Blaze Pizza — Restaurant in Arlington

Ok, so I've been to blaze a few times before but my very first time I was introduced to the place I was still getting over the fact they took over the Einstein Bro's Bagel shop - still upset about that. I'm sure there was a "reason" for them leaving but if I ever find out it was because of Blaze, I'll be reducing the star rating.

You can order online or in-person, although when I tried to order online (via iPhone) tonight, it did not work and told me to call their help desk. No thanks! I opted to order inside, instead. You start the queue by picking out your pizza, they just need your style and name. Tell them build your own or one of the specialties they make, it's that easy. They offer a variety of doughs but I always choose the regular dough - the almost-least-calorie option, second to gluten free. I'm not a GF kind of guy but don't knock it if that's your style. After selecting your dough, they'll need to know the sauce, cheese and meat types... then top it off with any of their fresh all natural ingredients. You can ask for more or less of any item, still the same price. Then they cook it while you make your drink and have a seat!

The service delivery at this place is pretty cool and laid back. The people that work there are kind, fun and seem to enjoy what they do. For some reason, I get a kick out of the oven guy who always says, "HOT," when taking the pizza out of the oven. Not sure why I think it's funny but I guess it's cause he's kind of monotone and says "HOT" in the same way every. single. time. The cashiers also ask you before you pay, how you are paying to confirm it's on their screen correctly. One time, I was missing a "blaze" fire thing (rewards program) and they gave me one for free, see - nice!

The food was delicious! Although the spicy red sauce is indeed spicy, I don't regret getting it each time I go. It has a great flavor. If you don't like spicy, you won't like it - so don't get it. The dough is cooked to perfection and the toppings are just melted enough to notice, I don't like burnt toppings so that works out great for me. If you'd like something cooked extra well done, I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige.

The price is on par with like venues. Although "Pie 5" is nearby (across the street) and a little cheaper, I like the flavor and experience at Blaze much better. You'll pay about $8 for build your own and specialty pizzas, $7 for 1-2 topping and $6 or so for plain jane. $3 for a drink and they also have salads and desserts but I've not tried them yet so I'm not familiar with the price points. ...

The food turned out fine, but the service . . . From start to finish the customer service was terrible. When ordering our build your own pizzas, the manager was complaining that they've "given away too much cheese today and I hope they don't get me for it" and then when I ordered pepperoni after I ordered sausage, she had a fit "I should have put he pepperoni on first" and huffed and puffed the whole time she's adding the requested toppings. Her attitude was so off puting that I almost walked out without finishing the order. It is not my problem that your staff has given out more cheese than they were supposed to. We ordered build your own and no where does it say asking for more of this or that is an upcharge, so address that with your upper management, not your customers. My husbands pizza came out fine but when the other lady put his in the box I think she dropped my sheet on the floor because it went missing. So when my pizza came out she tried giving it to someone else because the person at the start of the line put 2 pizzas in a row with the same metal label. I tried to explain to her that that was my pizza and the person she was calling out ordered spinach on top of his which was VERY different from mine but she kept asking me if I was "Hernando" because that was the name on the second sheet with the same number. This is not the first bad experience with this location and it is such a shame. We drive about 30 minutes from home just to get to this location so it sucks that we've had such bad experiences on multiple occasions. Upper management needs to train their employees and not put people in management roles who have...

My wife and I went in for the $3.14 pi day special. We were in line at 9:40 PM when the restaurant closes at 10. An employee came up to us and told us that we had to exit the building at 9:55pm. He told us it was company policy not to have anyone in the building past 10 PM. He then told us that all of the rest of the people in line would be there for 45 more minutes. I said 45 more minutes would be 10:45 PM. If it's company policy to not have anyone in the building past 10, how is he going to let the other people stay in line until 10:45. He then doubled back and said that he couldn't have anyone in The building after 10:30 PM. He proceeded to tell us that we could wait if we wanted to, if we were OK with being there for another 45 minutes. I said if we were there another 45 minutes that would put us in the building far longer than 10 PM or 10:30 PM. He then said if everyone was not out of the building by 10 PM that he would get a call from corporate. I told him that this location is brand-new and the point of the special today is to build a customer base and customer loyalty, and by kicking us out after we were in line for 20 minutes before close is horrible publicity. He attempted to apologize. He also kicked out about 15 to 20 more people that were in line behind us. To try to soften the blow, he attempted to insult everyone with free pizza coupons for next time. We refused the coupons. There will be no next time. We have been here a couple of times before today and have really enjoyed the pizza, the customer service, and the atmosphere....