Austin's House Park BBQ thankful for holiday return after destructive fire

House Park BBQ reopens after fire

The owners of an iconic Austin landmark have a big reason to be thankful this holiday season. House Park BBQ has made it through its first year back in business after being destroyed by a fire in 2020.

AUSTIN, Texas - The owners of an iconic Austin landmark have a big reason to be thankful this holiday season. 

House Park BBQ has made it through its first year back in business after being destroyed by a fire in 2020.

What they're saying:

The iconic Austin BBQ joint is putting its last set of Thanksgiving turkeys in their brick pit to be ready for holiday tables.

Even before you walk into House Park BBQ, you know you’re there. Ben Shepherd was among those to come on Wednesday. Along with the holiday bird that he pre-ordered, Shepherd also took home a bag of brisket.

"Well, it's going to be hard for me to wait till tomorrow to eat it, because I tell you what, this turkey over here at House Park is fantastic," said Shepherd.

For the pit crew at this iconic eatery, the past 24 hours have been exhausting. But in a way, the owner, Matthew Sullivan, started preparing for this holiday season 12 months ago.

"And I'm just so thankful for this past year. We hit a year back, and we're back. And we got we saved the oldest pit in Austin," said Sullivan.

It originally opened a little more than 80 years ago with the slogan – "need no teef to eat my beef." 

Dig deeper:

In 2020, a devastating fire swept through the building and did what the pandemic couldn't do.

"We were actually doing great. We didn't close. We had our outdoor patio, people were six feet away, all that kind of stuff. We never closed at all until the fire happened. We were actually doing really well," said Sullivan.

Only the pit was salvaged. The surrounding rebuild was not completed until late November 2024.

"It was a struggle with the city, and they worked with us. I have a great landlord that worked with me side by side. I lost my father through the process. I wanted him to see this place come back, but he got the idea not knowing that I was going to do it," said Sullivan.

During the rebuild, the nearby Austin skyline continued to change, but regular customers like Russell Parish have returned.

"It means a lot because I know that he went through a lot and so the perseverance is impressive. We're thankful to Matt around Thanksgiving," said Parish.

The one thing that hasn't come back is the original house park roadside sign. It survived the fire, but someone took it during the rebuild. It’s been quite a journey.

"It kind of makes me speechless because there were points and times when I didn't know if I would ever be able to do this again. I mean, I feel thankful that we can just save a few of these icons that are important to our city and that is what made our city great," said Sullivan.

House Park will be open on Thanksgiving, but the holiday turkeys are only for those that were pre-ordered. BBQ for tailgating will be available.