LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 28, 2014) - Blaze Fast Fire'd Pizza, the largest and fastest growing build-your-own artisanal pizza chain, today announced the Thursday, July 31 opening of its newest location in Rapid City at the Rushmore Crossing Shopping Center. To celebrate, the company is set to offer FREE build-your-own artisanal pizzas on Friday, August 1, between 11:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. to anyone who follows Blaze Pizza on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. The new 2,500 sq ft restaurant, located at 1325 Eglin St., features an outdoor patio for afternoon and evening dining, and is near Scheels Sporting Goods and Target.
Blaze Pizza uses an interactive ordering format that allows guests to customize one of the menu's signature pizzas or create one of their own, choosing from a wide selection of fresh, artisanal ingredients -- all for under $8. The generously sized personal pizzas are then sent to a blazing hot open-flame oven -- the centerpiece of the restaurant -- where dedicated pizzasmiths ensure that the thin-crust pies are "fast-fire'd" in less than 180 seconds.
Blaze Pizza makes its own dough from scratch using a recipe developed by critically-acclaimed Executive Chef Brad Kent ("The Pizza Whisperer"), which requires a 24-hour fermentation period to produce his signature light-as-air, crisp crust. The restaurant's menu of pizzas and salads uses fresh ingredients ranging from inventive to classic and accommodates a range of dietary needs, with a gluten-free dough and vegan cheese option. The restaurant will also offer a selection of wine and craft beer.
"Blaze Pizza is all about letting folks build pizzas any way they want with our ingredients and crust. It's a concept I'm thrilled to lend my expertise to," said Chef Kent.
Blaze Pizza is looking forward to building strong roots within the Rapid City community. To that end, the company has developed a turn-key in-restaurant fundraiser program that returns 20% of an event's proceeds back to local organizations, and will be partnering with local schools, sports clubs and other organizations to host fundraising events at the new restaurant.
The Rapid City Blaze Pizza will be operated by Dakota Slice LLC, a franchise group led by Lauren MacKinnon Boyum and Shane Boyum.
About Blaze Pizza
Founded in 2011 by Elise and Rick Wetzel (co-founder of Wetzel's Pretzels), the concept is backed by investors including LeBron James, Maria Shriver, Boston Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner and movie producer John Davis. Blaze Pizza currently operates restaurants throughout California and the Midwest -- including Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Louisville. In the back-half of this year, Blaze Pizza will open 35 new locations while expanding into the metropolitan areas of New York, Miami, Washington DC, New Orleans, Knoxville, Raleigh-Durham, Boise, Rapid City and Columbus. The company, which has been featured by Zagat, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Good Morning America, has a pipeline of over 280 restaurants being developed corporately and by 30 seasoned multi-unit franchisees. For more information, please visit www.blazepizza.com or www.facebook.com/blazepizza.
Blaze Pizza - Rapid City
1325 Eglin St.
Rapid City, SD 57701
Blaze Pizza, LLC
35 N. Lake Ave, Suite 710
Pasadena, CA 91101