Earlier this morning Disney Springs opened its latest new restaurant - Blaze Pizza.
Promising fully customized 11” pizzas in just a couple of minutes, the premise sounds great, but how does it measure up?
Located in the Town Center of Disney Springs, Blaze Pizza is positioned alongside the Spring, nestled in a spot between Homecoming and Planet Hollywood.
The architectural look of the building comes from an 1850’s era sawmill that has been repurposed.
The 5000 sq. ft. restaurant has seating for 200 guests, with a mix of indoor and covered outdoor seating.
The dining room is basic, but good looking. There are long benches that will accommodate large groups, and some individual booths running along the edges.
The woodwork inside is lumber milled from a Cypress log felled more than 200 years ago and reclaimed from Florida’s Apalachicola River. The wall facing the spring is floor to ceiling glass, giving the space a very light and airy feel.
The outdoor seating area is covered, and will be a great spot to eat in the cooler weather. There are ceiling fans to make the area more comfortable in the warmer weather.
Ordering
If you have been to a Subway or Chipotle, you will be very familiar with the ordering process.
The process begins at the left side of the counter where you choose the type of crust. There are a couple of options - regular, high-rise and gluten free, with the last two costing $2 more.
From there, you can then choose a signature pie, or create your own. Ingredients include:
- Sauces: Classic red, spicy red, white cream, garlic pesto.
- Cheeses: Feta, goat, gorgonzola, oval ini, mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta, shredded mozzarella, vegan cheese.
- Meats: Applewood bacon, grilled chicken, Italian meatballs, Italian sausage, pepperoni, salame, smoked ham, turkey meatballs.
- Veggies: Artichokes, banana peppers, chopped garlic, fresh basil, green bell peppers jalepenos, kalamata olives, mushrooms, oregano, pineapple, red onions, red peppers, roasted garlic, sautéed onions, spinach, zucchini.
- Finishes: Arugula, bbq sauce, pesto, olive oil, ranch.
There are 8 signature pizzas, all of which sound extremely appetizing. If none of those are right for you, then there is the option of the complete custom create-your-own. View the Blaze Pizza menu.
When it comes to custom pizzas, there is a single price of $9.65 for any toppings, which makes the process very simple. Alternatively, you can pay $8.45 for a single topping of your choice pizza, or $7.25 for a basic Mozzarella, Parmesan and Red Sauce pizza.
The pizza moves along an assembly line, as the staff adds each ingredient that you selected, or part of the chosen signature pizza.
The line moves fast, with the pizza making it to the oven in less than a minute from ordering.
Next the pizza heads to one of two blazing hot ovens, where they are fast fired for 180 seconds.
Once ready, any finishing toppings are applied, and the order name is called for pickup at the end of the line.
The Food
Everyone has their own opinion of what great pizza is, and we’ve tried our fair share. We are happy to report that for us, the Blaze Pizza is some very good pizza.
The crust is thin, which is perhaps a necessity for the fast fired ovens. The regular dough is more of a flatbread, and the high rise dough is more in line with a traditional pizza crust. You can see a comparison in this photo, with the high-rise on top.
The standout feature of Blaze Pizza is perhaps the freshness. The time taken for production is so quick, that everything is as fresh as could be, and piping hot.
On the underside of the pizza, there is a nice fingerprint from the ovens, with some charring, but not overly black.
The dough is all made in-house, and the toppings are free from artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Portion size is about perfect. There are 6 slices per pizza, and is just about right to eat individually for a main meal, or could be split for a quick bite.
If you are not in the mood for pizza, there is also salad, priced from $3.75 to $9.65, including the option of adding proteins.
The drink line-up is one of the best to be found at a quick service, with a range of Aqua Fresca, fountain sodas, beer and wine.
The sodas are not just your run-of-the-mill Coke products, but also include some cane sugar drinks from Blue Sky, including Orange Mango, Root Beer and Black Cherry.
The alcoholic drinks include draft beer, bottled beer and even wines.
There is a small dessert menu, including a S’Mores Pie, Cookie and Brownie, each priced at $3.
We tried out the 3” diameter S’Mores Pie, and although it was OK, it was certainly not worth the $3 asking price.
The Verdict
Disney Springs needed more quick service offerings with full sit-down seating, and Blaze Pizza fills that gap extremely well. Everyone loves pizza, and Blaze delivers a very good product. It is the best pizza we have tasted at Disney Springs, and at a very affordable price.
The speed of service and capacity makes Blaze an even more attractive option, and we think Blaze is likely to unseat the Earl of Sandwich as the king of Disney Springs quick service dining.
Blaze Pizza is open Sunday to Thursday 10am - 11pm, and Friday to Saturday 10am - midnight. The Disney Dining Plan is accepted.
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