoni, goat cheese, red onions, and meatballs with red sauce. Like the other two, it exceeded expectations. To skeptics who may wonder how tasty a pizza cooked in just three minutes can be, our answer is: “Plenty.”

Blaze also offers a handful of salads, available as sides ($3.75) or entrées ($8.75). You can customize these too from a range of vegetables and fruit.

We finished with one of Blaze’s desserts, the S’more Pie ($2.25). We followed the staff’s recommendation and had the dessert warmed while our pizzas baked. We unanimously voted the S’more Pie a hit. The fresh sea salt cookies and brownies (both $2.25) looked tempting too.

Our bill was surprisingly low for the amount of food we ordered. Blaze is an affordable lunch (or dinner) spot for students on a budget. And the customizable menu means that you can return again and again without ordering the same thing twice.

Blaze Pizza, 961 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Orders can be placed in person or online on the website or mobile app. The restaurant is wheelchair-accessible and accepts all major credit cards. Take an MBTA Green Line trolley to Pleasant Street.

This is part of a weekly series featuring Boston lunch and brunch spots of interest to the BU community. If you have any suggestions for places we should feature, leave them in the Comment section below. 

Connor Lenahan can be reached at lenahan@bu.edu.

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