Content creator Ryan Izquierdo partnered with owner Frankie Cecere to create the "Everglades Pie" - a white pizza topped with venison, bacon, and actual iguana meat. The behind-the-scenes video racked up 675,000 views. Fox News, the TODAY Show, and CBS all covered it. The health department showed up. Buck's got 1,500 to 2,500 calls in a single day, with 200-300 people showing up daily after that.
The viral moment was real. And the coal-fired pizza that came before it - and keeps coming after it - is absolutely worth the 20 minutes from Boca. Dave Portnoy scored it 8.1 out of 10.
Buck's is at 900 Northlake Blvd in North Palm Beach, and owner Frankie Cecere has spent years building something genuinely special. Then the internet showed up, confused about whether he was serious, and accidentally proved his actual point: people are hungry for bold, unapologetic food.
How a Joke Became a Phenomenon
Izquierdo collected cold-stunned iguanas during one of Florida's freezes and brought the idea to Cecere. Together they created the Everglades Pie - a white pizza base with venison, bacon, and iguana meat. Izquierdo described it as tasting "like frog legs - a little bit sweet." The video went nuclear. Fox News. The TODAY Show. CBS News Miami. CBS 12. Buck's website crashed. People drove from other states to try it.
The health department came by because they were flooded with calls. Cecere eventually scaled back iguana pizza production, but the Everglades Pie still surfaces as a special. The attention brought something more lasting: Dave Portnoy from Barstool Sports visited and gave Buck's an 8.1 out of 10 on One Bite. That's the kind of score that sticks.
Cecere handled the chaos like someone who trusts his product. He didn't chase the meme. He let people come see for themselves what he actually makes every day. Because what he actually makes is the real story.
The Coal-Fired Pizza Is the Real Story
Buck's coal-fired oven hits 900 degrees plus. That's not a detail - that's the entire philosophy. The pizza crust doesn't get baked. It gets kissed. The bottom chars slightly. The cheese bubbles and browns. The crust stays thin and crispy but somehow stays soft inside. Cecere imports his flour, tomatoes, and salt from Italy. Uses 100% olive oil - no seed oils. A four-ingredient cheese blend. At 39, the Greenacres native has built something that 59,000 Instagram followers and Portnoy's 8.1 score can vouch for.
The menu is where it gets interesting. The Signature White Pizza comes with ground venison, fresh mozzarella, ricotta, and a hot honey drizzle. There's a Pickle Pizza with dill aioli that sounds wrong until you try it. A Buffalo Chicken with ranch drizzle. And the classic coal-fired margherita that Portnoy tried and scored.
The Insider Tip: Follow @buckscoalfired on Instagram, not to see the viral stuff, but to see what's actually happening in the kitchen. Cecere posts his ingredients, his process, his daily specials. The coal-fired pizza photos look different because they're photographed differently - the char pattern, the crust, the way the cheese melds. That's what you're going for.
Why This Matters (Beyond the Viral Moment)
The iguana pizza story tells you something true about Buck's: it's a place with enough confidence in its actual product that it doesn't need to bullshit. Frankie could have pivoted the whole menu around the viral moment. He could have called Izquierdo back and said, "Let's make this a real thing." He didn't. He just kept making pizza.
That kind of integrity is rare. Most restaurants see a viral moment and immediately calculate how to exploit it. Cecere calculated that his actual pizza was better than any joke. And he was right.
Think about what happened next. The health department came by because they were flooded with calls. 1,500 inquiries in 24 hours. You'd think that would stress an owner out. Cecere seems to have treated it as proof that his actual product was worth the attention. He didn't hide. He opened the door and let people see how the pizza was made. That's the move of someone who trusts his work.
What You Should Order
Get the Signature White Pizza with hot honey. The coal char on the venison is what separates this from every other white pizza in Palm Beach County. If you want something unexpected, the Pickle Pizza with dill aioli is the sleeper hit. For something classic, go with whatever margherita variant is on the board - at 900 degrees, the simplest pizza tells you the most about the oven.
Buck's is open Monday through Saturday 11am to 9pm, Sunday noon to 6pm. It's at 900 Northlake Blvd in North Palm Beach - about 20 minutes up I-95 from Boca. Phone is (561) 469-8816. Follow @buckscoalfired on Instagram where Cecere posts his process, his ingredients, and the daily specials.
The viral moment taught 675,000 people that Buck's exists. Portnoy's 8.1 told them the pizza is real. The coal-fired oven will tell you the rest. Go hungry.
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