BBQ Mexicana, the Mexican/barbecue fusion concept operated by celebrity chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, has opened its first stand-alone brick and mortar location in the Las Vegas suburbs.
The new spot at 8480 West Sunset Road opened on Monday, March 4. Its menu features items familiar to fans of the existing BBQ Mexicana locations within Mandalay Bay, Allegiant Stadium, T-Mobile Arena, and The Las Vegas Ballpark, as well as some new options.
There are three types of burritos: pulled pork, avocado chicken, and smoked brisket (previously known as “burnt ends”). All three of those proteins are also offered in tacos, as is smoked tofu. You can get bowls of smoked tofu, brisket, or chicken. There is a variety of salads, sides, and sweets.
Feniger and Milliken, winners of the James Beard Foundation and Julia Child Awards, are best known to many Las Vegans from Border Grill, operating in Mandalay Bay since 1999. They developed this concept in conjunction with Mike Minor, one of the former head chefs of that restaurant.
“He loved barbecue,” Feniger said of Minor, in an interview with the Food and Loathing podcast. “He had a barbecue truck, and he [was] pushing us to get a smoker and start to play around with that. So we collaborated with Mike and came up with the first BBQ Mexicana.
We’ve now taken it to the next level. And what we love about it is it’s affordable; it’s accessible whether you have a lot of money or [not]; it’s quick; and it’s casual.”
Milliken is particularly excited to offer their first drive-through option at the new location.
“Being a girl from Detroit, the Motor City,” she told Food and Loathing, “a drive-through is like the ultimate restaurant to open. So I’m super-excited about that, and about all the workers in Las Vegas who work on The Strip and don’t have time to cook, being able to pull through and load up on [brisket] burritos and tofu bowls and BLTA [salads] to take home to their family.”
The pair stress that while BBQ Mexicana is a lower-priced option than Border Grill, it will maintain the same high-level ingredients.
“The one thing you can always count on from Border Grill and BBQ Mexicana,” she promises, “[is that] no matter how cheap or expensive the food is, we are sourcing from people that we respect and that we know are good for the planet and for our bodies.”
