Blaze Pizza — Restaurant in Alcoa

The pizza is good, but last night, we went to the store to eat at 9:36pm, according to their posted operation hours on their door and Google, they close at 10:30pm. We walked up to order our pizzas, and two teenage girls were already cleaning the floors and closing up. We asked them if they were still open, and neither girl wanted to respond. Finally, the manager (assuming he was the manager, even though his attitude didn't reflect management material) told the girls it was okay. Then, the girls I guess still didn't want to make our pizza, so at that point, a young man stepped up and helped us. He was the only pleasant employee there, the two teenage girls had such a nasty look on their faces the entire time, and the manager wasn't any better. The manager did seem sick because he kept coughing, but I'm assuming he told his employees they were closing down an hour early, which is ridiculous. I get it that it sucks having to go to work sick, but if you're in a leadership position maybe you should act like a leader, ill or not. After the "manager," boxed up our pizzas in to-go boxes (which we were sitting down to eat), I said thank you to him, and he completely ignored me. I guess he was pissed that we came in an hour before they closed to eat and that he came to work sick. As we were walking out around 9:55pm the one nasty little girl was waiting by the front door and locked it as soon as we walked out. I guess I was right about them closing early. As a franchise business, I am not sure how they could be okay with any of their locations closing early (especially an hour early, half an hour is bad too!) We like Blaze Pizza, but last night we felt like we were inconveniencing the employees by coming in an hour before they were supposed to close to eat. Unfortunately, the employees and so-called manager are terrible. I guess go for the pizza, (if they're even open) but don't expect...

I had never been to a Blaze pizza before and a friend of mine told me about Pi Day, (03-14) where you get a pizza for $3.14, so I figured why not. And while the wait was extremely long on that day I had to stop and think about what a LONG day it must have been for the employees. That being said I was really impressed by the super friendly greeting I got as I ordered my pizza that day. Rob had a huge smile on his face and asked me how I was doing, my response was "probably better than you, you guys are working so hard!" Haley then joined in on speaking to me and was also happy and friendly while making my pizza, but I learned that both of them had to open and close the restaurant that day. WOW, that is such a long day on a regular day, forget a day like this where their volume is probably tripled. Yet, these two people both were smiling and chatting and treating me so nicely despite the fact that I am sure they were hot, tired, and ready to go home. I also want to mention that they had a guy greeting people at the door that evening and kind of preparing to shift the line and keep the entrance clear, I didn't catch his name but he was also funny and helpful and making conversation and answering questions for the guests. While I am a super picky pizza person and wasn't overly excited by the food, yes it was good, but it wasn't over the top good, I found their customer service to be exceptional! Thanks Rob and Haley and door-man for making my first experience at Blaze a good one. I guess I will have to go back and try some of the other food and give the pizza at least one more try, on a day where they aren't bogged down with a line wrapped around...

Went in for dinner last night because they donated 25% of my purchase to my daughters school John Sevier Elementary. Very cool for y'all to do that and we appreciate it. The service is excellent from a friendly staff. I got a cheese pizza that was thin and crispy. Very good flavor with a good sauce. Coming from Chicago I dig a thin crust. We got an order of cheesy bread and it came with two cups of sauce. My kids are not big on hot stuff so we got it plain. It was pretty good. I also got an order of spicy meatballs. I know taste is subjective but these were little balls of hell. They were seriously hot! The scoop of jalapeños and juice they put in the bowl permeated the sauce. My head and eyelids broke out into a sweat eating them. Next time maybe just sauce for me. Now I'm not a big lemonade guy but the blood orange lemonade is the star of the show. Don't know what made me get it but glad I did. This stuff is phenomenal! A unique very refreshing flavor. I'll go back just for that. It was a good experience and the meal was good. I'll be going back to get a pizza my way without the kids. I would recommend a visit to Blaze. For the Maryville Alcoa area it's one of the better pizzas I've had. Thanks again for looking out for the schools in...