Here’s another fun national news story from the great state of Florida:
Bucks Coal Fired Pizza in North Palm Beach, Florida, has decided to stop offering its viral iguana pizza topping that gained attention earlier this year.
The restaurant went viral during Florida’s record-breaking cold snap in February, when iguanas were dropping from trees due to the freezing temperatures. In the midst of this unusually cold weather, Bucks Coal Fired Pizza posted a video that quickly caught the public’s eye, prompting many to try the unconventional pizza topping.
“My friend reached out to me and asked, ‘How do you feel about using iguana meat for pizza?’ I told him, ‘Let’s do it,’” said Frankie Cecere, owner of Bucks Coal Fired Pizza.
Cecere said the response was overwhelming, with the restaurant receiving roughly 1,500 calls from customers interested in trying iguana pizza.
“It seemed to really grab people’s attention,” he said.
However, the surge in interest also sparked complaints to the health department.
“We had people calling in, accusing us of keeping live iguanas on the premises, like it was some sort of animal cruelty issue. We don’t have live iguanas here,” Cecere clarified.
The restaurant never used live iguanas but paused serving the dish after the controversy.
The business is working through legal and regulatory challenges regarding the sale of iguana meat.
“I thought it would fall under the ‘catch and cook’ rule, since iguanas are considered an invasive species and don’t require a special license to harvest. But it turns out, there’s no clear regulation for it,” Cecere explained.
I think I’ll just stick with my extra cheese…
~ Marty the Pizza Guy ~
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