Brick Outdoor Kitchen: The Elsousou Family's California Build

Step 1 of 3

Red Brick Walls & Charcoal Brick Details

The kitchen walls went up in red brick with light mortar joints. The family set charcoal bricks into the brickwork as a design detail, like the cross in this stepped wall, and carried the same charcoal color onto the oven.

Step 2 of 3

The Red Brick Barrel Oven

The fire brick barrel is wrapped in red brick, with a red brick arch around the opening and charcoal bricks lining the inside of the arch. Charcoal bands run around the base of the barrel and up the chimney, which carries a tall stainless exhaust extension above the pergola.

Step 3 of 3

The Finished Brick Outdoor Kitchen

The oven sits at the end of the brick counter run, with an open bay below it for firewood. Stainless doors, a stainless fridge-style door, a sink and dark counters fill out the kitchen, and a wood pergola ties it all together over the tiled patio and the deck.

Plan Yours

Planning a Brick Outdoor Kitchen: Tips From This Build

Use one brick for everything. The same red brick covers the oven, the counter run and the walls, so the whole kitchen looks like one build instead of an oven added later.

Pick one accent color and repeat it. Charcoal brick shows up in the arch, the oven base, the chimney and the wall cross. Repeating one accent is what makes the red brick pop.

Plan for the pergola. If the oven sits under or beside a roof or pergola, add an exhaust extension so the smoke clears the beams.

Leave a firewood bay. An open bay under the oven keeps wood dry and right where you need it. Want to see more finishes? See our brick pizza oven lineup, or compare all of our pizza oven kits.

Good Questions

Brick Outdoor Kitchen FAQ

What is a brick outdoor kitchen?

It is an outdoor cooking area built from brick, or finished in brick veneer, with counters, storage and a place to cook. This one runs a red brick counter with stainless doors and a sink under a wood pergola, with a red brick barrel oven at one end.

Which oven kit did the Elsousou family use?

Mattone Barile Grande · Foam Form. It is a fire brick barrel oven built over our foam form, with an 18.5-inch interior ceiling and room for three 10-inch pizzas at once.

Can you build a pizza oven into a brick outdoor kitchen?

Yes. The oven sits on its own base at the end of the kitchen run, and the same red brick veneer covers both, so the oven and the kitchen read as one build. Firewood is stored in the open bay below the oven.

What are the dark bands on the oven?

Charcoal brick accent bands. The Elsousou family ran charcoal bricks inside the red brick arch, around the base of the barrel and up the chimney, and repeated them as a cross on one of the brick walls.

Do I need masonry experience to build one?

No. Every BrickWood oven starts with our FREE plans and materials list, which walk you through the base, the firebrick cooking surface and the barrel step by step.