Review: Blaze Pizza

There's a new-ish pizza joint that opened in Chicago - Blaze Pizza. I like to think of it as the Qdoba or Chipotle of pizza - because instead of building your own burrito, you build your own individual thin crust pizza! You go through the line with your pizza crust and you tell the nice person behind the counter what kind of toppings you want on your pizza. Then they bake the pizza in one of those awesome ovens where you actually see the fire, and then about 3-4 minutes later you get your pizza.

My story to get Blaze Pizza started when a new location opened in Chicago this past week. Apparently if you liked Blaze Pizza on Facebook, you got a free pizza on opening day at their new restaurant. Silly me, I thought no one would be in line for free pizza after work. Unfortunately the line was twice as long in the evening as it was during the lunch hours. I was still interested in trying out this new pizza concept, so I went to the second Chicago location that's been open for a few months on Belmont Avenue.

I decided to try the gluten-free pizza crust with the traditional sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, chicken, bacon, onions, green peppers, and garlic. This was my first time trying gluten-free crust, and I couldn't tell the difference between gluten-free crust and a regular pizza crust. Granted, I haven't tried Blaze's regular pizza crust, but the gluten-free crust definitely didn't taste any different than the normal pizza crusts I've had in the past.

It was a delicious pizza, don't get me wrong. It's great if you are with a group of friends and everyone wants something different on their pizza. I.e. you could make yourself an extra cheesy pizza or an extra meaty pizza if you really wanted (I'm pretty sure I counted 5 different cheeses you could get on your pizza)! That's probably why I'd go here again. However, I felt Blaze was a bit on the expensive side if you went with the build your own pizza option with multiple toppings (and price goes up if you add a gluten free crust or vegan cheese to the meal). I also wasn't completely full after the meal, hence why I maybe felt the price was a bit much. It's a better deal if you only wanted a 1 topping pizza or a simple mozzarella cheese pizza, but really who wants to do that when all those toppings are sitting right in front of you at the counter?

Takeaways:

• I recommend you try Blaze Pizza at least once for the experience! It is delicious, although I felt on the expensive side for what you get (it would be around $8 with Chicago tax for a regular crust pizza with multiple toppings, and add an additional $3 to that cost for a gluten free crust or an additional $2 for vegan cheese).
• Great place for anyone who has food allergies, with Blaze's gluten-free crust option and vegan cheese!