James Maida

James Maida, St. Thomas High School class of 1985, is the current majority owner of Pizzitola’s Heritage BBQ — Houston’s oldest continuously operating barbecue restaurant, serving the city since 1935. Beyond the restaurant world, Maida is a Portfolio Manager at Hightower Texas, where he manages taxable and non-taxable fixed income investment-grade bond strategies for high-net-worth individuals and institutions. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and an MBA in Finance from the University of St. Thomas Cameron School of Business.

In 2019, Maida and his business partner Willie Madden ’82 purchased the restaurant from fellow STHS alumnus Jerry Pizzitola ’60. After Madden’s sudden passing in January 2021, Maida took sole ownership and partnered with longtime general manager Tim Taylor to carry the legacy forward. Under their stewardship, the restaurant has been designated a Texas Treasure by the Texas Historical Commission, celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2025, and hosted a “Rib-On-Cutting” ceremony with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner featuring representatives from all four ownership families.

Following Jerry Pizzitola’s death in 2024, Maida and Taylor rebranded the restaurant as Pizzitola’s Heritage BBQ — honoring both the Pizzitola name and the nearly nine decades of history embedded in its hand-built brick pits.