Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza, a fast-casual build-your-own pizza concept, today announced that Walch Hospitality Group, LLC has signed an agreement to develop six franchise stores in Milwaukee and Madison.

The new Wisconsin stores are part of a development plan to build a concentration of Blaze Pizza restaurants in the Midwest that will include Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

The first Wisconsin location is scheduled to open in Milwaukee this summer in a location that has not yet been announced.

Blaze Pizza uses an assembly line format (similar to Chipotle Mexican Grill) to create artisan pizzas based on toppings you like.  Pizzas start at $6.85.

Each Blaze Pizza restaurant makes its own dough from scratch using a recipe that requires a 24-hour fermentation period to produce its crust.

Pizzas are "fast-fired" in a pizza oven and ready in about two minutes.

Blaze Pizza's menu also features salads, fresh lemonades, beer and wine and house-made s'more pies. Blaze Pizza also offers gluten-free dough and vegan cheese.

"The stores in Wisconsin will be a tent-pole in our expansion throughout the Midwest," said Elise Wetzel, president of Blaze Pizza. "We've had strong interest from franchise candidates in this part of the country and are currently working to identify the best development partners for the brand."