Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza opens this Friday in Kirkwood

×

Expand

Courtesy of Blaze Pizza

A build-your-own Blaze Pizza

When an organization on a college campus wants to draw people to its event, the incentive is often free pizza.

Turns out, pizza restaurants like to do that, too.

Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza is a fast casual chain where people can pick as many toppings and sauces as they would like for $8.50, will open its first St. Louis location on Friday, March 9 in Kirkwood at 1050 S. Kirkwood (across from Hobby Lobby). Beginning at 10:30 a.m., the restaurant, which has more than 240 locations around the country, hopes to give away 1,500 free pizzas.

‘We’ve done it since the very first restaurant,” says Blaze Pizza president and CEO Jim Mizes, a graduate of Ladue Horton Watkins High School. “We know that if we can get our pizza into the mouths of guests, that they will be back. It’s one of the greatest forms of promotional advertising you can do.”

Mizes plans to open at least three additional St. Louis locations in St. Peters, Richmond Heights, and Chesterfield. The giveaway is not the only way Blaze is trying to spark a local following. The restaurant will offer Provel cheese, a signature local variety of processed cheese, at its St. Louis locations. 

“When we think about opening a Blaze Pizza restaurant in a new city or region, we always want to be mindful of the area’s culinary traditions and tastes,” Brad Kent, Blaze’s executive chef, said in a release. “For us, utilizing Provel cheese was an absolute must when coming to St. Louis. Recognizing and respecting local flavors is just as important to us as utilizing the ingredient itself.”

Pizzas are served in a build-your-own format (similar to Chipotle), then cooked in an open-flame oven in three minutes. Though customers can pick any toppings they desire, the restaurant offers suggested specials such as the Red Bird pizza, which features red sauce, a Provel cheese blend, sausage, pepperoni, and ground beef.

“There are lots of pizza choices in St. Louis—we all know that—so I have to give you a reason to give [Blaze] a try and a reason to come back,” Mizes says. “And I think once you have a build-your-own artisanal pizza cooked in three minutes, all for one price, you will find it’s a great option for lunch, dinner, late night, and all times of the day.”