Piggy Blues BBQ
- 4 minutes read - 643 wordsWhen I arrived at Piggy Blues BBQ it was about 5:15 pm and there were just a few other folks there. The walls were filled with lots of art that is meant to make the place look quaint but if you look closer it’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t mean anything. I would have preferred stuff that was meaningful to the restaurant.
I waited for a table and after a few minutes my waitress yelled across the room to me which was odd. I was sat at a table near the back with a menu and left to my own devices for a couple minutes. I put my earbuds in to listen to the book I have going since I was eating alone (one ear so I could still hear and communicate with my waitress).
After a couple minutes the same waitress came over to my table and asked what I wanted to drink. I asked if she had Diet Coke and she said no, but they did have Diet Pepsi which honestly is better.
She left and I started going over the menu. It has a few sections; Get it started (appetizers), Cock & Bull (sandwiches and wings), Extras (sides), and That’s Some Pig (everything else including some more sandwiches). The meat choices are Shredded Pork, Beef Brisket, Chicken Breast, Turkey Breast, and Smoked Pork Ribs.
She dropped my pop off, which was big. She let me know they were out of Turkey Breast that night and left me to keep reading the menu. I settled on the Smokin’ BBQ Platter which came with 1 meat and 2 sides. I picked the Beef Brisket, Baked Beans and Cornbread.
I put the menu down and my waitress came right over to take my order. The food came out in a reasonable amount of time for how busy they were and I got my pop refilled with about a quarter cup left. I was surprised that my platter came with a piece of Garlic Bread too.
On the table were five sauces; Mild, Sweet, Gold, Jackass and Inferno. I started with Inferno and put a little on my plate. It was ok heat but there was just something off in the after taste that I felt I could do better. Then I tried Gold which was a mustard sauce I didn’t enjoy but felt like if you like mustard you’d like the sauce. Finally, I tried Jackass. It was a bit less spicy than Inferno but the after taste was what I wanted. I loaded up my meat with it and started to eat.
The Beef Brisket and Jackass sauce was a good combo. The meat was tender enough that I could cut it with a fork. I will order different meats, but I’d get the Beef Brisket again. The Cornbread came with honey butter. It was ok. It fell apart and not in a good way. Serviceable, but I feel like there’s room for improvement. The Baked Beans were smokey which was ok. They weren’t the baked beans I like but they were serviceable too. There was also a piece of french bread cut into a single piece of Garlic Bread which was actually pretty good. I’ll get different sides the next time I go.
Overall I give Piggy Blues BBQ 3.5 out of 5 stars. The Beef Brisket was good. The Jackass sauce was mild but nice (the Inferno was also mild by Minneapolis standards.) The Baked Beans and Cornbread were only ok. The Garlic Bread was good if basic.
When I left almost every table was full. For a Tuesday night this was a good sign given it was not quite 6 pm. I went for a nice walk around the Bandshell Community Park and digested my meal.
323 N Main St, Austin, MN 55912