The &Pizza brand had humble beginnings on H Street and now seems to be spreading as fast as, well, it takes for its chefs to prepare a pie. The handful of locations now open span N.E. and N.W. Washington neighborhoods not to mention Bethesda, with locales opening soon in Germantown, Gaithersburg and in the heart of K Street. No matter the spot, diners have an option of a signature pizza, a basic one they can create with just a sauce and cheese or a deluxe pie to create using unlimited toppings. Ingredients include falafel crumbles, salami, shrimp and a local mushroom blend.

Another branch of the ampersand-friendly chain.

Another branch of the ampersand-friendly chain.

Another branch of the ampersand-friendly chain.

Location coming soon.

Location coming soon.

Fuel Pizza has been around D.C. for a decade plus as a proprietor of wings and pizza -- only of the slice variety. The company entered the made-to-order pizza business a year ago in order to get in on the fast casual bandwagon too. To date, the assembly-line concept expansion is in play at three area locations: along Pennsylvania Avenue, near Howard University and, the most recent addition, in Dupont. Custom Fuel, like many of its peers, has both signature pies and those completely open to the whim of the diner. Toppings include chicken sausage, cipollini onions and scallions.

Another location of the Fuel spinoff.

Out in the suburbs, Pizzanese sells its pizza as a global uniter. Pizzanese also sells ingredients that have a global spin. Diners go through a four-step pie assembly process: Sauce it, cheese it, top it, season it. As they do, they can choose from three kinds of crust, six kinds of sauce (BBQ, pesto, tandoori, spicy chipotle, classic red and classic white), seven kinds of cheese, eight kinds of meat and 15 vegetables. One unique aspect is the internationally-themed “seasonings” that can go on top of the pie, post-cooking, including shredded nori, kimchi and japanese mayo.

The newest addition to the map just opened last weekend and bills its fast casual pizza-making business as a next-generation pizza shop. Overall, pizza eaters can pick between 48 different toppings. Some of the funkier ones are jerk chicken, mandarin oranges, grilled tofu, and jalapenos that are pickled. Along with create-your-own pizzas, there’s also create-your-own-salads.

The man behind this pizza shop in northeast D.C., Mark Bergami, hails from New Haven, Conn. and is out to make pizza-scarfing healthy. Bergami’s opened in late spring and much of the talk since then has been about the no-carb cauliflower crust available as a nontraditional base. There’s also a traditional, whole wheat and gluten free crust for the less daring. Simple pizzas consisting of merely a cheese and sauce go for just $6.50, while the topped pizzas are $2 more. Along with standard meat and vegetarian toppings, pies can include “finishes” like a balsamic glaze.

So it’s not the most original name. D.C. Pizza doesn’t care. The personal pies are cooked up in two minutes, and that’s the priority at this centrally-located, no-frills eatery. D.C. Pizza proprietors refer to their process in three steps: build a pizza, bake it and then add cold toppings to finish it up. For instance, there’s gorgonzola or rosemary olive oil to drizzle and spread on top of the cooked pie. As far as toppings that go on prior to the oven, choices skewing slightly out of the norm are porcini mushrooms and stoplight peppers (a combination of yellow, green and red).

One’s open locally and three more are on the way, for this Los Angeles-based fast casual pizza chain. The first in the area resides in Bethesda at Montgomery Mall. There, the lion’s share of toppings are classic, and meats, a definite focal point of the menu, include crumbled meatballs, smoked ham and grilled chicken. The magic time for a pizza to get to “perfectly crisp perfection” is 180 seconds, the chain’s website touts. Additional locations for Blaze are set to open later this year in College Park adjacent to the University of Maryland campus and in Laurel at the Town Center Shopping Center.