FORT WORTH: City Pig BBQ
2001 Eighth Ave.
Fort Worth, TX 76110
817-484-6813
Open M-Sat 10-9, Sun 11-7
Update: This joint is CLOSED.
2010: City Pig just opened up, and to celebrate (read 'no liquor license') they've been serving free beer with every entree. I made a quick stop on the way back from a weekend getaway in beautiful Fort Worth. City Pig is run by a friendly proprietor who's happy to share some samples especially of his homemade sausage. Some folks in line with me were already retun customers based mainly on the smoky and spicy pork sausage. With flecks of black and red pepper, and dare I guess sage, these hefty links tasted more like breakfast sausage than kielbasa. The slices of meat were moist but not fatty and had a great smokering around a gray center (no nitrates here).
The other meats weren't as successful. The ribs were shiners (so little meat that bone showed through the top) and there was no bark to speak of. Not surprisingly, they also failed to have the slightest smokiness. The meat was tough to pry from the bone, as was the layer of unrendered fat, and it's flavor was lacking. Brisket was a bit better with a decent crust, a bit of smoke, and a good beefy flavor. All the fat had been trimmed, and the flavor wasn't incredible, but it's got some potential.
This place is certainly just getting started, and there are some wrinkles to work out. Besides the ribs, the cashier was in the bathroom for a good 5 minutes as I waited to check out, and neither the kitchen staff nor the owner could run the cash register. If they show the same dedication to their other meats as they have already to making the sausage, then this place has a real shot to be good. I'll be back in a couple of months to see how the progress is coming along, but for now...
Rating **
I'm surprised City Pig received two stars. I was greatly dissapointed in my visit. When I give it a second chance, I'm going to ask to see their pit, see if they're using it/one. My brisket tasted of liquid smoke, there was no smokering, looked and tasted like over cooked roast beef. My ribs were dry - looked day old and tasted like it. I even took pics and emailed them to friends.
ReplyDeleteI visted City Pig on wed.8-11-10 for lunch i had a rib dinner with potatoe salad and bean every thing was great but the ribs had no meat on them i was very unhappy for$12.00
ReplyDeletemelvin fort worth, tx.