Hideaway Pizza

The town of Crestview, Florida is not really a destination in and of itself. Sure it is the seat of Okaloosa County, but it is primarily a jumping off point to more interesting locals like Destin, Ft. Walton Beach or DeFuniak Springs. Heck, the sheriff’s department isn’t even located there. The preponderance of business in this tiny Emerald Coast hamlet has migrated from the old city center where State Hwy. 80 and US Hwy. 90 intersect to the junction of Ferdon Blvd. with Interstate 10. There you will find all of the typical monuments to corporate ambiguity.

However, back on (not so much anymore) Main St. in downtown Crestview you will find The Hideaway Pizza. Aptly named because though it resides at 326 N Main St, the pizza joint (and Main St. itself for that matter) are a little hard to find. Ah progress. A descent GPS should save you a few minutes of zigzagging and confusion with quite the payoff at the end.

You will not find much in the way of a wine list at Hideaway nor is there an extensive selection of craft-brewed ales. What you will find are good old Italian/American standbys like Stromboli, pasta, salads & subs, and of course pizza. And what pizza. For toppings they have all the usual suspects and they use a “1950’s New York Pizza Recipe” which means no artificial ingredients, 100% mozzarella and everything made from scratch.

But the eye-catcher on the menu is a pizza called “the Hideaway.” A 15" pizza with eight huge slices and each slice is covered in a different topping – one slice of pepperoni, one of sausage, one of mushroom, you get the picture. It looks amazing with such a colorful display. The most surprising slice of the set? One totally covered in black olives, unbelievable. There were so many you couldn’t even see the crust and the flavor was so robust it hurt.

If you are visiting the beautiful sugar white sands of the Florida panhandle and need a reprieve from all of the incredible seafood to be had there then tell Tom Tom to lead the way to The Hideaway Pizza. You’ll thank me later.