The Unexpected Origins Of BBQ Pizza

BBQ pizza is an American food. Yet, it can trace its ancestry to places like the Caribbean and even Europe, too. In order to fully understand BBQ pizza's unexpected origins, one must first look at the history of barbecue and pizza, separately.

Caribbean cuisine was a major inspiration for barbecue, according to Smithsonian Magazine. In what came to be called Hispaniola, indigenous tribes created a cooking technique where meat was heated indirectly by flame, conveniently preventing both the food and wood from burning up. Spanish conquistadors learned this "barbacoa" method from the natives, then brought the concept northward. Eventually, it reached the southern British colonies, and over time, barbacoa turned into barbecue. As the United States officially took shape, different groups of immigrants helped develop regional forms of BBQ.

Although pizza as we know it is considered Italian in nature, the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were known to eat this dish's precursor: flatbread with various toppings (via HISTORY). Around the 18th century, the seaside metropolis of Naples, Italy began to feed its large working class with cheap and easy-to-make flatbreads topped with anchovies, cheese, garlic, oil, and tomatoes — essentially pizza. Italian American immigrants and — per PMQ Pizza Media — U.S. war veterans, who had traveled to Italy during World War II, both gradually introduced pizza to the United States. There, 'za took on a life of its own, especially in American cities during the postwar era.

So, where specifically did these two culinary traditions first meet?

There are over a dozen different regional BBQ styles. One of the biggest, and the most instrumental in BBQ pizza's backstory, is the Memphis, Tennessee style. As Eater explains, the Home of the Blues is also home to tomato-based BBQ sauce on pulled pork shoulder. It's the home of smoky pork ribs, as well, dry and wet. Additionally, Memphis is well known for putting BBQ in other dishes, like nachos and spaghetti.

BBQ ended up on pizza, too, thanks to Coletta's Italian Restaurants. In 1923, Emil Coletta opened the Suburban Ice Cream Company, dishing out ice cream, pasta, and sandwiches to customers. Ultimately, he decided to focus on the Italian side of his cuisine, giving rise to the venture's modern name. According to PMQ Pizza Media, in the wake of World War II, diners from the nearby navy base then began to ask Coletta's for pizza. While 'za was popular in cities like Chicago and New York then, Memphis wasn't quite familiar yet. So, in the early '50s, Coletta sent his son to the Windy City to learn everything he could about the dish.

Soon after, Coletta's Italian Restaurant debuted its own pizza but found that the locals were skeptical. So, Coletta added BBQ to the pie to make it more familiar and appetizing. Thus, BBQ pizza was born! It was a hit, and eventually, even Elvis Presley became a fan of Coletta's BBQ pizza. The business still serves its signature creation to this day.

When thinking of BBQ pizza, many imagine BBQ chicken pizza, specifically. Per Coletta's menu, however, the original barbeque pizza features pork alongside mozzarella cheese and sauce, keeping with the tradition of Memphis BBQ. PMQ Pizza Media notes that the dish that once so impressed the King of Rock 'n' Roll (to the point that he'd both dine-in and takeout back to Graceland) is made by slow-cooking the pork for hours in an electric cooker before deboning it and adding it to the pizza after the pie's been baked. Drizzling on BBQ sauce is the finishing touch. Coletta's is the oldest restaurant in Memphis and turns 100 in 2023. Even after all this time, pork is still the meat used for Coletta's concoction. So then, where did BBQ chicken pizza come from?

Over on the West Coast, the California Pizza Kitchen opened in 1985 and has since unveiled industry-firsts like cauliflower crust and gluten-free crust. One of the things you might not know about California Pizza Kitchen is that it invented BBQ chicken pizza. Per competing pizza place Hungry Howie's, BBQ chicken pizza was included in CPK's inaugural menu circa '85 alongside Jamaican jerk chicken pizza and Thai chicken pizza. Famous chef Ed LaDou — who had previously topped pizzas with duck sausage, mustard, and smoked salmon while working under Wolfgang Puck — was the genius behind this iteration of BBQ pizza.

Nowadays, BBQ pizza, whether it's topped with pork or chicken, can be found just about everywhere!