Pizzitola’s

Heritage BBQ

Established: 1935

Location: Houston, TX

Original Pitmaster: john Davis

Pizzitola’s Heritage BBQ is not the new shiny thing in Houston barbecue. That is exactly why it matters. Before the city’s barbecue scene became pop-ups, rankings, trays, and smoked-everything experiments, there was Shepherd Drive Barbecue, a brick pit, and a family feeding Houston one rack of ribs at a time. Today, Pizzitola’s still carries that old rhythm: sit-down service, spare ribs, smoke, and a building that feels like it has absorbed nine decades of lunch rushes, family meals, business deals, and neighborhood memory.

Quick Info:

Address: 1703 Shepherd Dr, Houston TX

Website: www.pizzitolasbbq.com

Hours: Monday - Saturday 11am - 8pm, Sundays Closed

Go Beyond the Trinity:

DO NOT SKIP THE RIBS! Brisket Enchiladas (Friday & Saturdays Only),

Smoked Cabbage with Sausage, Bourbon-Pecan Pie

The story

Pizzitola’s did not start as Pizzitola’s.

It opened in 1935 as Shepherd Drive Barbecue, founded by John and Leila Davis. The restaurant has lived through a very different Houston, carrying both the pride and the complicated weight of its history.

When the original property was taken for the expansion of I-10, John Davis moved the restaurant down the street and rebuilt it around hand-built brick pits. Those pits are still part of the story today. They are not decoration. They are the engine.

Jerry Pizzitola came in during the early 1980s and helped carry the Davis legacy forward,

giving the restaurant the name Houston came to know.

Today, as Pizzitola’s Heritage BBQ, the place is trying to evolve without sanding off what made it matter. The sign has changed. The menu has grown. But the center still feels the same:

brick pits, table service, spare ribs, salt, pepper, fire, and time.