20 July 31st -Aug 6th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Spice Shop Little Shop of Hot Sauce brings the heat to Phoenix. BY SARA CROCKER T he folding sign outside Little Shop of Hot Sauce shows a fire-breathing cactus with one of its arms formed into horns, the rock ‘n’ roll sign. It’s a bit of a teaser for what’s to come at the midtown Phoenix shop run by Matt Berger. Inside, shelves are stacked with sauces, condiments and seasonings, interspersed with Berger’s sports and music memora- bilia, tapestries stretched across the ceiling in the colors of the Senegalese flag, and a bar with more than a dozen bottles of hot sauce assembled on two trays. “I’m really trying not to be a tourist,” Berger says. “I take what I carry for hot sauce very seriously.” The shop, located between a liquor store and a pet groomer on Seventh Street and Virginia Avenue, has had several eras under Berger. It was the vape shop Butt Out for a decade. In 2022, Berger and his wife, GG, who is from Senegal, transitioned the midtown Phoenix store to the African market Senegal and Beyond, selling clothes, jewelry, snacks, drinks and pantry items, including GG’s all-purpose, savory and spicy seasoning blend. In that time, Berger also put together a small selection of hot sauces. As he weighed what to do with the shop next, Berger decided to feature two things he loved most: his wife’s seasoning blend and hot sauce. “Hot sauce, you don’t have to explain,” Berger says. In addition to in-store shopping, Berger is readying to debut “Uber Heats” – local delivery from Little Shop of Hot Sauce. What’s inside Little Shop of Hot Sauce? Berger credits his parents’ poor cooking with initially sparking his interest in using hot sauce to jazz up whatever is on his plate. “I remember on Passover – you’re supposed to have your bitter herbs, right, your horseradish,” Berger recalls. “I remember just piling that on there, and then I realized that was my taste buds crying out for spice.” Berger’s obsession with hot sauces grew from there. He has continued to make them part of his routine, outside of one “ulcer-related break.” “I’m trying to eat a lot healthier, so I survive on my wife’s seasoning and hot sauce on chicken and veggies,” he says. “It’s an inexpensive, basically zero-calorie, low-sodium, high-shelf-life way of making food taste a bunch of different ways.” At Little Shop of Hot Sauce, he curates a selection of spicy condiments, empha- sizing such Arizona makers as Big Red’s Hot Sauce, High Desert Sauce Co. and Rippin’ Rowleys. Berger’s shop also carries sauces made famous, or infamous, on the popular talk show “Hot Ones,” where celebrity guests chat with host Sean Evans while eating chicken wings dabbed with hot sauces of escalating heat. “‘Hot Ones’ has elevated hot sauce to a pop culture phenomenon,” Berger says. “They bring (in) these companies and they provide them exposure.” Shoppers will find “Hot Ones”-featured sauces made by Angry Goat Pepper Co., Bravado Sauce Co., Heartbeat Hot Sauce Co. and Da Bomb. Some of these sit alongside sauces whose packaging or names make them ripe for jokes and white elephant gifts. There’s a garlic habanero MAGA Hot Sauce with President Donald Trump’s head as the cap sharing shelf space with Ass Blaster Hot Sauce and Professor Phardtpounders Colon Cleaner Hot Sauce. There are plenty of condiments and seasoning blends that are great for more than a gag, too. Berger has an area carved out for “classics,” which includes Frank’s Red Hot, several styles of Cholula and Old Bay Hot Sauce, to name a few. Next to the classics is a “southern discomfort” section dedicated to New Orleans – a recommen- dation from a friend in the NOLA-based sludge metal band Crowbar. Bottles of Tabasco and Crystal plus shaker cans of Slap Ya Mama seasoning sit in front of signed records from the band. Berger’s store also carries barbecue sauces, salsas, mixes and sodas. To help shoppers, bottles are color- coded. Green is for mild sauces, yellow for medium and red for hot. More likely, Berger will ask what kind of hot sauces you like and ask what bottles or brands you recognize around the store. Guests can also sit at the bar and sample sauces. Berger lines up bottles, starting with mild flavors, moving to green and fruit- forward sauces, and following that with smoky and fiery options. He pours a snack- sized bag of Tostitos tortilla chips onto a paper plate to use for tasting. Before the selections ratchet up a notch in heat, Berger offers a small spoonful of local honey from Carranza Honey Farms. “This is what matters,” he says of wanting to help people find sauces they love. He constantly bounces around the store, talking about his favorite heavy metal bands, offering recommendations of other local businesses to check out and sharing a bit about the local sauces he carries. “Each little thing has a story,” he says. Standing inside his hot sauce empo- rium, Berger says a customer nicknamed the small space “the portal,” he says, because most folks walk in and “three hours go by and you’re like, ‘what happened?’” Little Shop of Hot Sauce 708 E. Virginia Ave. Matt Berger’s Little Shop of Hot Sauce sells his wife’s Senegalese seasoning blend and an array of unique hot sauces and condiments. (Sara Crocker) The shop’s selections include locally made hot sauces, salsas and barbecue sauces. (Sara Crocker) ▼ Food & Drink
