Florida Man Goes Viral for Frying Iguanas Outside Waffle House

Another Florida man is trending—this time for frying up iguanas and serving them with waffles in the parking lot of a Waffle House.

According to The Palm Beach Post, YouTuber Ryan Iz Fishing, who has more than a million subscribers and typically posts fishing content from around the Sunshine State, decided to switch things up. Instead of casting a line, he pulled out a portable setup and began preparing what he described as a Southern classic—with a reptilian twist.

“Most people cannot tell the difference between fried chicken and fried iguana,” he said on camera, repeating the nickname often associated with the invasive species: “chicken of the trees.”

The Florida man explained that he marinated the iguana meat for 24 hours in buttermilk, pickle juice, and seasoning. From there, he prepared the waffle batter as usual, then cooked the waffles.

The iguana was then dipped in egg yolks, coated in seasoned flour, and fried the same way someone might prepare chicken wings. The result: fried iguana and waffles, plated just steps away from the restaurant’s entrance.

At one point in the video, a Waffle House employee walked outside, visibly startled. “Oh my god, are you gonna eat that?” she asked, backing away as he stood by the fryer.

He did.

The moment quickly circulated online, with viewers reacting to what some jokingly called “iguana meat season” in Florida—a nod to the cold snaps that cause the cold-blooded reptiles to slow down and fall from trees.

This isn’t the first Florida man to turn fallen iguanas into viral content. Earlier this week, TikTok creator Gray Davis posted a series of videos showing how he collected a cold-stunned iguana and turned it into tacos.

“Whenever we have these cold fronts, and they start falling down, a lot of people will go out and collect them to help control the number in the population,” Davis said. “Rather than let this one go to waste, we’re going to make tacos.”

Green iguanas are considered invasive in South Florida, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission allows residents to humanely kill them on private property without a permit.

The agency encourages removal to reduce environmental damage, but advises that animals should be dispatched humanely and not brought indoors to warm up.

Iguana meat has a long culinary history in parts of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, where it appears in stews, roasted dishes, and tacos. In Florida, however, it’s increasingly becoming social media content.