Popular Blaze Pizza Menu Items Ranked Worst To Best

Blaze Pizza has been taking the fast casual world by storm. Since its creation in 2011, the chain has quickly expanded to over 340 restaurants. The expansion is not wholly surprising, as the masterminds behind this dominating pizza chain are Rick and Elise Wetzel, founders of Wetzel's Pretzels.

Blaze is poised as a craft alternative to traditional pizza franchises such as Domino's and Pizza Hut, with arguably an even quicker turnaround time. Each pizza is "fast fire'd," a stylized term they made up. The dome-shaped pizza ovens can range from anywhere between 600 to 900 degrees Fahrenheit, cooking the pizzas and the toppings quickly.

Blaze offers a truly astounding number of pizza options, ranging from pre-designed artisanal flavors to building anything you can imagine. Not only do they offer an array of toppings, but there are five different crust options that cover almost any dietary need, five sauces, and nine cheeses, and we haven't even gotten to the finishes yet. The menu only continues with desserts, salads, and cheesy bread.

We decided to put Blaze to the test. We tried an array of pizzas, choosing from the popular flavors in our area, as well as other items on the menu. To keep things fair, we ordered the pizzas exactly as they came.

Read more: Frozen Pizzas, Ranked From Worst To Best

Meat Eater

The Meat Eater pizza really surprised us. Unfortunately, it was not a happy surprise. This pizza has a red sauce base, topped with mozzarella cheese, red onions, pepperoni, and crumbled meatballs. With a name like Meat Eater, we kind of expected it to be loaded with meat. But instead, we got a relatively modest array of pepperoni and a smattering of meatballs. Considering the company offers four additional meat toppings, we have to wonder how they did not make the cut.

This lack of other meats could be forgivable if it were not for the flavorless pepperoni. Pepperoni should be spicy and tangy. Yet this did none of that. The crumbled meatballs were good, but not enough to redeem this pizza. The onions, too, almost feel like an afterthought, as if they felt they needed some kind of crunchy vegetable but didn't want to think too hard about it. It feels like they made half a Supreme pizza and then gave up before finishing off the toppings.

This pizza does not know what it is trying to be. Should it be a carnivore's delight? A scaled-down Supreme? Who knows? Certainly not Blaze Pizza.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

We have eaten a lot of chain chocolate chip cookies in our time, so we feel pretty confident in saying that not only is this the worst dessert on the menu, but it is one of the worst chain chocolate chip cookies we have had, period.

This cookie came out looking so good. The chocolate seemed evenly dispersed and had a chocolate chunk lovingly centered in it. There was clearly care and effort that did not pay off. The cookie is somehow overcooked on the outside and undercooked inside. This creates a cookie that is so dry and crunchy that you feel you will break your teeth on it, yet the inside still tastes and looks like raw cookie dough.

Sadly, the flavors aren't much better than the texture. The cookie base itself is unexciting, lacking that titular rounded molasses flavor that should be present in a chocolate chip cookie. The chocolate itself is bland and simply not the rich chocolate flavor we hoped for. It really is a shame that Blaze Pizza couldn't get this one right, as a solid chocolate chip cookie would be the perfect end to a pizza meal.

Cheesy Bread

Once again, we find ourselves in a state of almost bewildered disappointment. Cheesy bread may not be the backbone of any pizza shop, but it is certainly a femur or something, helping to hold up the glorious combination of cheese and carbs. Blaze Pizza's cheesy bread is made with the classic pizza dough, topped with mozzarella, oregano, and an olive oil drizzle, and served with a cup of red sauce.

What struck us the most was the lack of flavor. Mozzarella is a mild cheese. It is a popular choice in pizza shops as the light flavor pairs well with other cheeses and toppings and melts beautifully. We would think, though, knowing that mozzarella is as understated as it is, that Blaze would have added some other flavor or cheese to punch it up a bit. Instead, there is a light sprinkle of oregano and not much else.

In a way, these almost felt more like breadsticks. The dough and the cheese dried out so substantially there was no delicious chew to the mozzarella, and it seemed to become one with the dried slices. The sauce was the only saving grace, providing some flavor and much-needed moisture to the otherwise disappointing dish.

Art Lover

This pizza is good, in theory. All the components are good and would meld together well if they got the chance. The problem, however, comes from the construction.

This pizza starts as almost a white pizza, with mozzarella cheese laid directly on the crust. The pizza is then topped with artichokes, chopped garlic, and dollops of ricotta cheese and red sauce. Sure, this photographs well, but it means that there is not a single bite that has a little of every flavor, and many bites that seem to just have one component.

The sweet, acidic nature of the red sauce pairs well with the creamy ricotta and mozzarella, both of which are lighter in flavor. However, placing this in a heap on each slice means the eater inevitably gets a mouthful of sauce, which is not what you necessarily want. In these bites, all other flavors, such as the garlic and cheeses, get lost.

Additionally, the artichoke hearts are cut into large pieces, which end up pulling off the slices, again creating a mouthful of one flavor. With some reconfiguring, this pizza has the potential to be good, but as is, it is not ideal.

Green Stripe

Green stripe seems to get its name from the drizzle of pesto that tops it. It's too bad that the drizzle was more than a little skimpy.

The Green Stripe pizza is a white pizza topped with mozzarella cheese, chopped garlic, roasted red peppers, grilled chicken, and arugula. Thankfully, this pizza is better constructed than the Art Lover's pizza. Each bite gives you a bit of each flavor. The problem is that the flavors are not up to par.

The chicken cubes came out dry, either due to being older or overcooked in the incredibly hot pizza oven. The pesto likely would have been good, but there was so little of it that we did not get much of the flavor. We suspect that in adequate amounts, the pesto would have also helped to combat the dry chicken problem. There did not necessarily need to be a sauce on this pizza, but it would have been nice if Blaze had done some sort of white cream sauce to help lock in some moisture in the dough. The pizza was so dry that chunks were cracking off before we even ate it.

The roasted red peppers were fine and cut into well-sized pieces, and the arugula was fresh. That's the best we can say about this.

BLT Cobb

As long as you don't have too high expectations, you will not be disappointed.

This is a minimalist Cobb salad, which is a nice way of saying it seems to be missing some components. This one is topped with bacon, tomatoes, red onions, blue cheese, and ranch dressing. You may have noticed common components such as chicken and eggs were not on that list. We guess that is why they are calling it a BLT salad.

The salad is fine, but not great. It is on par with a grocery store lunch salad, topped with the ranch dressing that comes in a little packet. It was not exactly offensive, but we would have hoped for at least a better dressing from a pizza shop.

You may also think that since they are leaning into the bacon, lettuce, and tomato components of the salad, each would be high quality, but that is not the case for the bacon. The bacon pieces were fatty, chewy, and just not that good, though there were a lot of them.

The salad was edible. Just make sure to keep your expectations minimal.

Classic Ceaser

"Classic" seems to be a bit of an overstatement here, but this was a better salad than the Cobb. The Classic Caesar consists of lettuce, croutons, Caesar dressing, and what can only be called a dusting of parmesan cheese. This is a "blink and you'll miss it" situation. The cheese on this salad is not the lovely parmesan shavings typical of a Caesar salad. Instead, we have what feels like a light sprinkle of Kraft parmesan cheese. We could live with that if there had actually been enough on the salad to do anything, but there wasn't.

The croutons, too, had a fatal flaw. They stored the croutons in this salad, which made them painfully soggy. There was no crunch on any of them, which was a deep disappointment. We suspect they put the croutons on as the salads are made, so they just absorb the excess moisture from the lettuce.

The dressing is really carrying the weight of this salad here. The Caesar dressing did taste better than the sad ranch dressing on the BLT Cobb. It at least added some of that "classic" flavor we were promised. However, it does not make up for the soggy croutons. Nothing makes up for soggy croutons.

Red Vine

We get it. Everyone is trying to make food that looks good on social media. But is it really worth it when it comes as a disservice to the taste of the pizza?

Red Vine is a red sauce base topped with slices of fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and basil. This is similar to the classic margarita pizza. The flavors all meld together in the way that margarita pizza does. The fresh mozzarella slices make this pizza lighter and more delicate than a straight-up cheese pizza.

However, we have some questions about how it was constructed. Specifically, why, instead of individual basil leaves, did we get whole branches of basil? Look, basil is delicious, but that is a lot of basil in one place. Also, the cherry tomatoes, in addition to the red sauce, feel a bit redundant, especially when these are just whole tomatoes, not sliced or anything. This ends up with a weird tomato-on-tomato flavor and becomes more challenging to eat as you try to fit the entire cherry tomato in your mouth without it falling off.

Overall, this is a tasty pizza. But we do ask that they try cutting up some of the produce before throwing it on top.

S'more Pie

Why is this called a pie? It is objectively a cookie sandwich. Still, semantics aside, this is a yummy dessert. The S'more pie consists of two McVitie's cookies that taste like graham crackers, which smush together gooey marshmallows and melted milk chocolate between the cookies.

This dessert does genuinely taste like a S'more, likely because it literally is one. As those who enjoy the campfire treat recall, it is made of two graham crackers with a toasted marshmallow and milk chocolate. Blaze is not exactly reinventing the wheel here, but it is nice to get a taste of this summertime treat during the off-season.

When the S'more pie comes out, the marshmallow and chocolate are both warm and gooey. It is delightful. The reason it ranks below the brownie dessert is for just one reason. If the S'more pie sits for a little bit, it cools off, and the marshmallow becomes hard, particularly around the edge. S'more are typically eaten immediately, which is likely why this isn't usually a problem. But if you are eating pizza first and waiting for dessert to bite into this cookie sandwich, you will be met with a less-than-exceptional experience.

Chocolate Brownie

The chocolate brownie takes the cake, so to speak, as the dessert menu goes. This brownie will not win any awards, but it does exactly what a brownie needs to do. It has a light, slightly chewy chocolate base, chocolate chips mixed in, and a crackly top. This brownie is a bit on the lighter side and sadly comes off as more cakey than it does fudgy, but it is not unpleasant in any way.

The chocolate brownie tastes like a boxed chocolate brownie mix, and there is definitely a place in this world for a box mix of chocolate brownies. It may not be quite to Ghirardelli brownie mix quality, but it is certainly not the worst. Everything the chocolate chip cookie does wrong, this does right. The chocolate has some flavor, it is cooked the whole way through, and perhaps most importantly, it tastes good, both hot and cold.

BBQ Chkn

The BBQ Chkn pizza starts to make up for the failings of the other chicken pizza. This pizza also starts with mozzarella cheese right on the dough, then is topped with red onions, banana peppers, gorgonzola cheese, chicken, and BBQ sauce.

While the chicken is still on the dry side, the addition of the BBQ sauce provides some much-needed moisture to balance out. Additionally, this time, our pizza was not so dry it cracked apart. So that was worth something.

The BBQ sauce is tangy and decent, though we did find it a little thin. The banana peppers and red onions provide a nice rounded flavor and a bit of crunch, and the tangy gorgonzola helped highlight the tang in the BBQ sauce.

Finally, this pizza was well constructed, and each bite got a little of each flavor, which cannot be said for many of the other pizzas.

Simple Pie

Sometimes, you just have to go with the simple option. We know that Blaze Pizza is making a name for itself by offering fun gourmet options, but when it comes down to it, it is hard to beat a true classic. The Simple Pie is made with red sauce, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan.

With this one, we finally see them mixing mozzarella with a sharper cheese, parmesan. This gives a better flavor than just the one cheese and provides a salty note so desperately needed. As an added bonus, with the simplicity of this pizza comes a lower price tag. This pizza is a few dollars cheaper than the specialty pies.

This pizza may be simple, but it is effective. It has the kind of mass appeal the specialty pizzas don't and actually distributes the sauce and the cheese evenly on the crust. There are limited substitutions on this pizza, but that is okay. It does what it needs to do and nothing else.

Pesto Garlic Cheesy Bread

Now, this is the cheesy bread of our dreams. Whereas the plain cheesy bread is boring, dry, and flavorless, this cheesy bread is chewy, delicious, and full of rounded flavor.

This cheesy bread starts with the same base as the original: shredded mozzarella, oregano, and a side of red sauce. But this time, they have kicked it up a notch with chopped garlic and a pesto drizzle. Right off the bat, we have to wonder why the other cheesy bread doesn't at least have garlic on it. Garlic and cheese on bread go hand in hand, which is probably why the garlic is so good on this herby, cheesy treat. The garlic adds a tang and aroma; the other bread was missing.

The pesto is subtle but far more present than on the Green Stripe pizza. It provides a light herb flavor, as well as a bit of moisture. Where the other cheesy bread needed the sauce to dip, this one is delicious on its own and is just improved with the addition of dipping sauce.

We would happily eat this bread any day of the week.

Read the original article on Mashed.