Slice - slice.seriouseats.com

Coal-Oven Pizza in Boca Raton

Posted by Adam Kuban, May 9, 2006 at 12:13 PM

RED ROCK COAL FIRED PIZZA
Location: 50 NE First Ave., Boca Raton FL 33432 [map]
Phone: 561-361-6655

COAL MINE PIZZA
Location: Royal Palm Place, 399 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton FL 33432 [map]
Phone: 561-826-2625
Website: coalminepizza.com

File this under Why Didn't This Happen Sooner?

Boca Raton, Florida, is now home to not one but two coal-oven pizzerias. The first, Red Rock Coal Fired Pizza, which we were remiss in alerting you to, opened in late 1995. Now there's a second, Coal Mine Pizza, just around the corner.

Ma and Pa Slice used to live in Wellington, Florida, about 30 miles northwest of Boca. Had these coal burners opened prior to December 2004, I would have had an easy excuse to visit them while on holiday in the Sunshine State.

I can't seem to find much about Red Rock online. On Chowhound's South Florida Message Board, someone says, "Red Rock Pizza in Boca Raton has good thin crust pizza that they make in a coal-fired oven. They use very fresh ingredients. The only problem I find is that the sauce is sometimes a little bland."

About Coal Mine, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says:

There are 10 specialty pizzas and I can heartily recommend the Amazing Artichoke, a combination of artichokes, Parmesan, Romano and mozzarella. Like every pizza here, the crust is crisp and almost cracker-like. I'm such a fan of crisp pizza crust that even here, I ask for an extra crispy pizza. I believe that when you pick up a piece of pizza, the skinny tip should stay crispy and not point downward. Coal Mine Pizza is a winner.

While New York City has banned coal pizza ovens because they pollute, they seem to be enjoying a moment in the South Florida sun just now. My until-recently coal oven-less neighborhood will soon be home to two such restaurants.

It really is interesting to see coal-oven pizza migrate beyond its home in the Northeast. My guess is that the owners of such establishments take great risks in introducing this exotic pizza specimen to new environments. Whether it's Grimaldi's and its outpost in Scottsdale, Arizona, or these two establishments in Boca, the owners of non–Pizza Belt coal-burners have much more work than putting in an oven, breaking it in, and making sure their pizzaioli know how to cook pies with it.

No, these owners have the additional burden of educating the locals with regard to coal-oven pies. For instance: Those spotty charred bits on the bottom? You want that—it adds a pleasant smoky flavor to the crust. I'd imagine that more than a few customers will complain about "burnt" pizzas if they're not used to coal pizzerias. And it's likely a delicate balance to strike between making the pies right and bending to complaints, thereby producing an inferior pizza unworthy of the oven it came out of.

But Boca is ripe with retired New Yorkers, and I'd imagine there's a fair number of expats in Scottsdale, too. If any of you are reading this and have been to Red Rock, Coal Mine, or the Scottsdale Grimaldi's, give us a shout and let Slice know how they stack up.

And Ma and Pa Slice: Why'd you have to move back to Kansas!?

Red Rock Coal Fired Pizza [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]
Coal Mine Pizza [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

8 Comments | Tags: Coal-Oven, Florida, Reviews, U.S.