Love at first whiff
Petey’s Texas Bar-B-Que now open at 5th Ave. Plaza

Petey’s Texas Bar-B-Que now open at 5th Ave. Plaza
By Tim Spitzack | Editor | May 2026

The culinary experience at any good BBQ joint begins outside the restaurant with a whiff of what’s to come. If there’s smoke roiling behind the building, take it as a good sign because before you pull open the door you’ll be hit with the wonderful aroma of slabs of meat cooking slowly over fragrant wood.

South St. Paul now has its very own restaurant dedicated to the truly American artform of barbecue, and its smoker is hard at work every day of the week. The man behind the meat is award-winning pitmaster Mike Peterson, who won top prize at last year’s Grill Fest at CHS Field in St. Paul. His new 7,000-square-foot restaurant – Petey’s Texas Bar-B-Que – is located at 1519 5th Ave. S. in the 5th Avenue Plaza Shopping Plaza. It’s in the space that formerly housed Honduras Kitchen, which closed in March.

While this is Peterson’s first independent venture, it’s not his first foray into the restaurant industry. The Burnsville native is a former district manager for McDonald’s, overseeing 10 restaurants in the Twin Cities. Wife Tina, who is working alongside him at Petey’s, worked for McDonald’s for more than 32 years. Mike left McDonald’s for a career in law enforcement, and had stints in Texas, North Dakota and Minnesota, where he served 10 years with the St. Paul Police Department.

The time spent in Texas is what spurred his interest in barbecue. His brother Dean, who lived nearby, had a smoker that he fired up on the weekends. Mike would often lend a hand and enjoy the fruits of their labor. On Mike’s birthday in 2013, Tina asked him what he wanted for a gift and he quickly responded: a smoker. He’d already had his eye on one. That purchase launched his own barbeque journey, and he spent many weekends experimenting with different methods of smoking meat – and ruining a lot of meat in the process, he said. Peterson affectionately named that smoker Bernard, and he still has it. You can see its image in a large colorful mural inside the restaurant.

“That turned into immersing myself into research and learning, and watching barbecue shows and trying to get dialed in,” he said.

Once he perfected the process, he was ready to jump to the next level, and it was members of the St. Paul Police Department who provided the motivation.

“I would make pulled pork and brisket and bring it to the guys,” said Peterson. “Then, it turned into doing weddings and graduations and people asking me to do a whole hog.”

He soon realized he needed a larger smoker and found just the right one in Nashville, Tenn. One Friday, he and a friend drove through the night to pick it up then turned around and headed back to Minnesota. He built a following by having cookouts at his home in Rosemount.

“Once a year, we gave our food away,” said Peterson. “We’d have a big party at our house and put it all over Facebook. People would come in and try our food and say, ‘Can we hire you for this event?’ I believe the only way we can sell our brand is for people to eat our food.”

From there, he did pop-up gigs on the weekends and at rodeos and other events. In 2023 he got a food truck and named it after his bride: Tina. They no longer have it but like his first smoker, it’s memorialized in the restaurant’s mural.

Peterson retired from the police department in 2024 and soon landed a deal with Alary’s Bar in downtown St. Paul, where he dished out his slow-cooked meats from its kitchen. He and his staff of 10 were so successful that he became convinced he should pursue a place of his own, in an easily accessible spot with lots of parking.

Peterson was already familiar with South St. Paul through a partnership with the Croatian Hall. For the past three years, he has provided catering for a fundraiser to support the South St. Paul Police Explorers program and Soldier’s 6. The Explorer program offers young people ages 14-20 insight into the field of law enforcement, and Soldier’s 6 provides veterans and people in public safety with therapy dogs. This year’s fundraiser raised more than $6,000. However, it was a chance encounter with South St. Paul’s mayor that landed him in the city.

“Jimmy Francis was at a Winter Carnival event at Alary’s and I happened to be standing there,” explained Peterson. “He walked up and said, ‘I hear you are leaving Alary’s…. I need you in South St. Paul.’ …He gave me the 50-cent tour, and we drove around to different places.… I spoke to the landlord [of 1519 5th Ave.]about my vision and where we’re going and we were able to get a deal.” Following that meeting he signed a 3-year lease.

Petey’s specializes in Texas-style barbecue, known for smoking dry-rubbed beef brisket and ribs, and sausage over oak and other hardwoods, and using less sauce than other styles. Other popular styles are Kansas City (pork, beef, chicken with thick, sweet, tomato-based sauce), Memphis (mostly pork served with a seasoned dry rub or a tangy, tomato-based sauce) and Carolina (pork in a vinegar-and-pepper sauce or a tangy mustard-based sauce). Petey’s uses their own bar-b-que Championship Dry Rub and doesn’t sauce the meat, although they offer 20 different varieties that can be added at the table. You can also purchase their rubs and sauces to take home.

Petey’s offers several meat platters that come with two sides (baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad or street corn salad) and Texas toast. Meat options are brisket, beef or pork ribs, pulled pork, Texas Hot Link sausage, burnt ends (brisket) and turkey. You can also order a variety of sandwiches piled high with brisket, pulled pork or turkey, hot dogs and appetizers, including Texas Stoagies (jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and brisket and wrapped in bacon), rib tips, smoked or fried chicken wings, brisket or pulled pork nachos and mac & cheese. Finish it off with Petey’s signature banana pudding. If you’re one who hankers for barbecue any time of day, you’ll want to try their weekend breakfast specialties. Some plates include smoked meat, including the Texas breakfast with eggs, hashbrowns and veggies mixed with hot links; eggs Benedict with smoked ham; and smoked barbacoa breakfast tacos. They also offer traditional favorites, including egg plates, omelets, biscuits & gravy, pancakes and French toast.

The restaurant can seat 150, with room to expand to 175. It also has a full bar. Hours are 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; 11 a.m.-midnight Fri.; 9 a.m.-midnight Sat.; 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun. For more information, visit peteysbbq.com.

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