Central Texas Method, Phoenix Address
Little Miss BBQ on University Drive is the Valley's most seriously contested lunch counter, a cash-and-tray operation that runs until the meat sells out and stops taking the rest of the day as a given. Scott and Bekke Holmes opened this location as a companion to the original near Sky Harbor, and the kitchen holds to the same Central Texas method: white oak and pecan smoke, long rests, no shortcuts on the brisket. The sliced brisket is the anchor of the menu and the first thing to understand about this room. Fat renders to silk, the bark holds its crust through the cut, and the smoke ring runs deep without overwhelming the beef.
The burnt ends read as a second argument for the same philosophy: concentrated, properly caramelized, honest about what they are. Baby back ribs round out the program with enough pull to satisfy without falling off the bone into mush, which is the mark of a kitchen that times its pits correctly. The room sits in an unglamorous stretch of Phoenix, not far from the ASU corridor, in the kind of strip-adjacent footprint that the Valley's best independents have always occupied. That is not a caveat; it is the operating condition of serious barbecue anywhere in this city.
The line forms before the 11 a.m. open, grows fast, and does not pause. The parking lot is small and the operation is high-volume. This is not a room for a leisurely Sunday reservation; it is a room that rewards showing up early and knowing what to order before the counter. A 2026 James Beard Best Chef: Southwest semifinalist recognition for the Holmes operation confirms what the line has argued for years: this is the standard the Valley measures its smoked meat against.
