FREE PIZZA DAY THURSDAY AT BLAZE PIZZA IN BETHESDA!

What's better than pizza? Free pizza! And that's what you can pick up at Blaze Pizza in Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda this Thursday, October 2.

All you have to do is follow Blaze Pizza on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Blaze Pizza's Josh Levitt says the company expects to give away more than 1,300 free pizzas to Bethesda residents Thursday.

Get a preview of how your pizza will be made in this video I recorded at the mall when it first opened.

BLAZE PIZZA BETHESDA REVIEW (VIDEO + PHOTOS)

The new Blaze Pizza at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda opened yesterday, and now you can watch my video review of the pizza. I also tested out their dessert specialty, the S'mores Pie.

For testing purposes, I usually stick to a cheese pizza to better analyze the sauce and crust. That was the case at Blaze Pizza, where I ordered the Classic Red Sauce and a combination of mozzarella and Gorgonzola cheese. The Gorgonzola did seem to go quite well with the flavor of the red sauce, so I would strongly recommend it. You can select whatever toppings you like, as you will see in the video, which shows you the ordering process. As you'll see in my complete video review, there is a nice char on the bottom of the crust.

The S'mores Pie has a nice twist here, replacing the standard graham crackers with McVitie's Biscuits from England. Prince William would approve. Also, I recommend you ask to have your S'mores Pie put into the open fire oven for a more authentic campfire s'mores experience.

That's not a bite out
of the S'mores Pie; I
dropped it on the floor
(it was in a wrapper,
fortunately), and
a piece of the biscuit
snapped off

The S'mores Pie has Hershey's
Chocolate, my favorite

Blaze Pizza has a convenient location, right inside the entrance of the Old Navy wing, across from Aroma Espresso Bar. Like Aroma, Blaze Pizza will have an outdoor patio. That wasn't open yet Wednesday, but the modestly-sized dining room seemed comfortable. You can also see the pizzas going into the roaring fires of the oven from the dining area. Service was excellent, particularly considering it was a soft opening.

BLAZE PIZZA OPENING THURSDAY IN BETHESDA

The anticipated opening of artisanal pizza parlor Blaze Pizza, at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, is happening this Thursday, August 21. At Blaze Pizza, you will be able to build your own personal-size pizza, with artisanal crust and toppings, for under $8. And it will be ready in under 180 seconds, using the restaurant's "Fast-Fire'd" open-flame pizza oven.

Blaze Pizza's Bethesda restaurant, its first in the DC area, will seat just over 75 diners in its 1900 square foot space. As I reported previously, they will also have an outdoor patio for open-air dining.

Check out the menu as we await the grand opening of Bethesda's latest pizza option, one of two new pizzerias opening at Westfield Montgomery Mall this year (Naples 45 is the second).

Blaze Pizza

7101 Democracy Boulevard

BLAZE PIZZA BETHESDA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE (PHOTOS)

Construction continues at Blaze Pizza, scheduled to open this summer at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. As you can see in the photos below, Blaze follows the recent trend of new dining tenants at the mall who have taken their space - and branding - through the mall's exterior wall. The "fast-fired" pizza chain has attracted celebrity investors; Maria Shriver, her son Patrick Schwarzenegger, Boston Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner, and Panda Express founder Andrew Cherng are among those who have invested $3 million in the company.

BLAZE PIZZA HIRING AT WESTFIELD MONTGOMERY MALL (PHOTOS)

Blaze Pizza is hiring for its future Bethesda location at Westfield Montgomery Mall. The restaurant is scheduled to open this summer. Interviews will be held 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Monday, Thursday and Friday, at Aroma Espresso Bar (which is located across the hall from Blaze Pizza).

Artisanal pizzas will be made-to-order in under 3 minutes at Blaze Pizza, which will be located near Bobby's Burger Palace and The Cheesecake Factory on the mall's lower level.

CRAVE RESTAURANT OPENING AT WESTFIELD MONTGOMERY MALL IN BETHESDA

Westfield Montgomery Mall is adding another upscale restaurant to its rapidly-expanding dining options. This one comes with an ALL-CAPS attitude. CRAVE Restaurant combines popular American dishes with fresh sushi. In that respect, it reminds me a bit of Jackson's Mighty Fine Food, a popular member of the Great American Restaurant family across the Potomac.

CRAVE also sounds like it will be one of several great pre-theater dining options for patrons of the mall's future ArcLight Cinemas. Ingredients will be locally and regionally-sourced. Looking at the wine and beer list another one of their mall-based locations, I'm glad to see a Michelob that isn't Michelob Ultra, and a good selection of sake. And a sake sampler. Of course, you never know what you'll end up with through our county-controlled liquor regime here in Montgomery County.

The full sushi bar at CRAVE with feature backlit onyx, and a wine tower. CRAVE will be located near The Cheesecake Factory and Bobby's Burger Palace on the lower level.

Other new dining additions will include the MET Bethesda, with a wood-burning grill, and a 40-seat bar that offers on-tap martinis; Blaze Pizza; Cava Grill and Chipotle, all of which I've previously written about.

Here is a video preview of what to expect from the sushi bar at CRAVE: