(Hotel restaurants are not eligible in this category)
Barbecue Restaurant
Memphis Championship Barbeque
MEMPHIS CHAMPIONSHIP BARBEQUE
4379 Las Vegas Blvd. North
Mike Mills' "low and slow" philosophy -- just don't ask what's in the secret sauce -- has won a lot of fans since he brought his award-winning recipes to town two years ago. People line up for lunch outside the original restaurant, and Mills is still planning to open a long-promised new location at Warm Springs Road and Eastern Avenue in July. The chain of Tony Roma's -- A Place for Ribs came in second.
Our Pick:
TEXAS BAR-B-QUE
5301 W. Charleston Blvd.
If Joe Orduna isn't telling us a Texas tall tale, his little stand that pulls up a corner of the Plant World Nurseries parking lot on Charleston Boulevard is no longer such a well-kept secret:
He's been there more than six years and claims to cook up 500 pounds of beef a day at his mostly to-go, 8-to-5 operation. By now Joe should be back in business after rebuilding when a fire shut him down for a couple of weeks. He has blueprints for a real indoor restaurant, but with two kids in college he says it's going to have to wait awhile.