The Blistered Pig Smokehouse

I am so LUCKY to be working next to the Blistered Pig! The staff is awesome, the Kitchen staff is awesome, and the food is out of this world!!! If you haven’t been there you need to go.

Literally the worst service I have ever had. The food is over priced and tasteless. It took an hour for our food to arrive and when it did it was incorrect. You can tell this place is poorly managed, it could be great with the location and space they have. Again– absolutely horrible. I will never go back. I went twice and each time was terrible. When I ordered I was told «sorry were out of sprouts» or «sorry were out of brisket». It’s a shame apex downtown has this resturant at its heart. Over staffed yet everyone has no clue what they are doing. Really horrible horrible place. You are better off ANYWHERE else.

I tried again. Still, by far, the single worst restaurant in Wake County. Horrible food, service, and such a beautiful location. Don’t waste your time.

I had high hopes for this restaurant and was let down (1^st time eating here). The atmosphere is great and I love there is sitting outside but the food was pretty disappointing. I had the coffee rub beef brisket platter and my husband had the pulled pork platter. We both found the brisket to be on the dry side and the pork was quite bland. I was surprised the fat cap wasn’t trimmed on the brisket before serving. I had a couple of large chunks of fat on my plate. Sides: the red slaw had a strange taste (probably the worst slaw I’ve ever had), potato salad was really good :), and the collards were ok (I prefer collards chopped a bit smaller, thought they needed to be seasoned better, and would have like for them to have been drained rather than served swimming in their liquid). My husband got the Texas chili as an appetizer and it had to be sent back because it was barely lukewarm (taste was ok but nothing I would order again). Our waitress was extremely friendly, as was all staff we came in contact with, however that is not enough for us to give this restaurant a second visit. *On a side note, I did mention to our waitress my brisket was a bit dry. No offer to rectify the situation was made.

Came here with a friend for a girls night out. I just love downtown Apex and wanted to hang out here for the evening. It was a Tuesday night. We decided to check out this restaurant and we were seated right away. There is a parking lot just outside of the restaurant so very convenient to park. Staff is very friendly and accommodating. I recommend sitting in the booth as they are more comfortable and away from other people. Originally, we were seated at a table and felt like we were right under other customers at a high table, and my chair was wobbly. They have a cocktail menu as well. And daily specials. Most of the food contains pork as it is a barbecue restaurant. I ordered half of a roasted chicken and it came with two sides for less than $ 9. I chose the green beans and the fried okra. They came out in separate bowls which I like especially if there’s juice involved. The fried okra was good and the food came out nice and warm. The chicken was not very moist but it was tasty. I was very disappointed in the green beans as half of it I had to pull out of my mouth because of the hard strings attached to them. The noise level was average in the restaurant seemed very clean. A great location in a good spot if you like barbecue.

I so wanted to love this place. The atmosphere and décor are fantastic! The food is simply okay. The staff act like they have never waited tables before, and the kitchen is SO SLOW!
The one thing that we all liked were the hush puppies with jalapeño butter. Everything else I would never order again. The mac n cheese was soupy, the BBQ was not nearly flavorful enough.
Oh! The limeade was tasty, but they crammed the glass so full of ice that I got about 3 sips and it was gone.
Would I go again? Sure. I’d give it another chance. But do I crave it? No.

The food is fantastic, especially the brisket, roasted fried chicken, Brussel sprouts and potato salad. The service is a little slow but everyone is very friendly.

Wow… not sure where to start
1. We sat for ten minutes before getting drinks.
2. When the waitress came we ordered our drinks and meal… which she told us something wrong on the menu.
3. Two tables came in after us, had their orders and drinks before us
4. When we got our hushpuppy starters, she forgot our drinks and then proceeded to refresh the drinks at the table next to us. I had to ask for our drinks for a third time.
5. When our food came my wife’s order was wrong.
6. Good thing we had a our bottle of water, we ran out of the water provided. We had to ask for more water and tea.
7. No free refills on soft drinks…
meal was $ 7.95 on the menu and they charge me $ 8.95 on my bill.
The only reason the place got 1 star is because the food was all very good with generous portions.

***UPDATED 4/​30/​16***
I had previously given the chow here two stars due to their determination to burn out their customer’s taste buds with salt.
It gives me great pleasure to revise that review, and share with you that the food here now is not only improved, but actually such that I chose to eat here often. The quality of their items has been stepped up significantly, and I strongly encourage you to give them a try!
To the Pig staff: thanks for fixing your chow and taking it up a notch beyond!

There aren’t many places with ethical standards when it comes to their meats, so I was really interested in this place. I’ve eaten here a few times and have picked up take out a few times, and it’s not bad. The barbecue is fine, as are most of the sides. I think the meatloaf is the best thing on the menu. Sides and desserts change so you’ll have to call for those, if you’re doing takeout. Half of my family did get sick with what I suspect was food poisoning from the fried chicken (which was pink in the middle) the last time we ate there, but that’s a mistake that could happen anywhere.
Pros: Ethical meat; meatloaf; hushpuppies are good and gratis; good selection of craft beer (bottles and cans only); good variety of food and rotating options
Cons: Expensive; service mediocre; host staff aimless; kitchen on the slower side

Brisket and pulled pork were both outstanding as were the collard, brussels sprout, and sweet potato fry side dishes. Portions were more than adequate. I totally expect our next visit will push rating to 5 starts.

My review is based on take out.
I ordered a full rack of ribs with mac and cheese and brussel sprouts along with a side salad. Being take out, I don’t expect the food to be as it would freshly plated. For that reason, I won’t comment on the sides. The ribs were in four pieces and 2 of them were dried out ends with about 3 bones each. The meat was dry and not worth eating so I didn’t. The other 2 pieces were center sections and I give them an OK at best. I really expected much better quality from place that specializes in bbq. It’s unfortunate because the atmosphere inside and outside the restaurant is really nice and had the food been good, I’m sure we would have been back for dining in.

Eating lunch now. I ordered the prime rib sandwich special. It has about 8 ounces of lettuce, and 1 paper thin slice of beef, on a huge ciabatta roll. Disgraceful. Insult to BBQ and the professional lunch crowd. I won’t be back.

Let me disclaimer that my review is based on take out, not dine in.
The night we ordered there was some major phone issues, but we finally got through after 30 min. We ordered a variety of items fried chicken, bow, brisket, cheer wine chicken and more. Order was about $ 130 and felt the value/​quantity was truly around $ 70 for what ordered. When my husband went to pick it up the hostess left him standing at the entrance for about 10 min when he asked her again about the order, she told him to pick it up at the bar. Very odd. When he arrived home (8 min drive) everything was leaking all over! What a complete mess! Had to open the bags in the kitchen sink to figure out what was going on. Even leaked in the back seat of my husbands truck (not cool). For crying out loud, Please invest in more than flimsy styrofoam containers of your packing BBQ to go orders.
Overall food was decent, room temp because my husband was left waiting for 10 min. The majority of our guests really enjoyed the Bourbon BBQ beef and fried okra. Overall really disappointed in the to-​go experience here. I’ll add pics of our to-​go mess. It’s 2016 time to ditch the styrofoam! There’s plenty of alternatives to choose from.

Let’s start with the pros.
Service — waitress and hostess were both insanely nice. We were taken care of the entire time
The hushpuppies and the jalapeño butter. Seriously delicious. Like seriouslyyyyyy.
The not so great — portion size was weird. I went with a decently large group and some meals were very big and some were on the smaller side. Still a good amount of food, but thought it was weird. I got the Beef Briscuit Sandwich and it was yummy enough, but not anything out of this world. In general most people were pleased with their meal.
I loved the ambiance and exposed beams and brickwork.
I feel like prices are a little expensive compared to other local BBQ places. I’m used to a $ 7 tray at Olé Time getting you pulled pork and 2 sides — but I get they are trying to be a little more upscale. The cocktails weren’t cheap either.
Overall, a good lunch spot or casual dinner with friends.

Nestled into the back of the Mule Exchange, it has an industrial feel so expect noisey. Service was prompt and good. The establishment is clean.
GET THE WINGS! The wing appetizer is spectacular! The pulled pork and brisket was fantastic. So good to have NC BBQ done right. Dont like vinegar sauce? Not to worry, they have additional sauces that are truly tasty. Their sides are outstanding. The potato salad was impressive, the brussel sprouts with bacon… heaven. The baked beans were some of the best EVER. The only disappointment was their mac and cheese. They desparately need a different recipe for that dish. I will be back. Those beans and BBQ will be calling my name!

First trip in and I would rate the guys a solid 4 star establishment, the BBQ was really good, I had the pulled pork, but our frinds had the brisket and raved about it. The baked beans were different in a very good way and the smashed potatoes and gravy were above average.
I will be back to try more BBQ and see if this rating changed based on exceptional BBQability.

So i’ve been back twice in the same week (this past Sunday & Tuesday). I got the rotisserie fried chicken which was pretty good, wife got a burger, daughter the shrimp & grits, and dad the chicken livers. (No they weren’t fried too hard)… funny thing, the pit master came out to see how we liked our meals and gave us for NOT ORDERING from his BBQ menu. (LOLOLOL) He was kidding, but it was pretty funny.
Tuesday, went back with a couple of buddies and we all got the ancho chile coffee rubbed brisket. I NEVER regret getting it! so tender & juicy. Falling apart, with just the right amount of bark! Yeah the sides were pretty good both times, the grilled corn & crook nech squash, but the brisket is where it’s at!

I’m really supportive of their whole «humanely raised» meats stance and would support the restaurant just for that reason, but it’s even better that I would come back specifically for their brunswick stew, tater salad, pulled pork (plus their vinegar sauce!), and collards — so delicious. I’m a vinegar-​based bbq gal, so this is right up my alley! If you value taste over all other things at a restaurant, you won’t be disappointed here. The portion sizes seemed pretty commensurate with the prices (especially the big heaping bowl of stew for less than $ 6).
Do not get their pork rinds — they are flavorless. I really wanted to like them because they were made fresh and definitely do not have the additives that those cheapo bags from the gas stations are; but these just didn’t hit the flavorbuds the way I hoped.
The problem with this place was the service. We sat at the bar, which wasn’t not even half full. And I saw that the bartenders were not super busy with drink orders. Our bartender was sweet, but somehow got confused when, with our platter sampler (it came with brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken) we wanted to sub Cheerwine chicken for the pulled chicken. When we got this platter, 1) the food was lukewarm-​cold and 2) it only had brisket and Cheerwine chicken. What happened to my pulled pork? We told the server and also asked her to warm up our cold food. She ended up bringing a new platter with all the right parts.
The food, once warm, was great, so I hate to bring them down a notch just because of a small screw-​up that was quickly and happily rectified. So, four stars because I would definitely go again! [Ok, I just went to check out the menu and realized WE DID NOT GET HUSHPUPPIES — so now I’m taking it down to three stars because I can’t believe there was yet another mistake on this one dish. I don’t know if it’s because we were sitting at the bar, or the three of us ordered the platter, the bowl of brunswick stew, and the pork rinds, and one beer… but we just don’t eat that much and don’t believe in every person needing to order their own entrée.]

From the front, you’ve got to enter the Salem St. tunnel and walk past the array of forgettable stores therein to get to The Pig. From the back, there’s usually better parking and easy access. This being Apex, you’ve just gotta know what you’re doing to make it all work out right. Life demands the same mental gymnastics.
It’s often hit/​miss. Sometimes I’ll have a charming hostess and witty service — other times, the entire scene is painted a bland grayish brown. What is consistent during the times I like to dine here is the level of comfort. I’ve never been here at night, but around lunch time, it’s laid back and I only have to share the place with a couple other tables.
I can vouch for the roasted sprouts, which come with bacon and onion. This is my favorite side. The fries are seasoned well enough, but sometimes come limp and stuck together, making eating them too much work for a lousy payoff. I love the smoked pork loin and the brisket. Their burgers are fine.
I’ve also had the catfish sandwich, which is a clear menu standout. Some people will turn up their noses at catfish because it will often come with the muddy flavor of its living home. I didn’t have that issue at ‘The Pig,’ and enjoyed every second of eating it. It was actually quite large, and I ended up taking half of it home for later.
Aside from the spotty service, my biggest problem with this restaurant is their wireless internet privilege. If I’m dining alone, surfing the net without burning my own data while I wait for my food is a fine past-​time. However, the restaurant makes you go through screen after screen after screen to log onto their wifi. I know, First World Problems, but when a place demands that you like their Facebook page, THEN post how great it is to all your friends BEFORE allowing you access, then we’re traversing the realm of the obnoxious.
A couple of fixes would make this an easy 4 stars.