Pensacola Beach's newest pizza shop lets you enjoy New York style slices on the sand

If New York style pizza is your niche, Pensacola Beach’s newest pizza joint is planning to deliver on expectations by delivering to hungry customers all over the Pensacola Beach peninsula.

The delivery and carry-out only pizza place is positioned inside the Hampton Inn Pensacola Beach hotel on 2 Via de Luna Drive, but is a chef-driven, from-scratch style kitchen. Dough is made and rolled by hand, drizzled with a house-made sauce and topped with high-quality ingredients before being loaded into a custom-made pizza oven to bake a thin, crispy crust.

“You just get those beautiful blisters and the dark, golden-brown color for the pizza,” said Innisfree’s Corporate Director of Food & Beverage, chef Manuel Rodriguez. “When it comes out it’s crispy with gooey cheese, just the right amount of tomato sauce. It’s a slice of Heaven.”

At Piazza, which translates to a square or marketplace in an Italian town or city, the ingredients are at the forefront of each pizza’s flavor, according to Rodriguez. When working on the menu, the team was careful in selecting flavors that complimented and balanced one another.

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The original Spicy Hawaiian, a signature pizza on the menu, should be set apart from its competitors that tend to have too much sweetness, Rodriguez said. It is balanced with a house red sauce, whole milk mozzarella, crumbled bacon, jalapeno peppers, cream cheese and pineapple to create a smoky, sweet flavor.

The same goes for the Piazza's Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza, which should emulate the flavors of a chicken wing, only healthier, Rodriguez said.

“We try to make it fun, but also don’t go too crazy,” he said.

The restaurant first opened on Christmas Day and has been growing since in hours and delivery services. The restaurant plans to have a pick-up station open at UFOs Mini Golf, Ice Cream and Arcade available by the end of the month.

He is also working on providing beachside delivery for summer days where the customer can call an order in right on the sand.

This means that there will likely be golf carts constantly out for delivery come summertime, to avoid beach traffic.

While they are attempting to bring a quick and convenient dining option to the beach, there are no shortcuts when it comes to quality.

“When you walk into Piazza, you will not see a freezer. All our stuff is fresh. By not having that it will prevent the chef or members there to cut corners,” he said.

He said he hopes to make fans out of even his toughest clients — children.

“Kids are brutal, they don’t lie to you… they will tell it like it is.” he said. “I just want to create raving fans. I want to make people say, ‘Man, I want to go to the beach even when it’s cold to have a really good meal.’ I want that to resonate and be worth the drive."

Currently, the restaurant is open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., but hours are planned to be extended in the coming months. More information can be found on the Piazza Pizza Pensacola Beach Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: New York style pizza joint, Piazza Pizza, open at Hampton Inn