Little Miss BBQ Is the Only BBQ in Phoenix Worth Waiting in Line For
Little Miss BBQ
Little Miss BBQ would be the best BBQ restaurant in most cities in Texas. Maybe not Lockhart, and maybe not Austin, but it’d be on the shortlist anywhere else. I say this as an ex-Texan. What you really want though—if it’s not sold out—is the pastrami. Sure, it’s not traditional BBQ, but it’s stupid good. Or just get the brisket—either fatty or lean—and prepare to need a nap. There’s nothing quite as special as a brisket nap on a hot summer day.
S. Phoenix - 4301 E University Dr
N. Phoenix - 8901 N 7th St
Awards + Accolades
AZ Central
2024: 100 essential restaurants
2023: 100 essential restaurants
2020: Dominic Armato’s 100 Essential Restaurants
2018: Dominic Armato’s Top 100 Restaurants
Eater
2024: The 38 Essential Restaurants in Phoenix
Phoenix Magazine
2023: Best BBQ
2022: Best Pastrami
2022: Best Burrito
2022: Best Dad Gift
2020: Best BBQ
2019: Top 100 Restaurants
2019: Best BBQ
2014: Best Neighborhood BBQ
What to Get
Brisket
Think about all the things you could do in 11 hours. You could drive nearly all the way from Phoenix to San Francisco in that amount of time. You could fly direct from Phoenix to London and still have time to get your stuff from baggage claim and probably grab a coffee. You could even watch the extended versions of all the movies in the Lord of the Rings series.
Or, you could make the best brisket in Phoenix.
- Lauren Saria, Phoenix New Times
Brisket Pastrami
It’s a crying shame Little Miss BBQ serves brisket pastrami on Thursdays only, but preparation takes two-and-a-half weeks from start to finish, says owner and pit master Scott Holmes. The lengthy process includes curing, seasoning and then smoking prime brisket using pecan and white oak woods. The red-hued, pepper-crusted pastrami emerges from the smoker fall-apart tender with a sultry ribbon of fat throughout. The meat is so loaded with flavor that each peppery, clove- and coriander-laden bite fills your mouth with joy.
- Marilyn Hawkes, Phoenix Magazine
Green Chile Burrito
This burrito is the first major foray that the Phoenix barbecue stalwart has made beyond central Texas and the cardinal loopholes of the barbecue belt. It is the first time Little Miss has used tortillas, toasted and de-stemmed Hatch chiles, and channeled the spirit of the Southwest.
- Chris Malloy, Phoenix New Times
Reviews
During my 25 years in the Valley, the needle on my barbecue meter has oscillated predictably between "not bad" and "pretty good."
Until now. Little Miss BBQ's "Central Texas"-style meats have blasted the needle way beyond "pretty good," way beyond "very good," all the way, when it comes to brisket and sausage, to "insanely scrumptious."
- Howard Seftel, AZ Central
Little Miss had sold out of food.
Who sells out of food? Was this a food bank?
- Michael Lacey, Phoenix New Times
Holmes knows he has work to do. Once he gets to where he wants his food to be, he plans to add pork belly, lamb necks (which he says might be his best meat), and breakfast. Now, though, you may not get the same beginning-to-end magic. And you may not see true religion in a brisket slice. But if anybody can work out the kinks and tame barbecue machinery, it’s Holmes. And though the new Little Miss may now only be 85 percent of the old, that still makes it, except for the original, the best barbecue in town.
- Chris Malloy, Phoenix New Times
