Originally known as Shepherd Drive Barbecue, this is the restaurant where the legendary John Davis once presided as owner and pit boss. When John Davis died in 1983, the current owner, Jerry Pizzitola, bought the place from the Davis family so he could preserve it. The old-fashioned pit burns hickory, just like it did in John Davis's day. The sausage comes from a Czech sausage maker in the Hill Country; the barbecue sauce is thin and spicy; and the ribs and brisket are among the best in the city. And while the sides are plain, the desserts — which are made by Jerry's mom and include banana pudding and coconut pineapple cake — are excellent. The dining room sports one of the city's wackiest collections of bric-a-brac, much of it related to fishing.
The readers and the general public must know something about Goode Company. Stumbled across the place last year when my band played in the Houston Art Car Parade (we were literally on the 2nd float). Line out the door for lunch, and a fine intro to Texas BBQ. Even the vegetarians in our band relented to try the 'Que there. Absolutely wonderful stuff.
Sorry when the #$%$#$ code didn\\\'t match it chose where to put the original of this so you will see it again and once again if you are keeping score: If you are isolating yourself to the Montrose crowd and then trips to places like Austin, San Fran and say Amsterdam/Stockholm and you don\\\'t do upper Westheimer/Voss then I recommend Demeris BBQ. The sides are good and the Apple Pie is good. Me I already was going to Baker Rib\\\'s but it closed on me for several days in a string of bad luck that needs to end so I will tolerate the non-Montrose crowd and make the trip again. Some of us aren/// (what\\\'s with the ///- they are inserted all through my copy of the original and I had to delete them) aren\\\'t afraid to venture out. You know what they say- seek and ye shall find.... Bill who is just like Monty from the Hounston Chronicle comics (opps wrong paper!) goes ohhh, I just looooove that Baker\\\'s Ribs! Slurping sound- wow that\\\'s 10 people I\\\'ve heard rave about it so far.
Sorry when the #$%$#$ code didn't match it chose where to put the original of this so you will see it again if you are keeping score:If you are isolating yourself to the Montrose crowd and then trips to places like Austin, San Fran and say Amsterdam/Stockholm and you don't do upper Westheimer/Voss then I recommend Demeris BBQ. The sides are good and the Apple Pie is good. Me I already was going to Bakerr ib's but it closed on me for several days so I will tolerate the non-Montrose crowd and make the trip again. Some of us aren\\\ (what's with the ///- they are inserted all through my copy of the original and I had to delege them) aren't afraid to venture out. You know what they say- seek and ye shall find....
the bbq sauce @ pizzitola's tastes like italian marinara...not very good at all...we went a couple of times to pizzitola's as we live in rice military and one thing we did like was the service...the servers (and an older gentleman who i think was the owner) were very friendly and kept asking if everything was ok...one time they even gave us the iced tea for free when we forgot to order it at the same time as the rest of the to-go order. however, i do agree w/ the comments about bakers...the best bbq join in h-town~~
We went to Pizzitola's because of the recommendations and were deeply dissappointed. I ordered the Rib plate and received only 4 small ribs on an appetizer size plate. We had the same situation as Pete above, we left still hungry. The waitress even apologized for the small size of the meals. I will say the ribs were good but extremely over priced. I have had better ribs at many other BBQ joints. The place was empty and this was on a Friday at 5:30 pm.
brandenberger is right about Baker's. It just puts anything else to shame. I keep trying find another like it, not being able to believe a small, mid-city, average looking restaurant with an enormous pig as it's trademark just absolutely kills any other barbeque I've ever had anywhere in Houston, or Texas for that matter.
They even have sides that DON'T taste like they came out of those plastic tubs at the salad/deli counters of our local grocery stores!
My wife and I went to this joint based on your Best of recommendation, and ordered the rib dinners. What a letdown! The ribs were OK, but nothing to write home about and the sides, as you said, were nondescript. But the portions were quite small for a BBQ joint ... the "dinners" came with 4 medium ribs and 1 smallish scoop of each side (2). We left hungry, despite a $30 bill (2 rib dinners, 2 drinks). I would never recommend this place. No wonder it was mostly empty on a Friday night with all the other restaurants in the area jumpin'.
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