Blaze Pizza

Blaze Pizza is an Atlanta, Georgia^[1]–based fast-casual pizza restaurant chain. Founded in 2011 by Elise and Rick Wetzel of Wetzel's Pretzels, the chain is known for serving made-to-order pizzas.^[2]

Blaze Pizza, LLC.

Blaze Pizza in Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Trade name	Blaze Pizza
Company type	Private
Industry	Food and beverage
Genre	Fast-casual restaurant
Founded	2011; 14 years ago (2011) in Pasadena, California
Founders	Elise and Rick Wetzel
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia , United States
Number of locations	300+
Area served	United States, Canada, Bahrain
Key people	Rick Wetzel (Co-Founder)
Products	Pizza, salad, cheesy bread, desserts, drinks
Website	blazepizza.com

History

Blaze Pizza was founded in Pasadena, California, by Rick and Elise Wetzel in 2011.^{[citation needed]} The chain's first location was opened in Irvine, California, in August 2012,^[3] which was followed two months later by the opening of their second, and flagship store, location in October 2012 in Pasadena.^[4] The chain serves made-to-order pizzas, with a choice of various sauces and toppings. Its business model is similar to other chains such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Subway.^[5][6][7] The pizzas are cooked in a high-temperature open-flame oven with an average cook time of three minutes.^[8] The only piece of cooking equipment inside each of the restaurants is an oven.^[9]

By the end of 2014, Blaze had become the first fast-casual pizza restaurant to achieve 50 opened units.^[10] The company planned to have at least 500 locations by 2020.^[11]

In 2015, the company began to expand into Canada.^[12] In partnership with Alshaya, the company opened locations in the Middle East in 2018.^[13][14]

In 2024, the company announced its plans to move its headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia to support future expansion plans.^[15]