Quick-Bake Custom Pizza Restaurants Find A Booming Niche In A Big Market

Quick-fired pizza chains are spreading like wildfire from Southern California eastward. The restaurants – with names like Pie Five and Blaze Fast Fire'd Pizza – promise specialty pizzas baked in five minutes in super-hot ovens. Customers can create their own pizza by first choosing a dough (whole wheat, gluten-free, etc.), then select from a large number of toppings like sausage, basil, tomatoes and roasted red peppers. Some offer salads and dessert, some serve beer and wine. Technomic says sales among the top 15 quick-fire pizza chains grew 193 percent to $337 million in 2014. It predicts that the five-year-old category will lead the restaurant industry in percentage growth and unit expansion over the next three years.