After Mooner’s BBQ closed in June, Philip and Kristina Batton took over the space and opened their Maddie Jo's BBQ restaurant Sept. 1 in San Tan Valley.
"This is our first restaurant. My husband, Philip, has done catering and barbecues for large church events, but we’ve never had a restaurant," said Kristina Batton. "We offer Texas style, with a little bit of Kansas City, barbecue. We smoke our meats fresh every day. We offer four homemade side dishes as well as cornbread waffles. We have weekly specials Tuesdays through Thursdays. Then Friday and Saturday are our brisket days."
She said they purchased all of Mooner’s equipment and furnishings in August to get ready for their first barbecue restaurant of their dreams in the Queen Creek area.
"We opened in San Tan Valley because that was the location that was available. Philip was doing HVAC work for Angel Air in Queen Creek and one of his customers was the owner of the building where our restaurant is located. Philip and he got to talking and Philip told him about our wanting to buy a food trailer someday to cook barbecue and sell our barbecue sauce, Mickey Jo’s BBQ Sauce. He told Philip about the barbecue restaurant that had gone out of business and put us in touch with the previous owner. We met them, saw the restaurant and fell in love. We got married, sold our houses, bought the restaurant and moved up to San Tan Valley, all in the month of August," said Kristina.
"We had been selling the barbecue sauce for about a year and Philip had named it after his mom, Mildred Joane," she continued. "When it came time to buy and name the restaurant, I asked if we could name it after my daughter, Madeline, who passed away in July of 2022 at the age of 24. So we combined the two and came up with Maddie Jo’s BBQ."
Maddie Jo's BBQ is located in San Tan Valley, at 5388 E. Skyline Dr. Contact them at 480-625-1131.
“We are excited to be a part of this community," Kristina added. "We want our customers to feel like they are family and feel at home as soon as they walk in the door, all while they enjoy good, old-fashioned, wood-smoked barbecue. People love our Kris’ Kornbread Waffles and brisket and our Extreme Loaded Cheesy Mac is quickly becoming a favorite."
