Bucks Coal Fired Pizza in Lake Park, Florida, created what owner Frankie Cecere called “the first iguana pizza in the history of mankind.”<\/p>\n
After corralling a handful of cold-stunned green iguanas<\/a> during Florida’s recent freeze and humanely euthanizing them, content creator Ryan Izquierdo took his unusual haul to Bucks Coal Fired Pizza.<\/p>\n ‘MEATEATER’ HOST SAYS WILD GAME IS ‘THE HEALTHIEST FOOD’ AMERICANS CAN EAT<\/a><\/p>\n The pizzeria’s social media video<\/a> showing Cecere, 39, making the “Everglades Pie” has racked up thousands of comments and millions of views.<\/p>\n Cecere’s concoction was a white pizza topped with three types of meat: venison, bacon and “the star of the show.”<\/p>\n Ryan Izquierdo, left, enlisted his friend, Bucks Coal Fired Pizza owner Frankie Cecere, to help make a pizza with iguana meat as a topping. (Bucks Coal Fired Pizza\/@buckscoalfired)<\/p>\n The idea for the iguana pizza came from Izquierdo, who told Fox News Digital he’d been collecting cold-stunned iguanas when temperatures dropped low enough to immobilize the invasive reptiles.<\/p>\n During the two-day cold snap, Florida waived its law<\/a> requiring permits to transport iguanas, allowing residents to nab the pesky invaders and bring them to the state’s wildlife officers to be euthanized.<\/p>\n It’s legal to humanely kill iguanas<\/a> on private property in Florida.<\/p>\n CONTENT CREATOR SHOCKS SOCIAL MEDIA BY TURNING INVASIVE IGUANA AND ITS EGGS INTO TACOS<\/a><\/p>\n What began as a one-off collaboration quickly turned into a flood of attention for the restaurant.<\/p>\n “The majority of people have loved it,” Cecere told Fox News Digital. “We’ve probably received at least 1,500 calls asking if we have iguana available. A lot of people seem interested in purchasing it.”<\/p>\n But not all feedback has been positive.<\/p>\n Iguana meat is the main ingredient in the “Everglades Pie” that Bucks Coal Fired Pizza made for a social media video. (Bucks Coal Fired Pizza\/@buckscoalfired)<\/p>\n “We’ve had a fair amount of hatred coming our way,” Cecere said, mentioning negative Google reviews and repeated complaints from “people just yelling at us on the phone for, I guess, making an iguana pizza in general.”<\/p>\n Despite the interest, the iguana pizza is not currently available for customers to order.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It is a delicacy in many places around the world.”<\/p>\n Cecere said the pie was made specifically for the video and was prepared before the restaurant opened.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n “It was kind of a one-off thing. We did it for a video,” he said.<\/p>\n While the iguana topping was new, the restaurant<\/a> is no stranger to unconventional ingredients.\u00a0<\/p>\n Green iguanas are an invasive species in the state of Florida. (iStock)<\/p>\n Cecere said Buck’s regularly serves other nontraditional meats that reflect Florida’s outdoor culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition to venison, which is “a mainstay for us,” gator tail is also on the menu, Cecere said.<\/p>\n “I think iguana definitely belongs on pizza.”<\/p>\n Izquierdo, 27, said it didn’t take many iguanas to make the pizza topping.<\/p>\n TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/a><\/p>\n “We were able to use pretty much all the meat on the bone of just four iguana legs and a little bit of tail meat,” he said.<\/p>\n Izquierdo’s first bite was loaded with iguana meat.<\/p>\n “Unbelievable,” he said after taking a bite of the pizza on camera.<\/p>\n Izquierdo, at right, prepares to take a first bite of the pizza, topped with venison, bacon and iguana meat. (Bucks Coal Fired Pizza\/@buckscoalfired)<\/p>\n He equated the taste to “frog legs” and called it “a little bit sweet.”<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n Buck’s Coal Fired Pizza is still looking into whether iguana meat could ever be offered through an approved vendor \u2014 but for now, it remains off the menu, Cecere said.<\/p>\n “People really should be more open-minded, especially about using an invasive species for something that’s good,” Izquierdo said. Above, a green iguana on a tree in Florida.\u00a0 (iStock)<\/p>\n “It was absolutely fantastic \u2014 and people really should be more open-minded, especially about using an invasive species for something that’s good,” Izquierdo told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n![\"Ryan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ryan-izquierdo-and-frankie-cecere.jpg\")
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