Pizza lovers can kick their new year’s resolutions to the curb for a new build-your-own pizza joint in Gainesville.
Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza held a meet-and-greet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday before its grand opening Friday. The restaurant served free personal-sized pizzas to hungry customers, utilizing an assembly-line process.
Located at 3617 Archer Road, this Blaze Pizza is one of the restaurant’s first locations in Florida with plans to expand to neighboring states such as Georgia and Tennessee, said Rachel Bledsoe, the public relations director.
At the meet-and-greet, visitors stood in line and picked out toppings before kitchen employees cooked it in a wood-fire oven.
Customers can choose from a variety of traditional pizza toppings, sauces and cheeses — including vegan and gluten-free options. Their personal-sized pizzas are just under $8, and the restaurant also serves beer and wine.
On Friday, Blaze will be serving up free pizza all day from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. to introduce people to the new restaurant.
“We encourage people to come out and try it,” Bledsoe said.
Wayne Albritton, president of Millennial Restaurant Group — which operates Blaze Pizza — said the company chose Gainesville as the first location in Florida because he thinks the concept is perfect for college towns.
“We’re excited most just about being in Gainesville,” Albritton said.
Julianne Necuze, a 20-year-old UF political science junior, said she hasn’t heard about Blaze Pizza but thought the concept sounded interesting.
With the assembly line concept, Necuze said the restaurant could ease the stress of eating out in groups by allowing friends to pay separately.
“I’ll definitely try it out,” she said.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 1/8/2015 under the headline "Make your own pizza without spending all your dough"]
Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza employee Dallas Witters, 23, turns pizza in an oven using a long paddle at the joint’s meet-and-greet event Wednesday.
