A modest sign and smokers under metal-roofed sheds point the way to Back Beach Barbecue in Panama City Beach. Image by Tom Adkinson

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – A trip to Northwest Florida puts you in the mood for grouper sandwiches, grilled mahi, spicy Gulf of Mexico boiled shrimp, oysters on the half shell . . . and smoky beef brisket if you know to wheel into an unassuming barbecue joint in Panama City Beach.

Stacks of split oak and a collection of hefty cylindrical smokers are your clues to turn off U.S. 98 into Back Beach Barbecue. A simple sign on the front door tells you almost all you need to know.

The sign says, “A cow, a pig and a chicken walk into Back Beach Barbecue. THE END.”

Pitmaster Shane Kirkland inspects a small portion of a day’s output from the smokers at Back Beach Barbecue. Image by Tom Adkinson

In fact, a stunning amount of beef, pork and chicken goes in and out of Back Beach Barbecue every day (more on that later), and that was the goal of Danny and Monica Cosenzi when they fired up the smokers in 2017. What is astounding is that they already owned another restaurant at the absolute opposite end of the culinary spectrum. That one is Restaurant Paradis in Rosemary Beach, the kind of place with crisp tablecloths, new silverware with every course and entrees where patrons say, “Nice presentation.”

“Barbecue is my baby,” Danny Cosenzi said while trying to explain why he diverged so sharply from the fare at Restaurant Paradis and a high-end steakhouse he owns in Atlanta.

Local Florida brews such as these selections from the Grayton Beer Company and the Oyster City Brewing Company are kept on ice. Image by Tom Adkinson

Cosenzi found a location for his dream, a building that once housed a local Waffle House-style restaurant, and began serious research with a trip to Austin, Texas. He makes no bones about copying what he learned. He located totally wood-fired smokers (no natural gas to regulate the heat) and dove in.

“We saw the simplicity of Texas barbecue. We didn’t try to reinvent the wheel,” he said.

Smoke wafts around chicken on the top rack and briskets on the lower rack of a smoker at Back Beach Barbecue. Image by Tom Adkinson

Pitmaster Shane Kirkland, who has his own fine-dining chef credentials, loves the simplicity, too, but quickly adds that there are serious challenges in a high-volume barbecue operation.

“I’ve come to feel that it’s harder than fine-dining. It’s more of a science. Dealing with a real fire is a challenge – and working outside is, too. We’ve had to cook through tropical storms,” Kirkland said.

Whether the sky is blue or stormy, here’s what Kirkland and his team nurture through their smokers every day in the busiest season:

• 40 beef briskets
• 40 pork butts
• 80 chicken halves
• 80 racks of ribs
• 7 or 8 turkey breasts
• Unmeasured lengths of sausage

That produces between 1,100 and 1,200 orders a day. The restaurant has 40 seats indoors and 40 on a covered patio, and the carryout
business is hefty, too. It starts daily at 7 a.m. with breakfast tacos, burritos and biscuits and continues with sandwiches, plates and meat
by the pound until 8 p.m.

This message on the front door of Back Beach Barbecue tells you what to expect inside the unassuming barbecue joint. Image by Tom Adkinson