Blaze Pizza — Restaurant in Gainesville

Concept is good and food is usually good (but when it's bad it's really bad-- raw crusted pizza with all the toppings piled in one corner, a supposedly entree sized salad that was just half a handful of gone off / near gone off arugula in a container 10x too big for it, etc-- and they are not consistent) but the service is wildly, wildly unreliable. They don't answer their phone. I've had them cancel delivery orders at the very last minute or after it was due to be delivered with no attempt to contact and with no explanation, and had them drop items or whole orders for a pickup and then not do a thing to rectify it so that people are waiting on items for their pickup order for twenty to thirty minutes as they run through other orders or repeatedly get them mixed up with other orders.... It's honestly ridiculous and I am sick of giving them chances. My first experience with them they royally messed up two of my friend's pick up orders and could not for the life of them seem to figure out how to fix it (here's a tip, if you are missing a cheesy bread, bake off a cheesy bread), but I kept giving them chances because I know how hard it is working in the food industry and how much things can go off the rails when it's busy (which it was that night, to be fair), and I liked the customization and thought overall it was good value for the price. But being stuck for the second time now without dinner without warning, explanation, or even apology at 9 pm because of this place's incompetence is too much. I never write reviews, but honestly this place is so disorganized I can't handle it. Hire some people who actually know how to manage a line and keep track of orders or at least fix your systems, and answer your phone once in a millenia and you might be great, rather than a liability.

Update 10/26/24 Made the mistake of ordering from here again, cheese bread was literally 30% fully RAW dough (literally HOW you guys) and I didn't get my drink (driver said they didn't have it for him). No way of reporting issues on the app and couldn't find the location's phone number on there either so had to look it up (it was on my receipt in my email, just not on the app). Finally got through to them at midnight, guy kept putting me on hold and acting like I was ruining his life even though I was trying to be very considerate considering especially how late it was and honestly thought it would take a couple minutes of his time max for just trying to get refunded for a drink I never received. I don't want to be bugging you about this either, trust me. I don't want to have to spend time hunting people down over a few dollars but I am a student and this was already a splurge for me ( and also, I shouldn't have to pay for something I didn't receive, that's ridiculous). After spending at least 10 minutes on the phone with the guy, he says he can't access my order (placed well over an hour and a half before at this point) and he'll leave a message for his manager and I might have to call back tomorrow. I fully believe its possible that their order system is so bad that this is all true and am sure the worker was just frustrated and tired at midnight on a weekend, but as a customer experience this is appalling and borderline scammy.

I am basically just still utterly shocked at the sheer lack of quality control, basic organization, and standard customer service that this...

Description: Blaze eliminates the traditional concept of pizza delivery and at the same time creates a better alternative to frozen pizza. They have also established an environment that is not only inviting but aesthetically pleasing and well organized. There are ample seats to choose from, wall plugs to charge your phone with, and a mini help yourself area for seasonings and drinks.

Food & Service: Let me start off by saying the price is very reasonable if you pack on a lot of stuff like I did (different cheeses, different meats, different veggies, etc). Service is extremely enthusiastic and very attentive. The concept of Blaze is easy to follow and the menu is simple. I basically love every aspect of Blaze except for one thing: the pizza dough itself.

Call me a snob but I feel like one of three essential parts of a pizza is the foundation aka dough. From my experience, the dough was limp and almost mushy. Maybe it was from my overload of toppings but I feel they have reduced the quality of their dough to increase turnover and cut costs.

Final Thoughts: It's still a solid place let's put it that way. A unique restaurant with a cool vibe perfect for a college town and grabbing a bite with a group of friends. Parking is ample and location couldn't be better for people living on this side of town. All in all though, because I put a huge weight on the quality of food, I'm going with three stars (3.5 stars more like). If I'm craving better quality pizza, I'd rather order to go...

Food - no ice available, gave me a cup with dirt in the ice. Went back again and got another cup with the same stuff in it. I told the employee, and he dumped the ice out and gave the cup back to me. Service - I was greeted as soon as I entered with "Are you ordering or picking up?" I was confused because it was a guy with 1 tooth and asked like he was interegating me. The second question came from a guy leaning over the counter looking frustrated with "What can I help you with?" As if im bothering him. On the cheese section, I asked for goat cheese, and two employees looked at each other and smirked. Atmosphere - the same one Tooth employee who interegated me in the beginning interviewed a sweet girl with a smile next to me. He asked her what her qualifications were, and she didn't have any. It was her first potential job. He said the company is looking for people with experience and had nothing available. I felt horrible for her and the business. Absolutely no one in the place was happy or smiled. This little girl was that. She walked out, still smiling but obviously confused. Horrible display of leadership. After I left the store, I walked to the car, and the same one tooth guy was outside smoking a cigarette. Last year at this time, Blaze Pizza was full of life and smiles. That's why I returned in my travels this year. That isn't what's being provided this year. I can get pizza anywhere. there's no reason to...