H

erb-roasted duck and filet mignon on pizza, 

hand-cut fries tossed in duck fat, Kobe beef 

on a bun, “adultified” milkshakes…Who 

does that?

This guy. And by this guy, we mean Joe Abston, a long-

time local of Pensacola whose time working various jobs 

in the restaurant industry gave him the know-how to see 

something unique and take everything he’d learned to 

launch his own group of restaurants that were anything but 

ordinary. 

Even before the trend of craft breweries hit such heavy 

strides in the area, Joe 

recognized the emerging 

potential of the craze and 

decided to capitalize on it, 

opening Hopjacks Pizza 

Kitchen & Taproom in 2008 

to fi ll a decided hole in the 

market. He began with a 

classic concept—pizza, 

beer, and fries—and put a 

whole new spin on every 

component, topping his 

freshly made pizzas with 

imaginative ingredients that 

were excellent in quality, 

hand-cutting French fries 

and making them even 

more decadent with 

duck fat, and offering 

more than 112 beers 

on tap—most of them 

craft—in addition to 

bottles and cans to satisfy 

his steadily-growing masses 

of thirsty diners. “When I opened 

Hopjacks, there were absolutely no late-night food options 

other than drive-thrus—and defi nitely nowhere to eat that 

was serving craft beers in 

Pensacola—and I really 

could see that craft beers 

were going to become a 

big thing,” says Abston. 

There have, of course, 

been some growing pains. 

But Hopjacks has proven 

to be a huge success, 

expanding their menu 

to include handcrafted 

burgers, sandwiches, 

salads, and appetizers 

that have been called 

absolutely “addictive.” 

Taps and Cow Bells

story by

 Liesel Schmidt

  

|

  

photos provided by

 

Chris Woolf

50     |    VIPPensacola.com

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