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Could Coletta’s be the originators of BBQ Pizza? Coletta’s Italian Restaurant opened its doors in Memphis, Tennessee, over 80 years ago as an ice cream shop. Since then they have served authentic Italian to the likes of Elvis, George Klein, Roy Rogers, and Danny Thomas. Memphis’ oldest restaurant’s claim to fame is still their world-renowned barbeque pizza.
Coletta’s was founded in 1923 by Italian immigrant Emil Coletta, who first came to Memphis in 1918. When he opened his doors to the original store, located on South Parkway, the shop mainly sold ice cream. The ice cream was homemade by Emil and was fairly popular around town. The menu also featured Emil’s recipes of spaghetti and meatballs, ravioli, and barbeque, which is more of a Memphis tradition. Memphis’ First Pizzeria It wasn’t until 1950, when Emil’s son, Horest, took over the business, that pizza became a requested item. Horest, along with the rest of the South, had no idea what pizza really was. “There weren’t many pizzerias anywhere besides the few in Chicago and New York,” Jerry Coletta, son of Horest and current owner of Coletta’s, said. He said the Navy personnel who had traveled parts of Europe and Italy were coming to Coletta’s asking for pizza. Horest thought it would be a good idea to add it to the menu, so he took a trip to Chicago to find out more about pizza. Coletta’s became the only place in Memphis that sold pizza. Jerry said it was not a hit right off because nobody knew what it was. “We started serving pizza in the mid-50s,” Jerry said, “but it wasn’t going over well.” The Birth of BBQ Pizza 
“In Memphis, if you say barbeque, people want to try it, so barbeque pizza was the idea,” Jerry said. “Even today a lot of people don’t know how a barbeque pizza would be.” The barbeque pizza is basically just a crust, barbeque sauce instead of tomato sauce, and cheese. The ingredients are placed on the pie and cooked in the oven. Once the cheese is melted, the barbeque pork shoulder, which Coletta’s smokes fresh daily, is added to the top and that’s it. “It’s quite a long process to get it all ready. Cooking the barbeque is the slowest part because we smoke it. But putting the pizza together is simple once you have all the ingredients ready,” Jerry said. Jerry said his dad decided something had to be done to help the sales of their pizza, which he had crafted only from taste. He didn’t have any specific recipe, he just experimented with different ingredients for the crust and toppings. Once he established a good recipe, he kept it a secret. According to Jerry, even today only three people know the restaurant’s original crust recipe. The barbeque pizza was such a hit in Memphis that Elvis proclaimed it as one of his favorites. Elvis would bring friends and family to Coletta’s two or three times a month according to Jerry. “Fans and people in town for Elvis week here in Memphis come by and they just get a thrill out of sitting in the same room where Elvis ate,” Jerry said. “Elvis was known for liking good, unusual foods. He would travel anywhere to get the food he wanted and liked,” Jerry added. “We used to hand-make our ravioli, and it was a long process, so sometimes we would run out,” Jerry said. “One day Elvis came in and ordered ravioli for dinner, and we were out. It was one of the most embarrassing moments I can remember having at the restaurant,” Jerry added. “It was also the last time we made ravioli by hand. We now have a machine that cranks out dozens a minute,” he said. Staying on Top of Memphis Coletta’s has marketed themselves through television, coupon books, radio, newspapers, and billboards. Jerry says the most response comes from the television advertisements. “It’s actually not as expensive as you might think,” Jerry said. “The packages we have gotten in the past cost anywhere between $50 and $500, depending on the number of stations and the dispersion rate of the commercials. Television is the one thing that gets good results.” Jerry said people come to Coletta’s to eat with their families and their children, and 20 years later, their children are bringing their families in. He has seen several generations of Memphians pass through the restaurant. In fact, Coletta’s is such a strong family-run business, the fifth generation of the Coletta family, Jerry’s grandchildren, are working there. “The family pretty much wanted to stay in the business,” Jerry said. “My three children, Stephen, Lisa and Kristina and her husband, Jeff, manage the restaurant on Appling, and my wife, Diane, and I run the shop here on Parkway.” Although Coletta’s has two locations in Memphis, they also do a good business with their portable restaurants at the Mid-South Fair and University of Memphis home football games, as well as other special outdoor events. – PMQ – |