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| - Was excited to have a BBQ restaurant in downtown Phoenix, and was also excited to see what Phil the Grill could do in a brick and mortar joint. I had eaten at his old trailer a couple times, and the food there was decent, but not great.
Obviously the new restaurant is still coming together, with some final painting still going on and I'm sure there are kinks to get worked out, so it won't be my last time visiting, but I will give them a few months to get good at running the place.
I ordered the 2 meat sampler with brisket and pulled pork, along with the waffle fries and jalapeno grits. The waffle fries were the best part (as they were at all my visits to his trailer), and the grits were decent, but didn't really have as much jalapeno or chese flavor as I would generally expect. The meat is where I was very underwhelmed...
The brisket was cooked well, but was definitely not trimmed properly. Each slice was about an inch thick, with about 1/2 inch of greasy fat cap on it. I love fatty brisket in general (and tend to ask for it), but this was just way too much. The seasoning used was overly sweet for a brisket, and lacked the smoky flavor I would expect. The smoke was there, but was only a faint hickory taste. Maybe the hickory contributed to the sweetness, because generally the better tasting briskets (in my mind) use mesquite, oak, and/or pecan. Overall I would try something completely different before trying the brisket again.
The pulled pork was also extremely fatty, to the point where 20% was just an inedible chunk of fatty skin. Again, it was also somewhat greasy, but generally tasted better than the brisket. I think the sweet works better with the pork than it does the brisket.
My top in Phoenix is still Little Miss. And I realize that everyone has their own style. If you are going to charge Little Miss prices for your brisket, you better have a somewhat comparable product quality wise (taking individual style out). As it stands now, this place doesn't even crack my Top 5 in Phoenix. Work on the quality control, and I'll see you in a few months to hopefully update with a better review.
Also, it's kind of tacky to have your cashier using her vape pen at the register. I realize it was pretty empty in the place, but pretty sure that isn't allowed by AZ law...
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