Coppertop Bar-B-Q & Brick Oven Pizza: Old World Style Pizza

When it comes to Kentucky restaurants and reviews, you can just call me butter because I’ve been on a giant roll.  The last three restaurants I’ve eaten at have each been perfect from start to finish:

• Mama D’s in Calvert City
• Pangea Cafe in Owensboro (consistently delicious)

The third one is the star of this particular review: Coppertop Bar-B-Q & Brick Oven Pizza in Fredonia, Kentucky.

Sunday Michael and I found ourselves driving through Rural Kentucky (Morganfield, Marion, Fredonia…) around 4:30 – 5:30.  Rural Kentucky is breathtakingly beautiful but finding a restaurant open on a Sunday Evening is as frustrating as craving Chick-Fil-A on a Sunday afternoon.  As we passed through Marion and found that two of our favorite Bar-B-Que restaurants were both closed, it made our craving for Bar-B-Que all the more intense.  I think I must have talked about Bar-B-Q for a good 10 minutes straight without taking a breath. When we came to Fredonia and saw “Coppertop Bar-B-Q & Brick Oven Pizza,” I’m fairly certain I was out of the car before he even put it in park.

Coppertop Bar-B-Q & Brick Oven Pizza in Fredonia,Ky

First Impressions

I guess the first impression hit me as soon as I stepped out of the car. The aroma in the parking lot was freaking amazing! They cook their pizzas outdoors in brick ovens and their Bar-B-Q (ribs, pork, chicken..) over carefully watched fire pits. The smell of hickory smoked deliciousness and mouth-watering pizza filled the air and nearly made it impossible to walk. Weak kneed and all, however, we made our way through the door.

The second impression was the uncommonly friendliness of the young servers. As soon as we walked in, we were met with friendly smiles and warm welcomes. Our server came right over and got our drinks. She was awesome the entire time.

The third impression was the decor. I fell head over weak knees in love with the tables.  Big Barrels with the table tops cut to fit around them.  On the walls were fascinating old pictures of Fredonia over the years. The city, basketball players, cheerleaders, buildings, etc. The history of the area, in my opinion, made the perfect decor. Plus, come on, tables don’t get any cooler than these.

I’m also wild about the large jars your drinks are served in.  Is it just me or do all drinks taste better in thick glass jars?

You can check out all of the prettiness in the pictures at the end of the review. Unfortunately my camera’s batteries died on me, so I had to use my iPad Mini to take all of these pictures.Ã?  I was SO thankful I happened to have it with me!

Another thing I was hugely impressed with was the drink selection: homemade sweet or un-sweet tea (it was outstanding!), Diet Coke, Coke, fruit punch, Dr. Pepper and Diet Dr. Pepper (or as they’re listed on the menu Doctor Pepper and Diet Doctor Pepper… how cute is that? I’ve never seen them written out like that and it gave me a chuckle).

They even had Pepsi and Diet Pepsi.. so if anyone actually prefers Pepsi (I cannot even imagine), they’re available.

Coppertop’s tables are too cool to be believed.

The Coppertop Menu

Like I said, when we arrived, we had Bar-B-Q on our minds. However…  I also happen to be the biggest pizza fanatic in the world. So, even though I’d talked Bar-B-Q nonstop for the past 10 minutes, when my husband asked what looked good to me, he couldn’t have been tooooo surprised when I said, “Umm, pizza!”

I have to admit, it was a tough call but how often do you get a chance to eat brick oven pizza? And in case you’ve never had brick oven pizza – yes, it does make a difference, and it’s all in the crust.  We chose the “Old World Style” pizza. How could we not? Just look at the description on the menu: Homemade San Marzano sauce, fresh mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil and Pecorino Romano baked to perfection in our wood fired brick oven, dusted with grated parmesan and oregano.

The estimated time it takes me to get pizza into my mouth when it’s set before me is 1/18 of a second, so I beat Michael to the first bite. As my eyes rolled back into my head, all I could say was, “Oh. My. Goodness.” He took his first bite and pretty much had the same reaction.  After we ate in blissful silence for a few minutes, he looked at the crust and said, “That’s the best pizza crust I’ve ever had.”

I totally agreed. I didn’t quit eating long enough to give a verbal conformation, mind you, but I totally agreed. Best. Crust. Ever.

However, as perfect as the crust was, I was even MORE blown away by the sauce. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but this is the best sauce I’ve ever had on pizza.Ã?  It is simply amazing. You won’t find shredded cheese that you “suppose” is mozzarella on Coppertop’s pizzas either.

You know it’s mozzarella and you know it’s fresh. Big delicious slabs of mozzarella are generously placed across the pizza. Just the right amount, too, so you can taste every delicious flavor of the pizza, itself.  Sometimes restaurants cover the pizza with so much shredded “I-guess-its-mozzarella” that you have to wonder what they’re hiding.

Who knew that in Fredonia, Kentucky they were making pizza the way pizza was meant to be made?

As we were enjoying the heck out of this incredible pizza, I noticed a bottle of Coppertop’s Bar-b-q sauce on the table. Curiosity got the best of me, so I squeezed some out on a piece of crust to check it out.

Cue the eyes rolling into the back of my head again.

Holy cow, their sauce is out of this world.  I told Michael, “It is the absolutely perfect blend of sweetness and spiciness.”  The sweetness walks through the door first and right on its heels is a bit of spiciness that blows you away.

I can’t even begin to describe this sauce to you.  He had to sample some for himself and we both sat there trying to come up with someone’s sauce that was anywhere near as delicious.

Then I told him, “If their sauce is this uncommonly fantastic, can you imagine what they do with Bar-B-Q???”  He got a wild look in his eye and I knew his next move.

He asked our server if we could add a Bar-B-Q Pork Dinner to our order as carry-out. My boy.

Coppertop Carryout Bar-B-Q Pork Dinner

Before we left, I took the Heavenly smelling pork and squeezed a generous amount of Bar-B-Q sauce on the top.

Later, we shared the dinner and weren’t at all surprised that the pork was beyond delicious and the beans and potato salad were great as well.  When Michael was paying, the owner asked him if he liked Brisket. Michael said it was his personal favorite and he gave him some to sample.  It too, of course, was perfectly delicious. It seemed to just melt in your mouth it was so tender and the flavor was beyond belief.

Lesson learned: You simply cannot go wrong with anything you order at Coppertop’s.

The menu includes:

• Bar-B-Q Pork Sandwich
• Bar-B-Q Beef Sandwich
• Bar-B-Q Pulled Chicken Sandwich
• Loaded Potato Coppertop Style (includes your choice of meat)
• Ribs (half or full slab)
• Bar-B-Q Baked Beans
• Cole Slaw
• Potato Salad
• French Fries
• Chips and Ranch
• Rib Dinner (all dinners are served with your choice of 2 sides)
• Bar-B-Q Pork Dinner
• Bar-B-Q Chicken Dinner
• Bar-B-Q Brisket Dinner
• Ribs and Pork Killer Combo
• Ribs and Chicken Killer Combo
• Ribs and Beef Killer Combo
• Family Pleaser and Pork or Brisket to Go
• 6 different Specialty pizzas (Pizza Alla Vodka, Buffalo Chicken Pizza, Quattro Contone’, Mushroom Madness, Old World Style, and Smokin’ Pizza)
• 12 individual pizza toppings to choose from

I was surprised to learn that Coppertop only opened in May 2013. How in the world were they able to perfect absolutely everything is such a short amount of time.  They just passed right by the awkward stage and went straight to a Perfect 10 restaurant.

Well played, Coppertop. Well played.

Click through the link below to Coppertop’s Facebook Page where you’ll find their menu (in the Photos) for descriptions and prices. You absolutely positively and positively absolutely have to go to Coppertop in Fredonia as soon as you possibly can.

Address: 112 Cassidy Avenue, Fredonia, Kentucky 42411 (see map below)

Hours: Tue – Sun: 10:30 AM – 8:00 PM

More Information: Check out Coppertop Bar-B-Q & Brick Oven Pizza’s Facebook Page for more pictures and info. One note: Their Facebook page says they only accept cash, but they do accept cards now.

Coppertop Bar-B-Q & Brick Oven Pizza Pictures

Click through the photo gallery below to get an idea of how special this restaurant is.