Blaze Pizza - Royal Oak, MI

      OMG... gluten-free goodness.  After the fail that was Amicis and Pizzeria Biga's gluten-free pizza, I was reluctant to think that a "chain" would have a better one.  However, I had a Jerry Mcguire moment and they had me at... "unlimited toppings." 
      Blaze's shtick is fast, wood fired pizzas, at a low cost.  $6.95 for a 6 piece, 11inch flat bread pizza with unlimited toppings?  Can you find a better price? I think not.  You can get the signature pizzas like the meat eater, art lover, green stripe, red vine, and so on and so forth. I won't detail them all. You can check them out for yourself at Blaze's signature pizzas.  
     My favorite gluten-free pie place is and will probably always be The Stormcloud Brewery in Frankfort, MI.  If you're up there try the "Rider on the Storm" pizza (garlic herb oil, carmelized onions, roasted garlic, house-made sausage, brie or goat cheese, parmesan, sliced fresh apples, drizzled with a maple cider vinegar reduction).  I changed the cheese and added pepperoni.  The maple cider vinegar reduction made it.  MmMmm.  Anyway, back to the Blaze...
      The best part about Blazes is the build your own pizza beast.  You can load on as many toppings as you want for $6.95.  If you want gluten-free crust it's an additional 2 bucks, but well worth it.  You won't even know the difference.  I didn't. 
      We got two pizzas, one build your own and one signature with some adds.  The picture on the left is a gluten-free art lover (artichokes, mozzarella, ricotta, chopped garlic) and we added spicy red sauce dollops, mushrooms, arugula and salami.  The picture below was a gluten-free crust ,build your own with two different kinds of mozzarella, pepperoni, onions, pineapple, and banana peppers.  They were good in the moment and even better the next day heated up in the oven.  Those of you that know about gluten-free crusts... they rarely are ever good the next day.
      Get a pop or a blood orange lemonade and kick back.  The only thing that would make this place better is a liquor license.  This place screams wine (not the decor, but the food).  You could treat it like a Michigan game and bring your own?  Keep in mind it's a family friendly environment and not one you want to linger around in.  It's fast food pizza and damn good too.

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