We may have found a more controversial pizza topping than pineapple — and, perhaps, unsurprisingly, it’s from Florida.

On Feb. 2, Bucks Coal Fired Pizza in North Palm Beach went viral for a curious local delicacy atop its hand-tossed pies: iguana meat. An Instagram video prompted a polarizing reaction — to say the least — and, according to the owner, a visit from the Health Department.

“If you bring iguana to this place, he’ll make you a pizza,” Ryan Izquierdo, a friend of the shop, says in the video. “Let’s see if it’s true.”

Florida was just in the midst of a historic cold snap, and iguanas are cold-blooded, so when temperatures drop below 40, the lizards become paralyzed to conserve energy and tumble from the palms. There, they might be picked up by passersby.

In the video, owner Frankie Cecere breaks down the paralyzed iguanas and bakes them onto a cheesy pizza. He also tops it with chunk bacon and venison. When it’s ready, Izquierdo takes a bite.

“Unbelievable. Very, very good,” Izquierdo says, adding that the meat tastes like frog legs. “It’s a little bit sweet. Can’t really describe it, but that venison and that bacon with the ranch, it just works so well.”

“That’s the most Florida s— I’ve ever seent,” commented one Instagram user.

“I gotta get one of these I’ll trade you iguana tacos,” wrote another.

Many people noted Florida’s propensity for shenanigans, like one who dubbed it the “florida man pizza.”

Frankie Cecere shows off his iguana pizza.
Frankie Cecere shows off his iguana pizza.@buckscoalfired on Instagram.

Although Cecere didn’t sell what he calls the “Everglades Pizza,” or put it on the menu, multiple viewers apparently called the Florida Department of Health, which sent someone to visit Bucks. Cecere says the shop was cleared.

“We probably got about 2,500 requests, people calling and asking to order it,” Cecere tells TODAY.com.

The Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.

“The iguana problem in Florida is horrendous; they burrow in all the banks,” Cecere says, adding that iguanas are an invasive species.

Cecere is hoping he and his lawyer can convince officials to allow him to sell the meat on his pizzas in the future.

“I asked for this to be classified under the catch and cook category of the health code,” Cecere says. “According to my attorney, it’s a gray area that if I get the wrong inspector or whatever, they could just take my restaurant license or shut me down for a period of time. So in his eyes, it’s just not worth it at the moment.”

Michael Bryan, Cecere’s attorney from Vastola Legal, tells TODAY.com, “The law states, ‘Because we haven’t stated you can, we’re saying you can’t,’ but technically it doesn’t say that.”

Iguana meat might seem out of this world here in the States, but in Central American countries like Mexico and Caribbean islands like Trinidad and Tobago, it’s quite common to consume.

And apparently, it’s becoming more common in Florida, too, where they’re referred to as “chicken of the trees.” In 2020, social media users were shocked to see a listing for iguana meat from the state on Facebook Marketplace.

As for Cecere, this iguana debacle has given him an even bigger idea.

“It’s definitely sending us on a trajectory more into even more wild game,” Cecere says, before listing venison and alligator tail, which they already sell, wild boar, ostrich, kangaroo and “some other things.”

“I guess, from a national standpoint, recognition has been great,” he says. “Everybody thinks people in Florida are crazy, so we’re going to keep doing crazy s—.”