Hungry Students Welcome Blaze Pizza and Crisp Kitchen
WRITTEN BY: ZURI HOFFMAN
The Temple University community recently welcomed Blaze Pizza and Crisp Kitchen to campus. The new eateries have been in the making since last semester and opened earlier in the month, conveniently located next to each other below The View at Montgomery apartments.
Blaze Pizza, with its slogan “Intelligent Choices for Our Pizzas, People & Planet,” offers students a different way to order brick oven pizza. Customers can now build their own pizzas, through a variety of options Blaze offers, allowing customers to customize each pizza, to fit their likings and needs. Similar to popular restaurant Chipotle, Blaze offers an identical approach to the way pizzas are ordered, giving customers not only the ability to customize, but also the visual of their pizza in the making.
Blaze Pizza is known for its urban and modern decor, which contributes to the company’s concept of supporting self-expression and originality within its customers and employees. You can find expressive quotes, such as “Take a Stand,” throughout the restaurant.
Adrian Dean, a Temple law school student loves the convenient location and another food option for him to choose from that is in close proximity to where he lives. Dean decided to give Blaze a try because he loves pizza and also heard good things about the food and customer service.
“I heard no one messed up orders which is a big deal for me when I order food,” Dean said.
Directly next to Blaze Pizza, you’ll find Crisp Kitchen, with the promise of “freshly prepared good natural food.” Crisp Kitchen is very similar to popular restaurant Honey Grow, in their ordering process, interior, food options and even packaging. Speaking to restaurant employee Hiram Malaret, he says that the students have been enjoying Crisp because the cooking is unique from the other eateries around campus.
“Students were getting tired of the trucks and wanted a new place to eat with a variety of food options,” Malaret said.
Before Crisp Kitchen’s official opening on Feb. 2, Crisp handed out free samples to students during different times of the day, which Malaret believes plays a part in Crisp’s success thus far.
Unique from a lot of other eateries on campus, Crisp Kitchen’s menu offers healthier alternatives with fresh, homemade food. Although the menu has been sitting well with students so far, there has been discussion of introducing sandwiches to the menu.
Perhaps the most popular food offered at Crisp Kitchen is its frozen yogurt. “Students come in at 9:30 p.m. right before we close just for the yogurt, they love it!” Malaret said. The frozen yogurt comes in vanilla, chocolate or both, along with toppings such as mangos, chocolate chips, coconuts and many others.
So far, both Crisp Kitchen and Blaze Pizza have been a success with students. Both eateries are in convenient locations for many students and even more convenient for The View at Montgomery’s residents. It is safe to say that both eateries succeeded its goals in giving students newer and fresher food options.
