Pizza in Lexington

Lexington has more pizza options than most visitors realize. You've got the obvious franchises, the local spots and some true hole in wall pizza joints. I figured I'd start working through them and writing down what I find...and eating.

I'll keep updating this post as I work through Lexington's pizza scene. Two places in so far.

Blaze Pizza at The Summit

Blaze Pizza is in The Summit at Fritz Farm shopping center off Nicholasville Road. It's a fast-casual setup where you walk down the line and either build your own pie or order one of their featured pies. They make it right in front of you and fire it in the oven on the spot. From order to table is maybe five minutes.

I ordered their new Blaze BBQ Chicken pizza.

The crust and undercarriage were crispy and crunchy, no soggy spots. Blaze doesn't pile their pizzas with toppings the way some places do, which means the crust holds up instead of getting weighed down. That's a real advantage if you care about the bread, which I do.

The flavor was a home run. The tang of the BBQ sauce mixing with the mozzarella and ranch dressing worked. The pickled jalapeños gave the right amount of heat, not too much. There were good size chunks of chicken too, not stingy. All in all, a great pizza.

My one personal note for next time: ask them to add a little extra BBQ sauce. I'm a sauce guy. But the pizza was solid as ordered.

One thing I appreciated: every pizza is made to order. Unlike grabbing a slice at Goodfellas under their heat lamp, where the slice has been sitting around for who knows how long, your Blaze pizza comes out fresh from the oven. Different model, different experience. Goodfellas full pies are a different conversation, which I'll get to.

Verdict: Worth a stop. The BBQ Chicken is a good pick. Add extra sauce if you're me.

Parlour Pizza, 2099 Harrodsburg Road

Parlour Pizza is the sit-down spot off Harrodsburg Road with a big beer selection. Different vibe than Blaze, this is a place you go to settle in, order a pint, and let the pizza take its time.

I went with the hot honey pepperoni, 14 inch, original crust, drizzled with Mike's Hot Honey. I'm not going to give this a ranking number, even though that's the trend these days. That's the approach I'm taking with food in general. All food is different in its own way. And if it's truly bad, I'll tell you here. I'm just going to give you the deets for the eats.

A little pizza science here. Parlour builds heavier than Blaze does. Heavier toppings mean more grease, and more grease means a softer undercarriage. That's the trade-off. Blaze's lighter-topping approach is exactly why their crust stays crispy. Parlour goes the other way. If you like a crunchy piece of pizza, this won't be it.

The pizza was pretty darn tasty. The hot honey was very mild on the heat, more sweet than hot, which I liked. The pepperoni was the one place I had to grade a little harder. I'm a pepperoni guy, I like a lot of pepperoni, and the amount here was average to below average. A lot of empty space on the pie where pepperoni could have been. The pepperoni itself wasn't crunchy either, which would have been a nice contrast against the softer build.

One small craft note: the cheese sat over the pepperoni rather than under it. That's naturally what happens when moisture gets trapped, and you can see it in the texture. Not a complaint, just something I noticed.

The outside ring of crust is called a cornicione. Parlour's was dusted with seasoning, and I asked the waitress what it was. She said the kitchen nicknamed it "crack." Make of that what you will.

The pizza was good. Could it have been better? Yeah. But every place is different, and Parlour is its own thing. Worth the trip for a pizza night, and the beer selection is a real bonus if you want to make an evening of it with friends.

Verdict: A good pizza and a fun spot. Worth a trip, especially if you want a beer to go with it.

What's next

I'm working my way through Lexington's pizza scene. Places on my list to review next: Goodfellas (full pies, not slices), Bella Notte, Joe Bologna's, Pies and Pints, Smashing Tomato.

If you have a Lexington pizza spot worth visiting, send it my way.

I'll keep updating this post as I add visits.

If you're at The Summit anyway, Shake Shack is right there too. I reviewed their Double ShackBurger here.

Looking for more Lexington restaurant ideas? See my Best Restaurants in Lexington guide.