Pizza and sports go together like, well, tomato sauce and cheese. So reinventing Backdoor Pizzeria in Houston as a sports brand made sense to Victor Eadeh and his family, who opened the original restaurant 14 years ago.
Eadeh now runs Backdoor Pizzeria, located in northwest Houston’s Hockley community, with his son, Tyler. Their biggest problem was the kind most operators wish they had: too many customers, not enough space. Now they’re relocating to a bigger building to accommodate the throngs that fill their dining room.
“The community is thrilled,” Tyler told the Houston Chronicle. “They can’t wait to have something like this in the community because there’s nothing like that. There’s nowhere in the community where you can go sit down, have a beer, watch the ball games with TVs everywhere [and] eat pizza and good quality Italian food.”
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Backdoor Pizzeria, which opened in 2010, plates New York-style pizzas in sizes ranging from 12” to a whopping 40” for groups. At its new location, customers will be able to gather around 18 80” TV sets to watch games featuring the Houston Texans, Houston Astros, Houston Rockets, Houston Dynamo FC and Houston Dash, as well as Rice University, Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern and other college games.
Victor and his wife, Clemence, founded Backdoor Pizzeria and raised their three kids—Tyler, Samantha and Justin—to work there. Tyler got his start at the age of 12. It didn’t take him long to realize he’d found his calling in life.
“My goal was always to expand,” he told the Chronicle. “This was my future, and when I put my thoughts and goals into something, I go all the way with it.”
The new version of Backdoor Pizzeria is “a combination of ideas from each family member coming together and creating their dream restaurant,” according to the restaurant’s website. Specialty pizzas on the menu include The Brooklyn (pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, black olives, bell peppers, Canadian bacon, beef and mozzarella); The Bronx (Italian sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, beef and mozz); Buffalo Chicken (chicken breast, jalapeños and a housemade Buffalo sauce); and The Capri (prosciutto, salami arugula and fresh mozz).
The 40” Godfather Pizza sells for $65.99 with cheese only, and up to three toppings can be added at $6.50 apiece. The menu also includes burgers, calzones, pastas, sandwiches and fish and shrimp.
