Fireside Pizza Cafe: Palm Harbor's Own Little Slice of Heaven

The quaint little building at the corner of Nebraska and 11th St. in Historic Downtown Palm Harbor has been home to a doctor's office and a cookie store among other things. It is now the location of the , a friendly neighborhood pizza joint that's sure to have customers coming from miles around, once word gets out about the fabulous artisan pizza.

Fireside Pizza Cafe owner, Joe Barbara, whose family owns restaurants in New York City and Miami, says he did a lot of research and relied on the expertise of relatives in Italy prior to opening the restaurant.

Barbara has created a cozy little family-run cafe that cranks out mouth-watering pizza made in a massive wood-fired brick oven that takes up most of the kitchen. He purchased the oven in Italy and had it built inside the restaurant. The oven is so large and heavy that an additional foundation had to be built underneath the flooring to support the weight.

But, all the trouble was worth it. The result is a light pizza crust with a distinctive wood-fired flavor that's cooked to perfection by an employee who's nicknamed "Mozzie" and used to live in Sicily.

Mozzie has been specially trained to operate the red oven, which at first glance looks like a mushroom on steroids. The temperature inside the oven is a blistering 800º to 900º and can cook a pizza in just four minutes.

Mozzie sometimes puts his own handcrafted touch on the artisan pizzas by creating decorative edges on each crust. When a pizza is delivered at the table, you can tell it was made by someone who takes pride in his work.

The Fireside Pizza cafe uses fresh ingredients. It only takes one bite to realize the flavorful pizza sauce is made from fresh tomatoes. Fresh basil grows at a garden window inside the restaurant and a small garden is outside the restaurant. You also have your choice of traditional, whole wheat, or gluten free doughs, which are nice options.

We stuck to basic pizzas for the purpose of comparison in future reviews and ordered one small 10" Cheese Pizza ($7.95) and one small 10" Cheese and Pepperoni Pizza ($7.95 plus $1.25 for pepperoni).

When the pizzas arrived piping hot at our table, we were amazed at what $7.95 and $9.20 bought us. Each pizza had six slices and each pizza could have easily been shared with one other person.

The crust was thin and cooked to perfection. The crust's wood-fired flavor complimented the fresh tomato sauce which was distributed in perfect proportion to a generous amount of cheese and pepperoni. (Note: the accompanying photos of our pizzas will make your mouth water.)

I could only eat one piece of pizza before I was full. However, I must disclose that I did manage to eat three of the Garlic Knots that our friendly waitress suggested we order as an appetizer. A total of six Garlic Knots ($2.95) came drizzled with olive oil and were topped with a light dusting of parmesan. They packed an overpowering punch of garlic, and in my opinion could have used another herb or two. But, they were still yummy and I did eat three of them, so what does that tell you?!  

We finished our meal with another slice of heaven from Palm Harbor; Key Lime Pie made by ($4.75). Yum.

There are so many more items to try at the Fireside Pizza Cafe, we'll definitely be going back again.

• Appetizers include Caprese Salad ($7.95) and Eggplant Ripiene ($7.95). 
• Sandwiches come with a small salad. Some of the offerings include Meatball Parmesan ($7.95) Sausage & Peppers ($7.95)
• Specialty Pizzas are priced at $12.95 for a small and $21.95 for a large. Examples include Milano (artichoke, spinach, chicken & goat chess), Supremo (onion, bell pepper, sausage, pepperoni, mushroom, black olive), Carne (sausage, pepperoni, bacon, ham), and Vegetariano (mushroom, tomato, black olive, bell pepper, onion, eggplant)
• Fire Roasted Chicken Wings (10 for $7.95 or 20 for $14,95)
• Salads are priced from $4.95 to $7.95. 

Take out is available. The restaurant also serves domestic, premium and craft beers and a large selection of wine. Happy Hour is from 3 to 7 p.m.

The Fireside Pizza Cafe is located at 1104 Nebraska Ave. (727) 216-3474 (727) 329-6651.

If you decide to try the Fireside Pizza Cafe, please be sure to let us know what you think! Leave a comment below, or on the page on Palm Harbor Patch.