The Rich Culture of KC BBQ comes to AZ

Things have changed a lot in the past 35 years. But when we first came to AZ - we did not find any BBQ restaurants like we had become accustomed to. And that’s where our story really began to blossom.

Miss Flossie Redo, the brainchild behind Miss Ellie’s BBQ Sauce, was born August 19, 1910, in Alexandria, Louisiana. She migrated to Muskogee, Oklahoma at the age of 15 with her husband Thomas Redo.

Flossie was the matriarch of the Redo-Ford family and was known for her fabulous cooking. She served as the Manager and Chief Cook at Muskogee’s First National Bank for 25 years.

Flossie and Tom had 10 children. Their 2nd born, Maxine, had 6 children. Three of Maxine’s sons, Sidney, Joseph and Darren migrated to Arizona where in 1985 they started Miss Ellie’s BBQ restaurant in the city of Chandler.(after Miss Ellie Ewing, matriarch on the Dallas series))

Sidney and Joseph Ford were already successful accountants when they decided that a family-owned and operated restaurant would be more enticing than life as CPA’s. With college degrees from Wichita State University’s -Jabara School of Entrepreneurship, and Arizona State University under their belt, Sidney and Joseph decided it was time to embark upon their entrepreneurial dreams and they opened their first restaurant in Chandler, Az. When it came time to develop their own BBQ sauce the brothers knew they loved the great flavor of Wichita and Kansas City BBQ from the area they grew up in, but the true chef expertise lie with their grandmother Flossie, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. So after consulting with Flossie, and adding a pinch of this and a handful of that, and countless taste tests, Miss Ellie’s BBQ sauce was born.

As the business grew, they were joined by their brother Darren and nephew Chris. Sidney, Darren and Chris operated the restaurants and oversaw quality control while Joseph kept the books and was in charge of promoting the brand.

After 5 successful years in business, they opened their second restaurant in Tempe, Arizona in 1990 and had plans to franchise their operations. This dream came to an abrupt halt when Joseph unexpectedly passed in 1991. Sidney and Darren later sold the restaurants and resumed their careers, but did not sell the BBQ Sauce recipe.

Darren unexpectedly passed in December 2019.

Despite all adversities, Sidney kept the recipe to the BBQ sauce and never lost hope of getting back into the business one day.

After retiring from teaching accounting at Maricopa Community Colleges in 2019, and inspired by his children, Sidney quickly revitalized his dream of selling his BBQ sauce. In 2020 Miss Ellie’s BBQ Sauce LLC was launched by Sidney, his wife Angela and children Sidney Jr., Alexis, and Britney and Darren’s son DJ.