Big City BBQ Opens New Restaurant

Big City BBQ, LLC, will open it's second restaurant location in Mesa, Arizona on Monday, June 13, 2005. Building on the first restaurant in Tempe, Big City owners are developing an expanded restaurant concept that adds a bar and grill to their acclaimed barbecue and soul food menu.

"Our unique southern barbecue menu is a proven concept," offered celebrated Executive Chef, Rasshad Brown, "and the addition of grilled steaks and seafood, fresh salads, and a bar completes our original Big City concept." Big City is adding a dozen new menu items in the new location, including sizzling steaks, grilled chicken and fish, burgers, barbecue wraps, and other exciting twists on Southern Cuisine.

The methods Big City BBQ employs to create barbecue are unique, a combination of recipes and procedures that is almost impossible to find anywhere West of the Mississippi. All meats start by being rubbed with a unique blend of spices for up to 48 hours prior to placing them into a smoker fired with pecan logs for up to 14 hours. By using choice grade meats slow-cooked in state-of-the-art smokers, Big City produces barbecue that is tender and flavorful and yet maintains it's meatiness.

Big City's new location at 1425 South Alma School Road has frontage on the 60 Freeway, the main corridor through Mesa, which is the largest suburban area of Phoenix. The restaurant shares a 400-car parking lot with FedEx/Kinkos, Red Lobster, and the Hilton Hotel, and is directly across the street from the Fiesta Mall. Locals know the Alma School exit by the sight of the two largest buildings in all of Mesa, the Bank of America Tower and the Hilton Hotel.

"Big City already offers one of the largest selections of smoked meats in Arizona," said Len Wechsler, Partner/Catering Manager, "and with the addition of our new grilled items, our meat choices become second-to-none." Big City also offers more than a dozen side dishes, including traditional and soul food sides such as okra, mixed greens, rice and beans, and braised cabbage.

The first Big City BBQ location was opened in mid-2004 at 5118 S Rural Road in Tempe, and has been a screaming success, becoming a local lunch hot-spot and receiving dozens of accolades from the press. With lunch-time lines occasionally going out the door, Big City owners sought out a new location for Mesa with three times the seating, food production, and ordering capacity.

About Chef Rasshad

Big City's Executive Chef, Rasshad Brown, comes to Phoenix from Iowa and is a 1990 graduate of the Metro Tech Culinary Program in Phoenix. Chef Rasshad has more than a 15 years of culinary experience in the Phoenix market as a leader in restaurant chain kitchen management and as Executive Chef at two premier Arizona resorts. Rasshad was recently nominated as one of the top 100 chefs on Chef2Chef.com, and Big City BBQ is his first ownership position in a restaurant. For more information on Chef Rasshad, visit http://www.rasshad.com, or send email to rasshad@bigcitybbq.com.

About Big City BBQ, LLC

Started in 2004, Big City BBQ's restaurants are owned and operated by Chef Rasshad Brown and his partners, Len Wechsler from New York and Rick Helman from England. In the first year in business, Big City's Tempe location became a local lunch hot spot and received more than a dozen accolades in the local and national press. For more information on Big City BBQ, visit http://www.bigcitybbq.com.

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To schedule an interview with the chef, please contact Chef Rasshad Brown directly via email at rasshad@bigcitybbq.com or on his cell phone at 602-405-4959.