All Hail the Smoke Queen, Lighting Up Garden Grove With Asian-Inflected Barbecue

Part of the experience of eating barbecue is the initial hint of smoked meat, the faint whispers of slow-burning embers, and the sight of repurposed propane tanks that transform slabs of beef, chicken, and pork into mesmerizing feasts. That’s the first impression that chef-owner Winnie Yee intends to give smoked meat aficionados visiting her Asian-inflected restaurant Smoke Queen Barbecue which opened in Garden Grove on March 9.

Yee places three 1,000-gallon steel smokers (named Romulus, Sheena, and Remus) right at the restaurant’s entrance. “It was always natural for the pits to go up in the front yard,” she says. Smoke Queen Barbecue is the cornerstone restaurant at Cottage Industries, a collection of small businesses from developer Linda Sadeghi (LAB and Anaheim Packing District). Incoming tenants include an ice cream parlor, a matcha tea shop, and a microbrewery that occupies an arrangement of buildings surrounding a colorful mural-filled parklet.

Yee’s journey from franchise owner to Smoke Queen started during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her frequent food drop-offs advertised on social media attracted a wide audience across Southern California eager to try the veteran restaurateur’s take on classic American barbecue done up with Chinese and Malaysian flavors. Yee landed a weekly residency at Smorgasburg in Downtown Los Angeles in September 2021, serving some of her trademark dishes, including crisp pork belly siu yuk, pork belly char siu, and gochujang beef ribs. “Smorgasburg helped me test all my recipes, train staff, and build a small business from the ground up. It also tested me, to make me realize how badly I wanted this,” said Yee. She first announced the Garden Grove restaurant over two years ago in November 2021.

Yee’s singular barbecue style and easy-going persona have made her popular with the press. The New York Times and Eater LA featured Smoke Queen as part of California’s burgeoning barbecue style. The pitmadam also appeared on Food Network’s Barbecue Brawl, Chopped, and Beat Bobby Flay, gaining a large social media following and establishing herself as one of Orange County’s most celebrated barbecue practitioners. “All the accolades and media are great for business but it also gives me a little imposter syndrome. I get nervous because I don’t want to disappoint my customers,” says Yee.

The menu at Smoke Queen Barbecue draws from classic American-style barbecue, with prime brisket smoked over white oak, dry-rubbed pulled pork, spare ribs, and chicken quarters. Moving beyond tradition, Yee prepares Chinese eight-spice-glazed pork belly char siu and shatteringly crisp dry-aged pork belly siu yuk. The restaurant unleashes saucy gochujang beef ribs only on Sundays. Sides include jasmine chicken rice, dirty rice with Chinese sausage, potato salad, mapo chili with ground brisket, pasta shells and cheese, sesame slaw, and Sichuan peppercorn simmered beans.

Also on the menu are brisket and pulled pork sandwiches, plus the Pitmadam, a towering meat sandwich complete with brisket, pulled pork, char siu, and siu yuk served between toasted brioche buns. Other specials include a Panang curry topped with smoked brisket, and chili cheese fries drenched with mapo chili and a creamy cheese sauce. For dessert, Yee draws on her pastry chef training and serves a kaya-coated bread pudding, banana pudding, and apple cobbler drizzled with melted palm sugar.

At the moment, seating is limited to four shaded picnic tables, plus semi-shaded tables behind the restaurant. Expect more places to sit strewn throughout the Cottage Industries property in the future, but prepare to wait for a table until then. Pitmaster Jared Ruiz is assisting Yee with the weekly cooks, Chi Tran serves as general manager, and Rosario Rios is on point as kitchen manager. Yee-Makhani credits her brother, Kevin Yee, as a vital business partner for the past 14 years. Given the years of anticipation, an abundance of press coverage, and the overall charm of Yee barbecue journey, the Smoke Queen is finally ready to establish her reign in Southern California.

Smoke Queen Barbecue is open at 12941 Ninth Street, Garden Grove, CA, 92840. Open Friday to Sunday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. or until sold out. Hours and days of operation will expand in the future.

Thomas Yuan

Smoke Queen Barbecue