Not far from Panama City Beach is Brick & Barley Pizza. Buster and Claudia are a husband and wife team who opened the pizza parlor in 2018. They wanted to create pizzas that were different from others in Panama City. “We were tired of eating the same old boring pizza, so we decided to do something about it, and we did!”
Buster and Claudia insist on using quality ingredients like King Arthur flour for the crust, which is house-made. They also make their red sauce that, according to their website, contains “secret ingredients.”
Aside from pizzas, Brick & Barley Pizza serves calzones, wings, salads, and more. For the wings, they start by cooking them rotisserie style before frying them to a golden brown. Buster’s Signature Dry Rub is scratch-made, and wings can be mild to hot. Sauces include mango habanero, jerk, and BBQ, to name a few.
If you’re craving a calzone, customers rave about the “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” Mozzarella, pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, and, of course, bacon. The homemade red sauce comes on the side.
Brick & Barley Pizza has a wide variety of starters, too. These range from traditional fried mozzarella sticks to bruschetta to special choices like buffalo or BBQ bread. This appetizer combines shredded buffalo or BBQ chicken with mozzarella cheese. All of which are set on French Batard bread.
Since this is a pizza parlor whose goal is to serve unique pizzas, let’s look at some of their noteworthy pies. All pizzas use house-made, hand-tossed dough, and crusts are cooked until crispy and bubbly. Diners describe the crust as thin and crisp, unlike a NY-style pizza. Guests may choose either a medium or large-size pizza.
Buster’s Brick House. Meat-lovers will love sinking their teeth into this one! Red sauce and mozzarella cheese are the foundation for pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, mushrooms, yellow onions, green peppers, black olives, and extra cheese.
Thai Pie. Instead of using a red sauce, this pizza features olive oil and garlic. Next comes mozzarella, curry chicken, yellow onions, tomatoes, and fresh cilantro and cucumbers. Sweet Thai chili sauce is drizzled over the top.
Vegenator. Here’s a pie for vegetarians. The pizza starts with red sauce and mozzarella before being topped with the following: spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, red onions, banana peppers, and feta cheese.
Charlotte’s Truffle. This veggie pizza starts with olive oil and garlic before fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and fresh basil are added. Once pulled from the oven, a balsamic reduction is drizzled over the pizza.
Brick & Barley Pizza has a variety of beers on tap to wash down your pie. Staples like New Belgium, Blue Moon, and Bud Light mesh with local favorites like 30A.
Inside, the atmosphere is relaxing, and the decor is similar to a sports bar. Indoor seating is limited, but there are several tables outdoors near palm trees. Several flat-screen TVs are mounted around the room, perfect for sports fans or to keep up with the news and weather.
If you’re in Panama City Beach and craving specialty pizzas, we think Brick & Barley Pizza is worth trying.
Insider Tip:
While not listed on their menu, Brick & Barley offers a gluten-free crust. Many customers claim it’s one of the best they’ve had.