Blazing Hot Pizza News

Trendy pizza chain blazes through North Texas with primo Arlington location

Blaze bakes up its pizzas in 180 seconds.

Courtesy photo

A second branch of Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza is coming to North Texas in February 2016. More specifically, it's opening at 841 E. Lamar Blvd. in Arlington, next to the Whole Foods Market in the Parkway Central Shopping Center.

This represents the second area location for the fast-casual chain, one of a rash of Chipotle-like pizza joints to open around Dallas-Fort Worth. Frisco got the first Blaze in 2015.

Blaze debuted in Irvine, California, in 2012, and it's known for pizza, salads, blood orange lemonade, and s'more pies. An interactive open-kitchen format allows diners to customize one of the signature pizzas or create their own. The 11-inch, thin-crust pizzas are baked in a blazing hot open-flame oven and ready to eat in 180 seconds.

Each restaurant makes its own dough from scratch using a recipe developed by executive chef and "pizza whisperer" Bradford Kent. Blaze also offers gluten-free dough and vegan cheese.

The Arlington locale will feature a selection of local craft beers, including 512 Pecan Porter, 512 IPA, Community Public Pale, and Community WIT. The restaurant will be constructed with recycled and sustainable materials and energy-efficient LED lighting. Packaging will be compostable.

"We're excited to join the Arlington community and fire up our artisanal pizzas here," says Brian Kelley, managing partner of Saddles Blazin LLC, the franchisee that owns Blaze Pizzas in Frisco, Austin, and New Orleans.

Founded by Elise and Rick Wetzel (co-founder of Wetzel's Pretzels), the concept is backed by investors such as LeBron James, Maria Shriver, Boston Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner, and movie producer John Davis. The company currently operates 105 restaurants in 25 states and Canada, in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, and D.C.

openings pizza

Ice Cream News

Global gourmet ice cream chain debuts in U.S. with 2 Dallas-area shops

Dumont Ice Cream

An ice cream concept from India has made its U.S. debut, right here in Texas: Called Dumont Creamery & Cafe, it's a ice cream chain founded in Hyderabad that now has two locations in the Dallas area.

Their first location was Frisco, which opened at 1951 FM 423 at the end of 2023; a second location opened in late October in Coppell at 1535 S. Belt Line Rd. #160.

Dumont was founded in 1999 by brothers Vivek and Bhashkaar, and currently has 23 locations in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Vijayawada listed on their website.

Bringing the concept to Texas are local franchisees and friends Sai Sashank and Tarang Tirumala, who moved to the U.S. in 2005 to attend college.

Both have successful consulting careers, but craved a taste of home.

Ice cream is the centerpiece at Dumont with more than two dozen flavors, ranging from gourmet to classics to flavors boasting global influences: from Italian-inspired sorbet to a New Zealand-inspired honey ice cream called "hokey pokey."

There is vanilla, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip — but also unique options such as cake and jam, an ice cream with a vanilla base, bites of cake, and spiced jam; and kheer, a coconut ice cream studded with dried fruits and nuts — a nod to the kheer rice pudding that's one of India's favorite desserts.

A single scoop is $4. They have cups and a cute version of waffle cones: shorter and fatter than usual, to provide a greater ratio of ice cream-to-cone.

In addition to ice cream, they have a beverage program with coffee and espresso drinks such as lattes, plus boba tea. There are also special drinks like falooda — an exotic Indian milkshake with rose syrup and vermicelli — as well as limited-edition drinks like iced kheer, a cool beverage version of that same popular rice pudding dessert.

Both locations are spacious, bright, and clean, with pale green banquettes at Frisco, and pale blue chairs and tables at Coppell. Both feature an astronaut theme with statues and framed photos and cartoons on the wall. The Coppell location also has a mural dedicated to great moments in Coppell history.