Customers enter what in most cases are stylish and comfortable spaces, like at this Blaze Pizza in Irvine, CA.
They then step up to the counter and read what are in most cases very simple menu options. At Pie Five, customers frequently opt for the nine-inch unlimited-topping pie for $6.49.
The first decision customers make after starting their order is usually choosing the dough. At 800 Degrees, a hand-stretched, -rolled and –tossed dough is used that is housemade with flour from Naples to provide an authentic Neapolitan pie.
Like at 800 Degrees, the dough is hand tossed in front of customers at Your Pie. Drew French, the concept founder, shows off his technique here.
Customers then choose their sauce, cheese and toppings. The options, as you can see, are plentiful. At Top That! Pizza, a 10-inch pie with unlimited toppings is $7.49.
As customers make their choices, like at Chipotle and Subway, employees add the toppings. At The Pizza Studio, the founders liken creating a personal pizza to a work of art.
The pies are made quickly, one after the other, shown here at Pieology. All the concepts also offer several pre-designed options that are also made in front of the customers.
The pies are then placed in really, really hot ovens, as this Project Pie clearly shows. The concepts use wood-fired stone-hearth ovens, pictured here, or fast-cook conveyor units. Temperatures range from 500 to 800 degrees.
The pies then cook, for anywhere from one minute to six minutes. Here at Live Basil, the pizza takes about two minutes in this stone-hearth oven.
Once the pizza is done, it’s removed from the oven and handed to the customer, who if everything is done right, has just finished paying and getting a drink from a nearby soda machine. Uncle Maddio’s, shown here, uses a conveyor oven and pies take six minutes to cook.
If soda isn’t the choice, most of these concepts also offer beer and wine, like at PizzaRev, which believes the “craft-your-own” pizza goes well with a cold, craft brew.
After the customer’s order is complete, all that’s left is to enjoy it. At MOD Pizza in Seattle, customers enjoy their “made on demand” pies in a comfortable, cool and almost retro-feeling space.