Family is the key ingredient at popular Green Camp pizza shop

Family has always been the key ingredient for Berwick Pizza and Subs in Green Camp.

Todd and Brenda Buckland purchased the family-owned and operated business in 2007, making them either the fifth or sixth family to own the popular Marion County pizza shop dating back to the 1960s, Todd said.

"Berwick has been a staple in the community for a lot of years," he said. "The town of Green Camp at one time was actually called Berwick, so that's where the name comes from. It's been known as Berwick Pizza going back to the early 1970s, as far as I know."

During the 15 years that the Buckland family has owned Berwick Pizza and Subs, it truly has been a family affair, Todd said, with family members being part of the staff from day one. Both of Todd and Brenda's daughters as well as nieces and nephews have worked at the pizza shop. And son Austin jumped right into the fray when he was just eight years old.

"When we first bought the shop, he would fill up the pop and the customers loved him because he would come out and talk to them," Todd said.

"I got to know a lot of the customers pretty well and after they would finish eating, we'd sit and play checkers or just sit and talk," Austin added. "It was a neat experience to grow up here and kind of get to know everybody in the community."

Over the years, Austin has developed a passion for pizza-making that has recently propelled him onto the national scene. He's one of 12 finalists in the Real California Pizza Contest, which highlights the "best pizza recipes using Real California Cheese," according to the contest website. The California Milk Advisory Board sponsors the contest, which is now in its fourth year.

"We came up with what we're calling the 'La Fiesta' pizza, which is basically a chicken fajita pizza," said Austin, age 23, who will compete in the finals on June 22 in Napa, California. "It has a salsa base, three different types of cheese, fresh fajitas, cilantro, and tortilla strips. It's a pretty good pizza."

While "La Fiesta" is a new recipe specifically designed for the contest, Austin said it's an homage to one of the early pizzas of the month.

"Actually, our second pizza of the month many years ago was a chicken fajita pizza, but this is a completely new style that we did just for the contest," he said. "We're going to offer it just during the week of the contest here at the shop so that everybody gets a chance to try it."

"La Fiesta" pizza is available now through Sunday, June 26. Photographs of the pizza can be viewed on the Berwick Pizza and Subs Facebook page.

Austin shared where the inspiration to create "La Fiesta" originated.

"Every Sunday when I was little, we would go to a Mexican restaurant to eat lunch with our whole family, and I always got chicken fajitas," he said. "That's my favorite. So when it came to the contest, chicken fajitas is what it had to be."

Austin and Todd said they hope to compete in more contests in the future.

Todd said that Berwick Pizza and Subs has developed a reputation for making pizzas with "heavy toppings."

"We put a lot of toppings on our pizzas," he said.

Berwick Pizza and Subs began offering its popular pizza of the month promotion in 2016 and it's become a permanent offering at the Green Camp restaurant.

"At the beginning we did a lot of savory ones and then kind of worked our way into more dessert ones," Austin said. "We'll do a savory one every once in a while now, but mainly we do a lot of dessert ones. Any crazy topping that you can think of putting on a pizza, we'll put it on there. We've had cotton candy pizza and pizzas with Little Debbie cakes. Fruity Pebbles was probably the one that was the most out there. In February, we did a Lucky Charms one.

"We've had blueberry waffle. The pancake pizza had maple syrup on it. We had a cinnamon roll one and a lemon bar pizza. This month is key lime pie. We've had some pretty crazy stuff, but people like it."

Berwick Pizza and Subs is located at 205 Marion St. in Green Camp. The shop is open from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday. See the menu online at www.berwickpizza.com or on its Facebook page.

Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter