Cleveland – There’s nothing better than the smell of smoked meat here in the Lone Star State and for Terrance Levi, this is something he didn’t even know he had in him. “I was literally shocked the first time I tasted the ribs,” Levi said.
Now that he knows what he’s got, he’s not shy about it. “I make good-tasting food and the barbecue just happens to be great,” said Levi. “I didn’t plan it that way. It just happened like that, you know?”
Before Terrance found his calling for cooking, he’d been called to another purpose in life, pastoring. “Bro, pastoring is my main thing,” said Levi. “I say this is my extremely huge side hustle.”
But this side hustle known as Fat Floyd’s BBQ in Cleveland does more than just feed the masses. “We opened it to generate revenue to be able to do community outreach,” Levi explained.
When Terrence started Fat Floyd’s, he conscripted the help of his family. His wife Lori, his son Isaih and his daughter Desiree stand by his side as he serves up some serious Q. “Man, I love working with them most of the time, right? But they’re my kids,” said Levi. “Most of the time it’s great. They’re great workers. I couldn’t do it without them.”
What makes Fat Floyd’s unique is what he does with his BBQ, putting it on a pizza pie. “I think it’s the greatest thing that we have,” said Levi. “And it took people a little while to catch on because they come in, like, ‘Barbecue pizza?’ The meats that we smoke in the back, this awesome world-class brisket that I’m talking about, that goes on the pizza. Sausage that we smoke in the back, it goes on the pizza. The sauce that we make from scratch with 22 ingredients, it goes on the pizza.”
Desiree got down with the dough to show us how the Mad Max pizza is put together. “First thing first, so that my dough doesn’t get stuck to my pan, put a little butter on there,” said Desiree. “Then I take my dough and I’m going to stretch it. It’s as simple as that. Then this is our in-house barbecue sauce that we make here.”
After adding some cheese to the pie, it was time for Terrence to take out the meat so that Desiree can place it perfectly atop the pizza. “So we do about four to five ounces of the chicken,” said Desiree. “It’s smoked. Then we have sausage, we do smoked sausage. We do the same, about four to five ounces of sausage. Then, of course, can’t have a barbecue pizza without our brisket. 17 hours in the smoker. Our rub, fresh off the pit. Nice and hot. We chop it up and that is going to go on our pizza as well. Then you got your bacon because bacon’s great on everything.”
With the quartet of meats soundly in place, it was time to finish up the pie with jalapenos, red onions and even more cheese. “Straight in the oven,” said Desiree. “It’s going to do its thing for about four to five minutes at 470 degrees.”
After what feels like much longer than five minutes with all these wonderful smells in the air, the pizza gets some final touches. “I’ll take this butter right here,” said Desiree. “I’m going to butter this crust. Yeah, I want it to be nice and buttery. This is our spicy barbecue sauce. We call it the Pepe sauce. And that’s it. That’s our Mad Max.”
So now the pizza is complete, and the smells coming off it are incredible. From the fresh baked dough to that wonderful BBQ and even a kick from the jalapeno, you know this is going to be good even before the first bite. The flavor is absolutely on-point, and it feels like you get something new with each bite. The slices are heavy but stick together surprisingly well, and they even have a non-spicy version if peppers aren’t your thing.
Well, if you’re in the mood for barbecue and maybe a little bit of pizza as well, coming to Cleveland and having Fat Floyd’s Barbecue Mad Max Pizza is definitely well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List. Despite his success with savory food, Terrence will always consider this his side job because his higher calling is number one on his list. “No matter how much success that I obtained with the restaurant, people, the God and people business is my main thing,” said Levi. “Everything in my life has been about helping people turn from a destructive path into this good, sustainable path that’s only, to me, sustained by God. I couldn’t do it myself. Seeing people’s lives go from one place and they’re hopeless and sometimes it a suicidal situation, to being, ‘Man, hey, life’s becoming great.’ I love that more than anything in the world.”