Prissy’s Barbecue
Like a lot of local residents, Anthony Sanders’ barbecue obsession started in a backyard. Specifically, it took the form of a $100 smoker from Walmart. “This was like back in college,” he says. Sanders was pursuing an engineering degree at Texas Tech University, and his college accommodations didn’t always welcome grills or smokers on the premises. “I remember getting kicked out of apartments [because] I just loved cooking barbecue so much,” he says.
He graduated from college with an engineering degree, moved to Amarillo, got a full-time job at the Pantex plant and kept smoking meat. “Eventually, I started just doing little briskets here and there for people, little caterings, little birthday parties,” he says. He started selling protein-based prepared meals—“steaks, chicken, salmon, turkey, beef, even ribs, whatever”—to 20 or 30 people a week.
As that side hustle grew, his full-time job switched to a Monday-to-Thursday schedule. That’s when Sanders bought a food trailer and began posting up in parking lots on Friday and Saturday nights. “It was like, go to work and get off work, buy meat, prep meat, cook all night,” he remembers. “We would sell out every place we went, every place we opened.”
That was four years ago. The food truck generated catering gigs until an opportunity arrived to fix up a restaurant in Tulia, his hometown. Sanders sold the food trailer and, for two and a half years, operated that restaurant, which he describes as “elevated food” sold from a hole in the wall.
Even in Tulia, that hole in the wall welcomed a lot of familiar faces. “The regular customers were from Amarillo. The same people from the food trailer. Saturdays were our busiest day, because it was just full of people from Canyon, Amarillo,” he says.
That’s why he eventually turned his sights back north, making the leap to take over an old drive-up place at 2509 E. Amarillo Blvd. It was Tacos Don Miguel, and the original owner’s health was failing.
“It was just a handshake and a sign of paper,” Sanders says. All the equipment stayed. A few weeks later, last August, Prissy’s had opened. The restaurant is named for Sanders’ mom, Priscilla, who died from cancer in 2019. Everyone called her “Prissy.”
The restaurant’s logo is actually her handwriting, discovered on an old notepad he found while cleaning out her home. “Every time I look at it, it makes me happy,” he says.
The hallmark of Prissy’s menu is a deep, smoky profile achieved by burning oak in traditional offset smokers. “I don’t have a style,” Sanders insists. “We are really good at making it simple. The simpler, the better. This is how you cook Texas barbecue.” He relies on seasoning salt and black pepper. He provides a regular sauce and a spicy sauce. He offers all the sides you’d expect, like beans and potato salad, plus a few you might not expect, like a BBQ elote bowl or baked potatoes.
On Fridays, he sells smash burgers using ground brisket. “I’m very resourceful,” he says. Customers love them.
He also prioritizes shareable plates, like the Tour of Texas, which includes two pounds of meat, or the Prissy’s Family Platter, with three pounds of brisket, spare ribs, pulled pork or sausage—along with three sides.
Sanders says cooking—and smoking barbecue specifically—is a skill he has learned over the years, and which anyone can learn. But what really makes customers come back for the barbecue is the meaning behind it. “You’ve got to be doing it for something right,” he says. “If you just enjoy cooking barbecue, that’s not enough. The secret to a good barbecue is really finding something that you’re going to do it for and really just leaning on that.”
For him, purpose comes from his customers. “I really try to create a culture for them.”
Somehow, Sanders has created Prissy’s while still maintaining that position at Pantex. Officially, he’s the lead engineer for systems integrations for Sandia National Laboratories—which is based in Albuquerque but shares offices at Pantex.
As an engineer, Sanders is always thinking about the finished system. As a cook, he’s thinking beyond what goes on the plate, and even beyond customer satisfaction. What really drives him is the future. What will his restaurant become? “The most important thing is that this thing outlives me,” he says. He describes his grandfather’s plumbing business, which ended up providing careers for Sanders’ own father, uncles and brothers. “They’re all trade plumbers. They [make] good livings,” he says.
He hopes Prissy’s can become that for someone in the future. “That’s the only goal I ever have in my head. Maybe my kids want it,” he says, his eyes brimming with tears. He gestures at his employees. “Maybe one of these people want it. What my grandpa did is something I’m just trying to do right for whatever comes after me.”
Until then, he finds deep meaning in the act of providing good food for his East Amarillo neighbors, and anyone else willing to make the drive. “I’m spiritual,” Sanders says. “I believe in God, so it’s like [our] job is to just serve people, whether it’s just one person or a group of people, or a town, or the country. I fell in love with serving people.”
His eyes tear up once again. “I remember the best memories of my life as a kid were on Sundays, at grandma’s house, and we’re eating and all that stuff. I try as best I can to create a place where you can do that, right?”
2509 E. Amarillo Blvd.
806.877.1457
prissysbarbecue.com
