The Salted Pig, Visited April 2014


Yesterday was my birthday pick for lunch so I had to pick someplace new and different. Every week we drive by The Salted Pig on Lindbergh as it has been renovated, so now that it is finally open I had to go and try it out. Lunch there does not start there until 12 noon, and we showed up right at opening. The interior is barely recognizable from the Frontenac Grill which it has replaced. Frank Sinatra has disappeared to be replaced by unfinished wood on the floors, tables and walls. The dining area is much more open now, and all the former partitions are gone. We noticed the chairs where we were seated were rather hard and not so comfortable. They are definitely going for a Southern, rustic, down homey kind of feel. The napkins were dish towels and they left a bottle of ice water on the table for us. My son though they were trying too hard to achieve that Southern country feel, but I actually liked it myself.

The menu was pretty short, sticking to some Southern standards like pulled pork, hamburgers, fried chicken, brisket and ribs. My wife and I both went with a pulled pork sandwich, my son ordered a burger, and my mother-in-law ordered the macaroni and cheese without the crab. The food arrived in a reasonable amount of time and the servings were pretty generous. The pork was tender and flavorful, mixed with their own vinegar based sauce on a bun. They were a little skimpy with the sauce which made the sandwich a little dry, and there was a bit of black pepper in the sauce which my wife did not like (she does not like black pepper.) She had the fries with hers and she compared them to McDonald's and I had the chips with mine, which were okay but nothing too exciting. We have had better fries and chips elsewhere. We could not help comparing it to Bandana's, which might be a big corporate chain now, but offers consistently good smoked pork with a variety of sauces you can dispense yourself, and big meaty fries which are great dipped in BBQ sauce (I always mix the sauces up myself.)

My son, however, thoroughly enjoyed his burger and thought it was excellent. My mother-in-law also enjoyed her macaroni and cheese and said it was very good. All in all the restaurant holds a lot of promise and we may have to go back again if they expand or improve their menu. The place was pretty crowded by the time we left, much more crowded than we ever saw the Frontenac Grill for Saturday lunch, so perhaps they can stay in business longer and provide a nice, casual eating spot there in Frontenac.

Comments