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Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza to open new stores in Tennessee, Florida

Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza will open two new locations this week — Its second Knoxville, Tennessee, location and its first in Royal Palm Beach, Florida.

March 28, 2016

Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza will open two new locations this week — Its second Knoxville, Tennessee, location and its first in Royal Palm Beach, Florida.

The Knoxville location opened yesterday, according to a company press release. The new restaurant is located in the Turkey Creek shopping complex at 10978 Parkside Dr., between Chick-Fil-A and Starbucks. To celebrate, diners are invited to enjoy a free, custom-built, artisanal pizza from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. today by following Blaze Pizza on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, or Facebook.

"Knoxville has quickly become one of our most significant markets for growth for Blaze Pizza nationwide," said Mike Forte, Knoxville resident and Blaze Operating partner in Tennessee, who first brought the concept to Tennessee in 2014. "Knoxville diners in particular have embraced the quick but high-quality dining experience offered by Blaze that you won't find at any other pizza restaurant."

The new Knoxville location will be the third "Blaze Blue" location to open nationwide. "Blaze Blue" locations have updated branding to incorporate the color blue into the restaurant's traditional orange and black color scheme. The 4,000-square-foot interior will include seating for more than 100 inside and additional seating on an outdoor patio.

The restaurant will be operated by Louisville, Kentucky-based Millennial Restaurant Group, which continues to develop the concept throughout Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida. The partnership consists of James Patterson Sr., Jim Patterson II, Ulysses (Junior) Bridgeman, Wayne Albritton. and Collins Cogan.

The new South Florida location will open Thursday in Royal Palm Beach. To celebrate the grand opening, the restaurant will offer free build-your-own artisanal pizzas from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday to anyone who follows Blaze Pizza on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. The new restaurant, which features a 2,100-square-foot interior with seating for 54 inside, is located at Buckingham Plaza, 250 South State Road 7.

"Our mission at Blaze is really simple — we're taking pizza back to its roots," said Jim Mizes, president and COO of Blaze Pizza. "By making dough in-house, carefully sourcing ingredients, and cooking by fire, we're giving guests a great way to enjoy artisanal pizza without the wait. It's changing the way people think about and eat pizza."

"On the heels of an incredibly successful opening in Palm Beach Gardens earlier this month, we are thrilled to continue to grow in South Florida," said Adam Cummis, Blaze Pizza franchise partner. "Now even more Floridians will be able to enjoy custom-built, artisanal pizza, served fast."

Driving Blaze Pizza's South Florida expansion is an investment group led by Levy Family Partners and including NBA All-Star LeBron James. Levy Family Partners was established by entrepreneur Larry Levy, founder of Levy Restaurants. In addition to the 10-store franchise development agreement in Florida, the group is developing Blaze Pizza in the Chicago market.

Both restaurants will be constructed with recycled and sustainable materials, use energy-efficient LED lighting and will feature eco-friendly, compostable packaging. Blaze will also promote a turnkey fundraiser program that returns 20 percent of an event's proceeds back to the organization, helping schools, sports clubs and other local groups.