Hog Wild Smokehouse

 

3

40

David A.

Williamsburg, VA

Normally I judge a good BBQ joint by several criteria.  For example: Do you see signs of visible smoke outside?  Does the place look a little "crusty"?  Is there an 18-Wheeler parked our front?  No, No, and No.  What a surprise this place was.  Looked like a cafe.  What was very interesting -- while BBQ is their specialty, they had a fairly varied menu.  First time in my life I've seen a BBQ place with a descent wine list...or come to think of it, *any* wine list.  The BBQ ribs were outstanding -- thick, smokey, and meaty and really did not require a drop of sauce.  On this night they had Pumpkin Soup which was outstanding; not sweet but very savory and finished with Pumpkin seeds.  Next time I'm saving room for dessert: the peach cobbler looked to die for.  Skip Pierces (over rated) and that other place on US-60 that does badly on the health dept. scores.  I'm coming back.  They also offer a Sunday brunch (real food, no buffet -- go to Williamsburg for that garbage).

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0

21

Lucinda H.

Fremont, CA

As soon as I got out of the airport, I was in a tearing hurry to check in and track down some good Southern BBQ. Hog Wild Smokehouse serves up some really great 'cue in addition to some Creole food. If you are unfamilar with the area, I recommend driving there while there is still light outside as I had considerable trouble following the road signs after dusk. It is located about 20 minutes north of Williamsburg and completely worth the extra drive.

We tried the gator bites just for the fun to trying alligator meat. I had some before in Florida and didn't care for it much as it was rather tough and chewy. The gator meat was chewy yet tender, almost the texture of calamari. The crisp morsels were marinated in buttermilk and lightly breaded and served with a horseradish dip that was tangy without having too overwhelming of a bite from the horseradish.

We opted to go for the gusto and ordered the Hog Wild platter which is way too much food for two people. The platter comes with a pound of spareribs, 1/2 of a chicken or jumbo turkey leg, a choice of beef brisket, pulled pork or smoked sausage, cheesy cornbread, plank fries, bbq beans, corn and coleslaw. You can ask to substitute other sides like collards or black-eyed peas. We opted for the chicken, pulled pork, coleslaw, corn and collards. The BBQ is served with a literal six pack of sauces. They cleverly recycled cardboard Bud and Coors six pack holders for storing bottles of their homemade sauces which are also available for purchase. There is a sauce to suit everyone's tastes. The spareribs were dry-rubbed, tender and juicy. The chicken was tender, but I was too full from everything else to do it any justice. The pulled pork was flavorful and tender from slow cooking. The collards were delicious. I would skip the coleslaw next time because I'm not a big fan of vinegary coleslaw. The plank fries were mealy and dusted lightly with seasoned salt. I am personally not a huge fan of cheese, so I thought the cornbread would have been better without cheese. The texture was tender and moist which is good since a lot of cornbread is dry as sawdust.

Even though our table was groaning with food, we stopped from stuffing ourselves so that we could try the bread pudding. This was a really wonderful version which does not have raisins (lucky for me since I don't care for raisins). It is served with a raspberry sauce which presented in unique contrast the bread pudding. The only thing that I would change about the bread pudding is suggest that it be served warm as cool bread pudding just doesn't taste as good.

If you are visiting in the Williamsburg area, this is a must for your itinerary. I wish I could have carved out enough time to make a second visit. I had to content myself with the yummy leftovers from our dinner.

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