mr. pig

you guys all know by now that bbq is one of my major loves in life. i cannot get by without ribs, pulled pork, brisket, etc. today i happened to be down at findlay market and finally made it to mr. pig, which has been on my list pretty much since i moved to cincinnati. for some reason though every time i go to findlay market, i like just had brunch or something so i am not up for a giant plate of smoked meat. but today was my day.

mr. pig is one of those places that you just know is going to be good. all they have is a few giant smokers that look like they are made out of oil drums or something and a counter. it's all fenced in behind what looks like jail bars. you walk up to the counter and pick what you want off the handwritten piece of cardboard.

i really respect mr. pig because when i walked up to the counter and ordered my half slab, the guy asked me, "what kind of bbq sauce do you want?" "what are my choices?" i asked. "mild, medium, and hot," he said. "what do you recommend?" i asked. "hot, definitely hot," he said.

ok. this is awesome. i love spicy food and here is a man who is not afraid to recommend it. i can't tell you how many times i have been to restaurants, mostly thai actually, and ask for something spicy and they take one look at me and think to themselves "her punk ass can't handle spicy" and try to talk me out of it. the mr. pig guy did not even blink. in fact, after i ordered hot, he said, "you know, we also have extra hot..." i didn't want to push my luck or risk intestinal distress so i stuck with hot.

i then wandered over to an empty table, spread out my pile of ribs, white bread, and napkins, and dug in. it was delicious. the ribs were smoky and tender. they were just slightly too salty in my opinion, but the vinegary sauce totally tempered that. the sauce was almost like a hot sauce rather than a bbq sauce, but it had a really good flavor. it wasn't that spicy at first but it built up on your tongue. but at no point was it too spicy.

this is totally embarrasing but i could only make it through 3 of my 6 ribs. that is how huge they were. i was starving when i started and literally could not eat anymore. i was so full that i could not even make my planned stop at the waffle guy. it was a ridiculous amount of food. i was going to save the leftovers, but i ended up hanging out and reading for a while in the sun and just enjoying the atmosphere and after a couple hours i decided i probably shouldn't try to save the ribs until tomorrow or my stomach was definitely going to revolt.

big thumbs up for mr. pig. walt's bbq is still my personal favorite for ribs in cincinnati, but it's definitely a serious contender. there was a line and the service was super slow but that is what you expect when you are going to a place where literally all they care about is giving you good food. and you get to sit outside and settle in for some awesome people watching at findlay market.