Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza Announces Grand Opening of Kalamazoo, MI Restaurant

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 8, 2014) - Blaze Fast Fire'd Pizza, the nation's leading build-your-own pizza chain, today announced that it will open its third Michigan location, in Kalamazoo, on Thursday, September 11. To celebrate the grand opening, the new restaurant will offer FREE build-your-own artisanal pizzas on Friday, September 12 between 11:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. to anyone who follows Blaze Pizza on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. The fast-casual concept, known for its chef-driven menu and casually hip restaurants, is located in West Century Center (5015 West Main Street, Kalamazoo), on the corner of West Main and Drake.

Blaze Pizza is a modern day "pizza joint" known for its custom-built artisanal pizzas, freshly made salads, blood orange lemonade and s'more pies. Each restaurant features an interactive assembly-line format that allows guests to customize one of the menu's signature pizzas or create their own, choosing from a wide selection of fresh, artisanal ingredients -- all for under $7. The generously-sized 11-inch 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 and ready to eat in just 180 seconds. Each restaurant makes its own dough from scratch using a recipe developed by critically-acclaimed Executive Chef Bradford Kent ("The Pizza Whisperer"), which requires a 24-hour fermentation period to produce his signature light-as-air, crisp crust. For pizza fans with specific dietary needs, Blaze Pizza offers gluten-free dough and vegan cheese. 

"Our mission at Blaze is really simple -- we're all about bringing the community a place where guests can connect, create and enjoy great pizza at crazy fast speed," said Jim Mizes, president & COO of Blaze Pizza. "If you think about it, there hasn't been a good way to enjoy a made-from-scratch pizza without the wait. Now there is. We believe this will be a game-changer in town."

Michigan residents have already been enjoying Blaze Pizza at its Royal Oak (112 South Main Street) and Novi (26401 Novi Road) locations, both of which opened in late 2013. The company is also looking forward to building strong roots within the Kalamazoo community. To that end, it 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. Blaze Pizza is being developed in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio by Blaze Midwest, a franchise group operating under the umbrella of Northland Investments. Blaze Midwest currently operates Blaze Pizzas in Indianapolis and metro-Cincinnati (Mason), as well as metro-Detroit (Novi and Royal Oak).

About Blaze Pizza
The first Blaze Pizza^® restaurant opened on August 6, 2012 in Irvine, CA, and quickly gained attention for its chef-driven recipes and "build-your-own pizza" assembly-line format. Described by Zagat as "One of 10 Innovative Restaurants in Los Angeles," Blaze Pizza is developing a cult following as it expands across the U.S. The company currently operates restaurants in 11 states and the District of Columbia, including the major metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C. Founded 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. For more information, please visit blazepizza.com and facebook.com/blazepizza.

About Blaze Midwest, Inc.
Operating under the umbrella of Northland Investments, Blaze Midwest, Inc. and its sister companies Mariane, Inc., Bells & Birds, Great Lakes Dining and OC Michigan, own and operate 43 quick-serve, three fast casual and 13 casual dining restaurants across Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Formed in 1987, Northland Investments now employs nearly 1,800 team members at its Yum! Brands locations and sister casual dining concepts, T.G.I. Friday's and Old Chicago.