I have seen the future of fast casual pizza- right before my eyes!

While many places allow you to (ostensibly) design your own pie, Blaze Pizza (www.blazepizza.com) literally lets you do it step by mouth-watering step as you move through their blaze-ingly efficient line. From crust (regular, double-thick or gluten-free) to sauces (including a cream, pesto, and super-delish spicy tomato sauce) to cheeses (multiple mozzarellas, as well as gorgonzola, goat, ovalini, and other dairy (or dairy-free) delights) to toppings (too many to list- but they include a deli case-load of meats of all kinds and a produce section’s worth of veggies) to finishing drizzles of balsamic, olive oil, or even ranch dressing, Blaze offers enough options to keep even the most methodical pizza-file busy for years. And as each pizza is fired in 180 seconds, (that’s three minutes to the rest of us!), it is a place where you can just as easily run by for a quick (and we mean “quick”) bite or linger and take in the sights and sounds of other savory selections. With their new app, you can even order ahead and have the freshly fired when you arrive.

Speaking of “fresh,” all the ingredients are and none have preservatives. Even the dough is made and aged in house to ensure clean, delicious flavor from bottom to top.

For those who like to keep things simple, Blaze offers a “Simple Pie” with mozzarella, parmesan, and red sauce, or a “1 top” with any one of the aforementioned army of options. Their “signature” pizzas include a community-building donation to the (RED) movement against AIDS, as well as such chef-designed faves as the artful, artichoke0topped Art Lover, the pesto and chicken combo known as Green Stripe, and the produce party named Veg Out. In an effort to reach out to the community, Blaze hosts a free pizza day tduring he first week of any new opening (watch out, BU!) and is sponsoring the Warped Tour this summer, making it even easier to get your Blaze on!

For those who want something to accompany their pie, Blaze also offers pre-mixed and build-your-own salads on the front end and oven-fired brownies, cookies, and s’mores sandwiches for dessert. There are also a wide range of beverages, including Blue Sky, Coke, and Honest products, as well as home-made seasonally0fruited agua frescas, lemonades, and brewed iced tea, and even organic (chocolate) milk.

So whether you like lunch done for you or are more of a DIY-er, the new place to do it up is Blaze.