Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza to Open Second Location in Wisconsin this Fall at Bayshore Town Center

Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza, the leader in the fast-casual, custom created, artisan pizza category, today announced plans to open its second location in Wisconsin at the Bayshore Town Center, located at 5800 N. Bayshore Drive in Glendale. The new restaurant will open this fall across from Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Colectivo Coffee, delivering the same great-tasting pizza at quick service speeds.  Blaze Pizza opened its first Wisconsin location in Brookfield in November 2013.

“After having great success with our Brookfield location, we couldn’t be more excited to open a second Blaze Pizza in the Milwaukee area,” said John Walch, owner and operator of the two Blaze Pizza locations in Wisconsin. “Bayshore is the perfect location for a second restaurant as people can enjoy a fresh, made-to-order pizza between shopping or for a family outing.  We’re thrilled to be able to give Milwaukeeans the opportunity to experience this rising national trend first-hand, right in their own backyards.”

Blaze’s pizza philosophy is centered on delivering a delicious pizza, lightning fast, making it the perfect place for a casual lunch, business meeting or a night out with the family.

Originating in California, the first Blaze Pizza in Wisconsin opened in 2013 in Brookfield, bringing the national fast-casual dining trend to the Milwaukee market.  Since it’s opening, Blaze has introduced local residents to an entirely new approach to pizza, offering an interactive ordering format that allows guests to customize one of Blaze’s eight signature pizzas or create one of their own, choosing from over 40 fresh, artisanal and contemporary ingredients – all for under $8.   

Known for its light-as-air thin crust, every batch of Blaze’s signature pizza dough is made from scratch, requiring a 24 hour fermentation period. Each Blaze pizza begins with a perfectly proofed ball of their famous dough, pressed into an 11-inch, thin and light-weight crust.  

From there guests “co-create” their pizza with the help of Blaze’s friendly pizza’olos.  Each customized pizza is then “Fast-Fire’d” in Blaze’s 800 degree open-hearth oven and cooked to perfection in less than 180 seconds.  Within a matter of minutes, guests have a hot custom-created pizza, ready to dig into!

Blaze Pizza also offers signature salads, fresh lemonades, craft beer, wine and house made S’more pies in addition to its signature pizzas.  With gluten free crust and vegan cheese options, Blaze Pizza truly does have something for everyone.

To create its “comfortably hip” interior and exterior, Blaze Pizza used urban architectural notes inspired by fire, crafting a casual and current dining environment uniquely suited to the restaurant’s space.  Additionally, the restaurant has gone to great lengths to see that its packaging is eco-friendly — made in the USA from post-consumer recycled and/or sustainable materials. 

The new Glendale location will be operated by Walch Hospitality Group, LLC, a franchise group led by John Walch.  The company also currently operates Blaze Pizza in Brookfield and previously led the opening and operation of 25 Panera Bread locations in Wisconsin and Illinois.

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 and includes the talents of highly acclaimed Executive Chef Bradford Kent, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.  Blaze Pizza currently operates restaurants in Southern California, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Detroit and Milwaukee.  The company, which has been featured by Zagat, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Good Morning America, has a pipeline of over 250 restaurants being developed by 24 seasoned multi-unit franchisees.  This year, Blaze Pizza will expand into several new markets including San Francisco, New York, Boston, Dallas, Miami and Washington D.C.  For more information, please visit www.blazepizza.com or www.facebook.com/blazepizza.