Popular Fort Lauderdale Pizza Spot Abruptly Closes

Emmy Squared Pizza has pulled the plug on its Fort Lauderdale location, making a swift exit just a year-and-a-half after its splashy debut.

The 98-seat restaurant opened in November 2023 on North Federal Highway in Victoria Park, taking over the former Spatch Peri-Peri Chicken space with bold Brooklyn energy, thick-crust Detroit-style pies, and a half-pound, double-stack burger that had already earned national praise.

Despite early buzz and a menu packed with comfort food hits, the Fort Lauderdale location has quietly shuttered, with no formal announcement from the company. Online listings, including Yelp, now mark the restaurant as "permanently closed." The closure may come as a surprise, considering the brand's growing footprint. Emmy Squared was founded in Brooklyn in 2016 and quickly built a cult following for its focaccia-like square pies with crisp, cheesy edges, which is what the brand calls "frico." The Fort Lauderdale opening marked its first Florida outpost and the 28th location nationwide.

The restaurant leaned heavily on nostalgia-laced American fare: thick-crust pizzas with names like the "Roni Supreme" (red sauce, Ezzo pepperoni, pickled jalapeños, honey), fully loaded waffle fries, cheesy garlic breadsticks, and the towering Le Big Matt Burger, which once won Nashville's Battle of the Burger. Inside, the space featured coastal-chic touches — rattan light fixtures, wood accents, and an open kitchen — meant to blend Brooklyn grit with breezy South Florida charm. While the Fort Lauderdale chapter has come to an abrupt end, Emmy Squared hasn't left Florida for good. Its Coral Gables location opened in August 2024 and remains in operation, slinging Detroit-style pies and cocktails along Miracle Mile.

There is no word yet on what will happen to the now-empty Victoria Park space, but if Fort Lauderdale's appetite for cheese-crusted carbs is any indication, it won't stay vacant for long.