Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza, a fast-casual, build-your-own artisan pizza concept, announced that its franchisee, Blaze Midwest, based in Houghton Lake, Michigan, will soon open a location in the heart of downtown Royal Oak, Michigan. 

Scheduled to open in mid-October, the Royal Oak location will have 80 interior seats and additional patio seating. The 3,900-square-foot Blaze Pizza restaurant will feature a “casually hip” design, along with an interactive assembly-line format and blazing-hot, open-hearth oven.

The Royal Oak restaurant is part of a plan to build 10 Blaze Pizzas in metro-Detroit and throughout Michigan. It is the first location to be announced by Blaze Midwest under a recently signed franchise development agreement.  

Blaze Midwest is actively filling its pipeline with more restaurant sites in Michigan, beginning with metro-Detroit.  

“We’re thrilled by the positive response our concept has received, and are excited to be opening our first restaurant,” says Rodney Walker, president of Blaze Midwest. “We’re looking forward to bringing fast-casual pizza to the market and showing Michigan what it has been missing.”

Blaze Pizza uses an assembly-line format to create artisan pizzas at a quick pace, all for only $6.95. Each Blaze Pizza restaurant makes its own dough from scratch using a recipe that requires a 24-hour fermentation period to produce its signature crisp crust.  

Guests watch as each dough ball is pressed into a 12-inch crust. Next, they travel down the assembly line to “co-create” a signature pizza or design one of their own, with more than 40 artisanal toppings to choose from. Pizzas are “fast-fire’d” in an oven and ready in 120 seconds.

Blaze Pizza’s menu also features signature salads, fresh lemonades, and house-made S’more Pies. For pizza fans with specific dietary needs, Blaze Pizza offers gluten-free dough and vegan cheese. The company will also offer online ordering.