Blaze Pizza — Restaurant in Monroeville

This is the Chipotle of pizza joints, and if that doesn't immediately thrill you, I bet you won't like this place very much.

We went on a Friday night -- probably a mistake, as the place was crawling with families. Seating LOOKS generous, but really it's quite limited. Drink selection at the fountain is good. Topping options are good, too, with all the classics and a few unexpected choices -- feta cheese, artichokes, arugula, etc etc. Spicy red sauce is good. The pizza has a thinner crust, bakes hot, and gets a thick, cracker-esque consistency that's pretty appealing.

The area behind the counter was absolutely filthy. Toppings on the counter, toppings in other topping bins, toppings on the floor. Everything looked like it had a layer of grease on it. Pizza dough laying out, uncovered, collecting dust...

Now, they were super busy, so I know cleaning wasn't their immediate priority -- but if they're too busy to clean, they need more staff. I know staffing decisions are really made by upper management, but consider this -- the chances that the store's manager has asked for more staff and upper management has denied their request tells you something about upper management, right? Anyway, the store was gross and I...

updating my 5 star post for Blaze after years of going there, it's just not good anymore. For a $15 high rise pizza you would think the dough wouldn't be some prebought garbage. It was better when they used to press it fresh, now it comes premade in a container.

Whoever's training the employees on toppings apparently told them the toppings come directly out of their paycheck because they not only skimp on everything, but also put it all right in the middle of the pizza... Which means the outside 3 inches have nothing but crust and sauce.

Even if they do a blatantly lousy job (because each person is very inconsistent) and you ask them for any amount more they will charge you extra no exceptions.

It seems like the focus of the company is for new and exciting things... Which nobody asked for. The pizza used to be amazing and we used to go weekly, it's been 5-6 months since my previous visit because of dwindling quality and after today I'm not sure there will be another. We literally get better pizza for a third of the price at Dominos.

All of that to say at least the staff in large part are pleasant and upbeat.

Blaze, go back to your roots... Stop trying so hard to reinvent the wheel and just focus on...

One of my all-time favorite pizza joints. The concept is perfect -- fast and delicious! They have specialty pizzas you can select but I highly recommend building your own. You start by selecting your crust. Know that they have what they call gluten-free but KNOW that they cross-contaminate so it's not truly gluten-free if you have a health issue. You then select your sauce, cheese(s), and toppings. The staff behind the counter puts your selections on the pizza. You can select unlimited toppings from protein (such as sausage or turkey sausage) to veggies /fungus/whatnot (basil, spinach, peppers, mushrooms, roasted garlic perhaps). Then you can add seasonings, too, such as oregano and sea salt. All this on an 11 inch pizza for 7.95. It then is placed in a high-heat oven for 180 seconds and wahh-laaahh! You have a delicious pizza you created yourself. It is served in the box and sliced for you. No plates required -- just hover over your box with plenty of napkins and chomp and drool away!

Oh, and the staff. They are always friendly and fast! That's a plus!

Note that their website indicates certain locations serve alcoholic drinks; this particular one does not...