Smoky Delights: Experience The Phoenix BBQ in Sparks

2 minute read | may contain affiliate links

When you’re thinking about great BBQ, Nevada typically doesn’t come up in conservation. States such as Texas and Tennessee are what you’ll usually think of.

While those states certainly deserve their status as BBQ GOATs, that doesn’t mean Nevada doesn’t have a few hidden gems of its own. Enter, The Phoenix BBQ Restaurant.

Located in, The Outlets at Legends, in Sparks and directly adjacent to Sheels, Phoenix provides its diners a wide variety of finely smoked meats, burgers, and classic sides.

My wife and I recently (finally) made our way to Phoenix and our experience with the food and service was nothing short of spectacular (albeit with one exception).

Let’s get into it.

Restaurant Info

• Location: Sparks, NV at Legends

• Address: 1310 Sheels Drive

• Cost: Moderate

• Food: Smoked BBQ, burgers, etc.

• Open: Weds - Sun (closed Mon & Tues)

• Seating: Indoor, outdoor and bar

• Alcohol: Full bar

• Website/Menu: ww.phoenixatlegends.com

• My Visit: July 2023

• Rating (out of three): 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Disclaimer: I am not a professional restaurant critic, nor has this restaurant offered me any incentive to write this post. My opinions are my own and are based on my personal experience only.

You can find The Phoenix sandwiched between Sheels and Freshberry Cafe. It’s fairly easy to miss as half of the restaurant’s exterior is obstructed by trees.

If you happen to walk by on a weekend evening, there’s no way you’ll miss it as they have live musical acts performing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.

The interior is warm and inviting, with the color of the walls resembling that of the Golden Gate Bridge (it looks more on the red side in the photos).

There are more booths than open-floor tables, with bar seating available. There’s also an abundance of outdoor seating on the patio, with plenty of shade and a mister.

The menu is heavy in smoked meats and burgers, but they offer a few seafood, salad, and soup options for anyone who doesn’t care for BBQ.

Shockingly, there were no desserts listed on the menu, as well as specialty cocktails. They have a full bar so I’m sure they’ll make your choice of drink, though.

They do have an extensive wine selection, though, thanks to their, “Village Vintner”, wine bar located in the same building (separated by a wall).

For our appetizer, we ordered the waffle fries topped with bacon, green onions and a gorgonzola cheese sauce. Honestly, it was, “meh”.

This was the one and only let down of the entire experience, as it just fell flat to me. The fries didn’t maintain their crisp and there wasn’t nearly enough bacon.

For my entree, I opted for the, “That’s 1 Hellova BBQ Sandwich”, with pulled pork as my meat of choice and sweet potato fries as my side.

Put simply, the pulled pork was delicious. A lot of places smoother their pork in sauce, masking the lack of flavor in the meat. Here, that isn’t the case. The meat, by itself, had excellent flavor and was smoked perfectly. The sauce did what its supposed to; it complemented it.

The sweet potato fries more than made it for the waffle fries earlier. They were precisely seasoned and had a great crisp to them.

My wife went with the BBQ sampler, which included:

• Two drumstick chicken

• Two pork ribs

• Two brisket sliders

• A side of their, “Million Dollar Mac”

The rib was tender and had excellent flavor. There was just enough of that “pull” off the bone. The brisket wasn’t the best i’ve ever had, but it was great regardless.

To us, the clear winners of the sampler were the chicken and the mac. Both were out-of-this-world and would be deserving as a stand-alone entree.

I hope you’ll consider giving The Phoenix a chance, as my wife and I had a great experience. The smoked meats are the hero here, so our less-than-steller waffle fries made little difference to our opinions. If you love BBQ, we’re confident you’ll enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional restaurant critic, nor has this restaurant offered me any incentive to write this post. My opinions are my own and are based on my personal experience only.

Please support this website by subscribing to the newsletter below.

Thank you for reading.