Review: Bee Sting Flatbread from Bricktown Brewery

Bottom Line: The Bee Sting Flatbread from Bricktown Brewery may not set your mouth on fire, but it has some burn and it is a crispy, tasty pizza.

Over the last few years, I have been making regular trips to Oklahoma City because my son has been attending college there, and one of my favorite areas is the Bricktown neighborhood. They have a nice Holiday Inn Express there which is within walking distance of any number of eating establishments, particularly one of my all-time OKC favorites, Bricktown Brewery. That brewpub got its start right there and has since grown into an expanding franchise with 21 locations across six states. They have a great menu and a good selection of beers they brew, and they have several food options that bring some heat. I previously reviewed their Boom Boom Shrimp (you can read about that here), and when I stopped by recently, I decided to try their new (for me at least) Bee Sting Flatbread. Here’s what that includes:

Spicy Italian sausage, cupping pepperoni, Mike’s Hot Honey®, red sauce, mozzarella, and their crispy flatbread crust.

I have had their pizzas before, and they are quite good. Their flatbread options are a good addition to the lineup and certainly worth trying as well.

The crust is thin and cracker-like with a good crunch and just a slight sweetness to it. The pepperoni is crispy and has a good savoriness, and the sausage adds to that along with some richness. There is not too much sauce, but enough to deliver a good tomatoey tang along with a bit of sweetness. The cheese adds some creaminess and helps bring everything together. The honey adds some sweetness along with just a touch of heat.

This is not a super-hot pizza as you would expect, because Mike’s Hot Honey (which seems to be everywhere these days) does not reach the upper end of the heat scale. But it delivers a nice sting to the pizza, getting to right about Mild on my scale. It does not set your mouth on fire, but it delivers a nice little tingle.

As an appetizer, we got the new Spicy Pepperoni Rolls, and those delivered on the heat as well. Those are rolls of dough loaded with pepperoni, jalapeños, and cheese, and they brought all those flavors together with a bit of a burn. They are not too doughy, with the pepperoni and peppers standing out, and they go quite well with the marinara dipping sauce. They were a little above Mild on my heat scale and got the dinner off to a good start.

Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention their beers, which include five staples and a seasonal selection or two. Their regular brews are the Bar Hop Hazy IPA, Blues Berry Ale, Millie McFadden’s Red Rye Ale, Old King Kölsch, and Wiley’s Blood Orange Wheat. I really like the Blues Berry Ale and Blood Orange Wheat even though fruity beers are not typically my thing. But they add the fruit with a light hand so that it acts as an accent and does not take over the flavor. But their Bar Hop IPA is my favorite, delivering good bitterness and hoppiness, and an all-around excellent rendition of that style.

Between the large selection of food and the first-rate beers they brew (along with very affordable prices for a sit-down restaurant), Bricktown Brewery has become a favorite of mine. I will not be making it up to OKC much anymore since my son just graduated, and there is not a location near me (the closest is Wichita Falls, TX), but if I am traveling anywhere near where they are located, I will certainly make a detour for a beer and a bite. Most of their locations are in Oklahoma, but you will also find them in Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and the one location in Texas. You can check and see if they are near you on their website.