Amy Mills was raised up on smoke, sauce, and Magic Dust®. Heiress to the 17th Street Barbecue empire, she’s the industry’s go-to girl for all things barbecue. Recipient of the coveted Barbecue Heroine prize, she leads 17th Street alongside her dad, Mike Mills. She also runs OnCue Consulting, the only barbecue business consultancy in the world, offering seminars and training in the culinary techniques behind great barbecue. She’s a featured judge on various barbecue shows such as Food Network’s BBQ Brawl, CHOPPED, Food Network Canada’s Firemasters, Best in Smoke, Kingsford Invitational, and Smoked, as well as co-star of the Mills family’s own digital series, Peace, Love, and Barbecue, which debuted on YouTube in 2016.
Peace, Love, and Barbecue, co-authored with her dad, is considered a classic in the genre, was nominated for a James Beard Foundation award, and awarded the National Barbecue Association Award of Excellence. Their second book, Praise the Lard, was published in May 2017.
17th Street Barbecue is located in Southern Illinois, Murphysboro, named “Barbecue Capital of Illinois” by the State Legislature.