Florida Pizza Shop Receives Backlash For Serving Reptile-Topped Pie

Bucks Coal Fired Pizza in North Palm Beach, Florida, is receiving backlash for selling iguana meat on hand-tossed pizza after an Instagram video prompted a visit from the Health Department, according to its owner. Amid regulatory concerns about the surprisingly popular pizza topping, the pizzeria has announced it will stop selling reptile meat on its pies.

The video evoked strong negative reactions previously this month when it unveiled its “Everglades Pizza”, which includes: iguana, venison, alligator, bacon, cheese and topped off with ranch dressing.

Ryan Izquierdo, a friend of the shop, says in the video. “If you bring an iguana to this place, he’ll make you a pizza. Let’s see if it’s true.” It then shows him taking the reptile to the shop where the owner then prepares it for the pizza.

As a result of Florida’s sudden, brief spell of cold weather at the start of February, with a rare sprinkling of snow and temperatures dropping to 1.667 degrees Celsius, iguanas reportedly started falling from trees, unable to move. At that point, passersby might pick them up.

The owner of Bucks Coal Fired Pizza, Frank Cecere, in a comment to the media, said, “I guess, from a national standpoint, recognition has been great.” However, he said people started calling him on animal cruelty issues. “We don’t have live iguanas here,” He said, noting, “You don’t need a license to harvest iguanas because they’re an invasive species, but apparently, there’s no statute for it.”

The Pizza shop is currently facing regulatory questions about serving reptile meat.