New Tempe smokehouse puts a flavorful twist on tradition

When a new spot opens in town, we’re eager to check it out, let you know our initial impressions, share photos and dish about menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review but instead a peek inside restaurants that have just opened – an occasion to sample a few items and satisfy curiosities (both yours and ours).

Navigating your way to Wild Barbecue in Tempe isn’t difficult. Once you’ve parked in the college-adjacent neighborhood, all you need to do is cartoonishly lift your nose to the sky, take a deep breath and let the warm scent of slow-burning post oak guide you to the terracotta red brick building on University Drive.

Brothers Ahmad and Mo Abu Ghazal originally launched Wild Barbecue as a food truck in 2023. Their brick-and-mortar smokehouse officially opened its doors in December.

Wild Barbecue is currently open Friday through Sunday and the restaurant has been selling out of meat. We arrived early, and soon the line of customers stretched behind us, filling the warm, industrial-style space.

Stepping inside the restaurant, diners are greeted by a TV screen displaying Wild Barbecue’s menu. Below it is a live-edge wood counter manned by several staff members, ready to carve slabs of brisket, spoon sides of mac and cheese and load it all onto half and full-size metal sheet trays lined with butcher paper.

What to order at Wild Barbecue

The ordering process starts with the main event: Step up to the meat counter and choose your slow-smoked fighter, in the form of proteins by the half-pound or piled into a sandwich. Then, choose from an array of Southern, Southwestern and Jordanian sides, the latter of which are inspired by dishes the brothers grew up eating. 

Wild Barbecue’s team piled a full sheet tray with all our fixings: lean and moist slices of brisket, beef cheeks, two fat lamb chops, turkey, mac and cheese, saucy beans, Mexican corn and Mediterranean salads, along with a fan of naan wedges and pickles.

Most barbecue relies on four simple elements: salt, pepper, smoke and patience. Wild Barbecue’s brisket is a fine example of that simplicity. Each slice of the tender beef featured a dark crust of bark and textbook pink ring imbued over hours on the smoker. 

How and when brisket is cut can impact its taste, too. At Wild Barbecue, meat is sliced to order in front of diners. It’s noteworthy that the smokehouse lets customers choose from the leaner flat of the brisket or the area where the meat is more heavily marbled and thus more tender. Choosing between lean or fatty (also called moist) brisket is the norm in central Texas, though not always so here in the Valley. It’s a welcome choice, and we opted for a bit of both.

The leaner cuts initially pushed back against the plastic cutlery, but upon pulling at the corner with thumb and pointer, the meat easily comes apart. The brisket was well seasoned and the bark carries salt and pepper into every bite. The smoke was subtle and let the umami of the beef shine through. The moist cuts, richly marbled with well-rendered fat, were melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Beef cheek is not often seen on smokehouse menus. It’s a popular choice for barbacoa, after roasting or braising for hours. At Wild Barbecue, the cheek was handled delicately and it immediately fell apart when our forks pierced its bark. The seasoning was stronger on the cheeks, and it overwhelmed the meat. That tenderness could work well in a sandwich, but eaten on its own, it lacked texture.

Wild Barbecue’s lamb is another departure from traditional smokehouse menus, yet it felt right at home at the Tempe shop. The chops, carved off a rack, are thick, rich and have a whisper of funky flair from the gamey meat. They’re a smart addition to the menu that beg to be picked up by the bone and eaten with your hands.

The smokehouse’s turkey was a standout among its meats, and among the most succulent we’ve sampled at Valley smokehouses. Rich tandoori spices melt into a warming glaze across the bird’s exterior. No sauce is needed, though if the team explores a barbecue sauce with these spices, we’d be among the first in line to try it.

The restaurant’s side dishes run a wide gamut, seemingly hoping to check the right boxes with traditionalists while showcasing some personal culinary influences. The mac and cheese was creamy and comforting with a mild flavor that will appeal to diners of all ages. The Mexican corn salad, meanwhile, is a fresh take on esquites. The corn is dressed in mayo and sour cream and served chilled. The salad is snappy and bright, thanks to halves of fresh lime, cotija and a welcome sprinkling of Tajin. 

The Mediterranean salad added freshness that is often lacking on smokehouse menus. Crisp cucumber, juicy tomato, briny feta and thin slices of red onion all offered contrast to the rich meats on the table. If anything, the salad could have used more of its lemon dressing to amp up the acidity. The restaurant’s beans, smoked with bits of brisket, tasted unfinished. The side’s stock was thin, underseasoned and tomato-forward. Though the brisket was visible, neither it nor the smoke imparted any of their unctuous flavor to the beans or their broth.

Still, there’s a lot to like at Wild Barbecue. It’s encouraging to see more chefs infuse their culinary point of view into barbecue, working in unexpected dishes and flavor profiles. There were items we didn’t try that left us planning another visit after looking around the dining room, including dino-sized beef ribs, bacon-wrapped jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and brisket or a Mediterranean-style rice bowl. The turkey alone is worthy of a second trip, and we’ll be sure to arrive early when we return.

Wild Barbecue

601 W. University Drive, Tempe