Jan 19, 2026 | 9:00 am
The neon sign in front of the new location of Pinkerton’s Barbecue tells diners almost everything they need to know about the restaurant. Based on a drawing by pitmaster and owner Grant Pinkerton, the sign’s retro-inspired design and simple declaration of “Beef, Pork, Links” offers a simple summation of what the restaurant will serve when it opens to the public this Tuesday, January 20.
Located in the former home of 59 Diner at 3801 Farnham St., the new location is much larger than Pinkerton’s first Houston location in the Heights that opened nine years ago. It will be the restaurant’s second Houston location and third overall, joining a San Antonio outpost that opened in 2020. All that extra room includes a larger kitchen that will serve more varieties of meat, sides, and desserts than its able to offer in the Heights, which brings us back to the sign.
“That’s my brainchild,” Pinkerton tells CultureMap. “It was a deliberate choice to choose ‘beef, pork, and links.’ A lot of people say ‘brisket, ribs, and sausage,’ but if you go back in time, it wasn’t brisket. It was just beef. If you start studying the history of barbecue, that’s what people said.”…