FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 18, 2019 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 55
dining out
Blaze Pizza fi ring up
its fi rst Queens shop
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Pizza lovers in Fresh Meadows can soon
create their own personal pizza pie at
Blaze Pizza, which is set to make its neighborhood
debut.
Modeled aft er the Chipotle concept
as a made-to-order approach to serving
customers with exceptional quality,
Blaze Pizza is expected to open its doors
to the public in early to mid-June, said
Lawrence Lessing, executive vice president
of Lessing’s Inc., who oversees the
franchise division of the company.
Th e site is currently in the early stages of
development that was formerly occupied
by RadioShack located at 187-12 Horace
Harding Expwy., at the Fresh Meadows
Place Shopping Center. Th is will be Blaze
Pizza’s fi rst location in Queens, said
Lessing.
“We really like that the whole community
converges there and it seems like
there is a really good blend of residential
people and students from St. Francis
Prep, St. John’s University and Queens
College,” Lessing said. “It feels like the
whole community circles around that area
and we felt that there was really good
energy there.”
Blaze Pizza is a Pasadena, Californiabased
chain within the fast casual dining
restaurants category. It was founded
in 2011 by Elise and Rick Wetzel of
Wetzel’s Pretzels. With locations nationwide,
there are a total of fi ve Blaze Pizza
stores in New York City — three in Long
Island, one in Staten Island and another
in White Plains.
At Blaze Pizza, customers can build
their own 11-inch crust pizza with fresh
made-from-scratch dough and choose
from over 40 diff erent menu toppings
(meat, veggies, cheese and sauces) on the
assembly line, said Lessing.
Photo courtesy of Blaze Pizza
“It’s a completely clean menu. Th ere’s
no nitrates, no artifi cial colors … it’s
high-quality ingredients,” said Lessing.
“You can have any combination of toppings
you want. It’s made custom for you.
We put it in an oven at 800 degrees and it
cooks at 180 seconds.”
According to Lessing, Blaze Pizza will
have a normal grand opening, but on the
second day the store will have “Free Pizza
Day” from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.
“Everyone that comes by can get a free
pizza. It’s one per person,” said Lessing.
“We’re just basically throwing a pizza
party and giving everyone a free pizza
and introducing ourselves to the neighborhood.”
Overall, Lessing said they’re “super
excited” to be coming to the neighborhood.
“We love this site and we feel like this
community and our brand are going to be
a great fi t,” said Lessing. “I honestly can’t
wait. I think it’s going to be a really exciting
fun opening. We’re pretty pumped
up.”
Photo courtesy of Blaze Pizza
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