Avondale eatery boasts 2nd best barbecue in the U.S.

By Steve Stockmar
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Editor's note: This article first appeared in Sun Life Magazine, a Daily Independent publication.

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A barbecue showdown of national proportions is going on right here in the West Valley.

Yelp users closed 2024 by ranking Eric’s Family Barbecue, in Avondale, as the second best barbecue restaurant in the entire nation. Only Wright’s Barbecue, in Arkansas, ranks higher.

Yeah, that could change.

“We’re coming for that number one spot this year,” Eric’s owner Anthony Garcia said from inside the spot for serious barbecue at the intersection of El Mirage and Indian School roads.

Barbecue lovers from out of state have made a pilgrimage of sorts to check out what the buzz is all about – and by the time they leave, they get it.

“I live in Dallas and this place beats anything there,” one Yelp user wrote in December. “The owner that was there was very sincere about his craft and cared about the quality. Anyone going to Phoenix make this a stop.”

The Avondale spot seems to beat even barbecue joints back home for most.

“By far the BEST bar b que you will ever find here in Arizona,” a reviewer posted last September. “I'm from Detroit and this is the closest I can get to home.”

And of course locals are also plenty hip to what’s cooking here in town.

“I have to say this was hands down the best bbq I've ever had to date,” a reviewer from nearby Peoria posted.

The Yelp app has about 28 million average monthly users in the U.S. alone.

Eric’s Family Barbecue opened in 2020 and that kind of sudden love through social media did make things interesting almost overnight. With lines that had started snaking around the building, the restaurant one day ran out of food by 3 p.m. Adjusting in all the right ways, they added eight new staffers almost immediately and are more than able to keep up with the rush of hungry connoisseurs.

Brisket is definitely the most popular item on the menu, but don’t sleep on the other choices. Garcia’s own personal favorite is whole hog sandwich with cole slaw. It’s a rare item to find in the desert.

“I pretty much eat one everyday when I’m working,” Garcia, 37, admitted.

Beyond the food and the spices and the sauce and the red-and-white checkerboard tablecloths, there’s something much more special about this spot.

The barbecue restaurant is as local as it gets.

Garcia is from Avondale and attended nearby Agua Fria High School, where not only his kids attend but his uncle was among the first graduating class back in the 1960s. That’s his uncle’s Agua Fria letterman jacket on display in the dining room. Garcia grew up with or is family with most of the 22 members on staff, including the pit masters who work their magic on the patio smokers where the meat slow cooks overnight from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day.

“This is home,” he said.

The veteran of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Infantry honed his skills in the service where he cooked for his fellow soldiers at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. With the GI Bill, Garcia later studied cuisine at the Art Institute of Phoenix.

Garcia is always thinking about adding to the menu, and crawfish is on his mind as a potential newcomer to feed his other passion – seafood.

He’s also thinking about expanding to other restaurants locally, maybe even a burger joint.

But he knows what cuisine he won’t be expanding to at a new place, since they’ve pretty much got it down to perfection at this special spot in Avondale.

“Definitely won’t be barbecue,” he says.

Steve Stockmar
News Editor | Sun Life Magazine & Arts & Entertainment YourValley.net

sstockmar@iniusa.org

Meet Steve
Steve Stockmar joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, and has been an Arizona journalist for almost 30 years. He serves as editor of Sun Life Magazine and contributes to West Valley communities where he focuses mostly on arts & culture, education, and profiles of neighbors making a difference.

Community: Every season Steve serves as a “buddy” with the Miracle League of Arizona in Scottsdale, has volunteered his time with Family Promise in Glendale, and previously served on the Ghostlight Theatre board in Sun City West.

Education: Graduated from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a Journalism major and English minor.

Random Fact: Steve once won a 50-player live Texas Hold ’Em poker tournament.

Hobbies: Anguishing over his beloved Chicago Cubs and Bears; listening to Beatles and Grateful Dead music.