Ok, this spring/summer I have been in search of good bbq in Phoenix and/or surrounding areas. Here are my assessment so far:
1. Famous Dave's - this might be my favorite overall in Phoenix. I never trusted a chain before, but the ribs here were really good. I got the St. Louis style ribs and they were cooked really well, now these were not cooked out doors on charcoal, but the flavor was really good. The sauce of the ribs was pretty tasty. They glaze the sauce of the ribs, so your ribs are not smoothered in sauce. They also have about 4 different types of sauce at the table you can try. The sides were pretty good also. The sweet tea was a little above average....but I expect sweeter tea for my sweet tea consumption.
2. Thee Pit - now this place is on the other side of the valley. I ventures over to that side one Saturday. If you have ever seen "Diners, Drive-In's, and Dive's" on the food network, this place was feature on one of the episodes. Now, when I walked in there were basically teenagers serving the food....so I was a little skeptical. I just ordered the ribs to go. By far the best sauce, the ribs were smoked and cook really well. I think I would go back, but its kind of a far drive from my side of town. But I would give it 4 1/2 slabs if I was rating this place.
3. Stacey's - This place was in Phoenix before across from Mrs. Whites. Now its located on 16th and Indian School. Met a friend there for lunch. I actually wanted some fish, the catfish was good but the best, see below. But since I am rated bbq, its above the next one on this list. Atmosphere was pretty dainty, but the staff was great. They actually served grape kool-aid, I can't remember the last time I had kool aid of any flavor. It sure did hit the spot on a nice warm day in the valley. The ribs were good, but just good ok....you see, I got them to go and they drowned my ribs with sauce. Now the sauce was really good, but I dont like my ribs swimming in sauce, see above. I place them 3rd because of the kool-aid and the taste of the ribs. Now my friend had the bbq chicken sandwich and that was very good. Also, had sweet potato fries which were good, could of been better if they were fried more crisp. But for a hole in the wall place, I thought it was really good. Heard they have good brisket, might try them later.
4. Papa Joe's Fish-n-que - this place is located next to my bowling alley, but I never noticed it..until my god-mother mention she went there for lunch. I actually ordered fish, because I heard they had some good fish. The fish was really good and very reasonably price. Fish and shrimp for about $6. Notice that they had ribs and I asked about their cooking method, owner says that he grills them on the grill outside and use charcoal. I came back a couple of weeks later to try them, I actually ate fish again....but I got like a sample. They were ok, I don't think my sample size was big enough. I will go there and just get ribs one day and maybe they will move up the list. But the fish is good. If I was rating fish, they would be above Stacey's.
5. Lucille's - Place I heard about in our new Temple market place. Atmosphere is nice and they had the blue's band thing going on when I walked in. Maybe I was just not feeling well after watching "Hancock" and eating a 1/2 tub of popcorn. The band was good and I mean really good. The ribs were just ok, they were St. Louis style, but I think they had too much fat on the tip part. Most places cut that part off, the sauce was good....but the rib were fatty and just plain ok. Now this place did have the best sweet tea. I mean the sweet tea was really good, I actually got some to go. They also have good corn bread and biscuits. Now I would probably go back for the atmosphere and sweet tea. The ribs were ok, but no reason to drive across town
6 years ago
