The wait for Terry Black's Barbecue in Houston Heights is finally starting to feel real. After years of quiet land buys and behind-the-scenes prep along the 1300 block of North Shepherd Drive, new hiring notices and state filings suggest the long-promised smokehouse and its companion boutique hotel could be serving guests by mid-2026.
Hiring Push Hints at Summer 2026 Debut
According to the Houston Chronicle, Terry Black's opened applications on June 12 for a full roster of front and back of house positions, including cashier, floor attendant, line server, meat cutter, meat trimmer, overnight prep cook, pit cook and prep cook. Permits and a state project filing reviewed by the paper show construction scheduled to begin August 1 at 1311 N. Shepherd Dr. A separate Chronicle report notes that the build-out will cover roughly 8,321 square feet, including a 1,255-square-foot pit room, carry an estimated price tag of about $6.5 million and was expected to wrap by summer 2026.
Shepherd–Durham Redo Reworks the Block
The barbecue project is landing in the middle of a major streetscape overhaul. The Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority has backed a roughly $100 million Shepherd–Durham reconstruction that will bring protected bike lanes, wider sidewalks and other upgrades to the corridor. Per the Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority and local reporting, Phase One of the work is nearing completion, a shift city planners say should boost walkability around the 1300 block just as the barbecue joint and hotel come online.
Black Family Hospitality Bets Big on Texas
Rather than rolling out single, stand-alone smokehouses, Black Family Hospitality has been pairing its restaurants with small hotels across Texas. Construction is already underway on a San Antonio project near the Pearl, as MySA confirmed, and Hoodline previously covered the group's New Braunfels plans. Taken together, the moves point to a broader hospitality footprint across multiple markets.
What Neighbors Will See First
For now, the most tangible clues in the Heights are paperwork and job posts. A growing stream of hiring notices, followed by visible contractor activity on North Shepherd, will likely be the early signs that the site is shifting from plans to service. If the current construction timeline holds, the neighborhood can expect a high-volume barbecue counter and dozens of hourly and kitchen jobs to be in place as summer 2026 routines settle in.
