LeBron James-backed pizza place in Berkeley closes permanently

Besides being one of the greatest basketball players of all time and co-owning a tequila brand with Draymond Green, LeBron James is also a part owner of the Blaze Pizza chain. There were six locations in the Bay Area. Now, there are only five, as the Berkeley location has shut down.

SFGATE reached out to Blaze Pizza, but did not hear back by publication. It is unclear when the place officially closed.

The chain pizza company, which has 300 locations in North America, is known for fast-cooked, wood-fired pizzas. It is also one of seven pizza chains that never freezes its dough, making its dough in-house daily.

The Blaze name has become fairly well known; so much so that two months ago Blaze Pizza sued a Bay Area barbecue restaurant for trademark infringement. Blaze BBQ, which has restaurants in Fremont, Sacramento and Salida, apparently filed an application to use the “Blaze” name in May 2021. The pizza chain requested that the barbecue joint “abandon its application to register” in July of that year. The company has yet to change its name or its logo, which also bears resemblance to the pizza chain’s, according to the lawsuit filed.

In San Francisco, there is a Blaze Pizza location at 3251 20th Ave. inside the Stonestown shopping center, which is down the street from San Francisco State University.

Editor’s note: This article was updated at 2 p.m., Aug. 31, 2023, to reflect the correct number of Blaze Pizza locations in the Bay Area.