Grimaldi’s Coal Brick-Oven Pizza

Grimaldi’s Coal Brick-Oven Pizza brings a slice of Brooklyn pizza history to Grand Boulevard in Miramar Beach, serving coal-fired pies to Emerald Coast visitors who want a break from seafood without sacrificing quality. The restaurant’s signature cooking method, a coal-burning oven that reaches far higher temperatures than a standard gas oven, produces the blistered crust and smoky char that separate a true coal-fired pizza from anything baked in a home kitchen.

The Grand Boulevard location operates from Building 780, Suite 100, at 780 Grand Boulevard, Miramar Beach, FL 32550. Call 850-837-3095 for group reservations or takeout orders. The restaurant is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 AM to 10 PM and Friday and Saturday from 11 AM to 11 PM, hours generous enough to cover both an early lunch after checking into a Sandestin rental and a late dinner after a sunset walk on the beach.

Grimaldi’s traces its coal-fired tradition back to 1940s East Harlem, where an Italian immigrant pizza maker and his nephew, Patsy Grimaldi, ran a pizzeria built around the same coal-burning oven technique still used today. Decades later, a young Irish carpenter met Patsy through a newspaper ad, first helping build one of the signature coal ovens before learning the pizza trade directly from him. That partnership led to the opening of the first Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1994, and the brand has since grown into two independently operated Grimaldi’s companies across the United States, each carrying forward the same fresh dough, quality ingredients, and coal-fired crust that built the original reputation.

The Grand Boulevard kitchen bakes New York style pizza using fresh dough and premium ingredients, finished with what the brand calls its signature crispy char, the same texture longtime fans travel to Brooklyn or Hoboken to find. The beverage list rounds out the pizza with draft and bottled beers ranging from 4.2 to 7.0 percent ABV, alongside non-alcoholic options such as Peroni 0.0 and hard seltzers for guests who want a cold drink without the alcohol. Guests dining as a group of eight or more should call ahead, since the restaurant asks for 72 hours of advance notice to accommodate larger parties properly.

The location offers free Wi-Fi and patio seating, useful for families splitting time between pizza and a Grand Boulevard shopping run, and repeat visitors can join the Grimaldi’s Rewards program to earn perks on future orders. A voluntary 2 percent Arts and Entertainment charge appears on checks to support local cultural programs, though guests can ask their server to waive it if they prefer.

The menu gives guests more choice than a single coal-fired pie. Diners pick from three base styles, a traditional tomato sauce, a white pizza with garlic and no sauce, or a nut-free pesto, then build a pizza from toppings such as artichoke hearts, jalapenos, roasted sweet red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, meatballs, Italian sausage, bacon, and grilled chicken. Guests who would rather order a chef’s selection can choose named pies including the Margherita, the Brooklyn Bridge, Quattro Formaggi, Prosciutto Arugula, and The Don, and the kitchen also bakes a gluten-free traditional pizza and a cauliflower crust version for guests avoiding wheat. Hand-tossed calzones, stuffed with ricotta cheese, oregano, black pepper, romano cheese, and fresh parsley, round out the menu for guests who want their pizza folded rather than sliced.

For Emerald Coast travelers staying anywhere in Sandestin, Grimaldi’s works as a dependable, kid friendly dinner option that does not require a reservation on most weeknights. Its spot inside Grand Boulevard means a pizza dinner can bookend an evening that also includes a stop at Anthropologie, a movie at the district’s cinema, or a nightcap somewhere else in the district, all without moving the car.