As someone who grew up in Texas, I was super stoked hearing about The Grill on Mill, a new barbeque place just downstairs from my office.  Hello brisket!  However, I was surprised to learn on my first visit that they specialize in west coast BBQ, specifically Santa Maria style tri-tip. Wait, what? No brisket?

I was disappointed right up until I took the first bite of their signature tri-tip steak sandwich. Layers of tri-tip between two sides of a buttery French roll. That’s it. Just tri-tip and bread - no sauce on my first bite – as I wanted to experience the true flavor of Santa Maria style smoked tri-tip. It was delicious. Even better when I added some of their homemade BBQ sauce.

Tri-tip sandwich & fries…  mmmmm

On subsequent visits, I’ve tried the Pig Sandwich (shredded pork on a French roll), the cheeseburger and the Southwest Salad (got the small size and was enough to feed a small army). On deck to try in the future is the rack of pork ribs. I am looking forward to eating my way through their menu.

Chase Krukow, the General Manager, showed me the smoker that they hauled in a truck from Ole Hickory Pits in Cape Girardeau, MO. It has the capacity to smoke about 120 tri-tip at once and it takes only about 2 hours. I was not as familiar with tri-tip as a fast-cook BBQ staple (tri-tip is the large, tender, triangular muscle cut from the bottom sirloin of a steer), but I am certainly glad to know about it now. The smoker is now responsible for the lovely BBQ smell that surround our office (that is, when we’re not engulfed in the smell of bacon from Ncounter). BTW, Chase is a huge baseball fan, particularly of the SF Giants and comes by it naturally (his dad is Mike “Kruk” Krukow former MLB player and voice of the SF Giants). 

The Grill on Mill is located at 350 S. Mill Avenue, just south of 3^rd Street.

The Grill on Mill has a big patio with plans to add lighting, shade and misters. Add in a nice bar (serving craft and draught beers and cocktails) and even nicer bartenders. You can sit down at the bar to order a drink and your meal or you can step up to the counter in the back and order your food. If it’s not busy, they’ll bring the food to you or if it’s busy (lunchtime!) they’ll call your number for you to pick up at the counter. Lots of TVs make for a great place to watch games (sound on!) and I bet it will be a hot spot on ASU game days as it is the official restaurant for ASU away games. The Grill on Mill is the type of place where everyone knows your name and you’ll stop in just to say hi to the crew and grab a tri-tip sandwich and cold brew while you’re at it.