Little Miss BBQ, Phoenix, Arizona

After lunch at Zinqué Nancy, Kit, and I walked around the Scottsdale art gallery area for a while, and then decided to head back to Canyon Villas. The plan was to forage for dinner and eat up some of the cheeses and dips we’d purchased. I indicated that I thought I’d mosey over to Little Miss BBQ and do some foraging there. Why not swing by on the way back? I took the precaution of making certain that they hadn’t sold out of brisket, and then off we went to their Sunnyslope location at 8901 North 7th Street.

Little Miss BBQ is on all the “Best” lists, or at least those that keep up to date. Do you want to know why? Reasons to get on Best lists vary — reputation, balancing geography, etc. Not to give away the ending, but in the case of Little Miss BBQ, it’s on the lists because they cook superb barbecue.

We arrived in mid-afternoon, around 3:30 pm or so, parked over in a large shared parking lot, and I went in to order, right behind that guy.

There’s a right turn there, and you get an inspiring view of a great big cooker

and the menu, with prices that are gentler than Washington and Austin.

I stepped up to the counter and before I said a word I was offered a taste of brisket.

I’m very polite, so I accepted. Wow! The meat was succulent, smoky, and achingly tender. It figuratively melted in my mouth. This could — could — be the very best brisket outside Texas.

I pulled myself together and ordered a half pound of turkey for Nancy and Kit, and half a pound of brisket for me. Oh, and one pork rib. As an afterthought, or perhaps as brain stem activity, I ordered a jalapeño cheese sausage, sliced. Why sliced? So I could have a slice before I returned to the car, and another bite of the brisket. Then I waddled out to the car and drove back to Canyon Villas.

Here’s the food after the drive.

Well, there it is minus another taste of brisket. The brisket held up very well after the drive, and remained moist, tender, and full of the flavors of beef and oak smoke, along with a peppery crust. This is so good they could set up shop next door to Aaron Franklin’s and make money.

Nancy and Kit were less ready for a meal so soon after lunch than I, but seemed to enjoy the turkey. Nancy commented that it was not at all dry and not super smoky, which means they used oak rather than hickory. I enjoyed the rib. It was meaty and the pork captured the flavor of the oak. This is a very good pork rib by Texas-style standards, but it’s no threat to Archibald’s. The jalapeño cheese sausage had a medium grind and a quality snap. It was moderately spicy by jalapeño standards, with more flavor than heat.

I didn’t get any sauce. After that initial taste of brisket I knew it wouldn’t need any. Actually, if I thought I’d need some after tasting it, I would have walked out after getting a couple of ribs just to be polite. Brisket shouldn’t need sauces and this brisket didn’t need anything in the world.

Phoenix is twice blessed, with great brisket at Little Miss BBQ and excellent pork — perhaps the best west of Arkansas — at JL’s Smokehouse on Broadway. It and Little Miss BBQ is a blessing to the good people of Phoenix, and to all who visit that city. It’s a must-visit for anyone within a couple of hundred miles, and there are a lot of reasons to be in Phoenix, at least in the winter. You should go there, and don’t leave without trying some of that brisket.

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