Pig Picker’s Memphis Style Bar B Que

Saw the Mission bbq sign which made me want to get some bbq. After turning in I saw this place and thought I’d give a new place a try. What a mistake! First off, they were out of some cuts of chicken. My wife and I ended up with the pulled pork platter. They were both terrible. The meat was obviously old and had started to dry out. I got the potato salad as a side, and it was near frozen. She got the baked beans and they tasted old and burnt. Same with the greens. This was during dinner hours too! Overall, horrible food, no ambiance, waste of time and money.

Our second visit to this establishment, which is a merged business of Sea King Seafood and Pig Picker’s. And the last.
My ‘pit beef’ sandwich was totally tasteless. As were the BBQ beans. He said his crabcake was ‘ok’ but nothing special.

I asked about their crabs (which are inconsistently available). They said it would take 10 minutes — — too short to cook-​to-​order and too long if they are ready. I asked why 10 minutes and they stated they re-​heated crabs that are already cooked — — enough said? Needless to say, I didn’t order them — you can take your chances but not for me. Plus their crab prices are high and their sizes are smaller .
By the way — are they a BBQ place or a Seafood place. Are they a carry-​out or a dine-​in? It seems they’re trying to be both — neither very effectively.

Surprisingly, my husband and I are here last year and the food was delicious. We ate here on12/​22/​13 and the foot was horrible! The beans were undercooked, the greens were tasteless and the ribs were just okay. The muffins were good but not as good as I remembered them previously. I would give this place two stars but the girl who took our order was impersonal and had an attitude. I reside in the Cockeysville/​Lutherville-​Timonium area so if service like this was rendered in that area, this place would be closing their doors by the end of this year.

Yes, a 1 star review. So, here goes. We happened upon this place, looking for some BBQ after a nice day out with the family. It has four tables and a bar top with stools. That’s it. But then, after watching people come in, grab food and quickly leave, I don’t think this is the sit down kinda place we were looking for. That’s not the reason for my rating.
There were about 6 or 7 people gaggled behind the counter, talking and carrying on. Not really doing anything but staring at us while we ate. Making things just that much more uncomfortable. That’s also not the reason for my rating.
The food and only the food is the reason they get 1 star. I can eat food at a 2 star, I may not like it, but I don’t have to cover it with home-​procured ingredients to make it something I want to swallow.
We ordered the Tennessee Six pack and a colossal crab cake, fried. This place is supposed to be Memphis style BBQ, which means dry rub… on everything. It also means the same exact dry rub on everything, apparently. I would be fine with that if the rub was tasty, but it wasn’t. Not very flavorful, mostly pepper and salt, in that order. The ribs came with a BBQ sauce that screamed «ketchup» when the lid was taken off. Both the chicken and ribs were overcooked. The crab cake was nothing to write home about either. The fry on the crab cake made the outside tastes almost like plastic. The six pack came with 3 sides — baked beans, potato salad (or cole slaw), and corn muffins. The beans had a strange taste to them. Even our kid turned up his nose to them, and this guy eats ANYTHING! The potato salad didn’t taste fresh. The eggs were hard. Yikes! The corn muffins, however, were great! I’m pretty sure they were jiffy mix muffins. Doesn’t matter. They were the best thing on the plate.
We won’t be returning to this place.

It’s weird, but this place has the best crab cakes. I took the recommendation from a self-​proclaimed Crab Cake Connoisseur and I’m so glad I did. Give it a try!

Nothing is more confusing than a restaurant with two names. Sea King Seafood Markets used to be part of the Crab Shanty but moved across the street, dropping the Crab Shanty moniker and adding the Pig Picker’s name in expanding to the BBQ market. So this review is only of Pig Picker’s even though the business has Sea King in its name. The official business name is Sea King Seafood Markets and Pig Picker’s
Besides the store name, BBQ is a confusing cuisine. There are as many different types of BBQ as there are cooks in the world. No wonder, it was the first way man cooked food when he invented the campfire.
Today, I ordered St. Louis ribs BBQ’ed Memphis style. St. Louis ribs are trimmed so only the straight ribs are left. This is the neatest and cleanest way to eat ribs. Personlly I like caveman style ribs… with all the connective tissue, meaty brisket, and all the chewable cartilage connected to the rib bone. The type where you grab one end of a rib, you gnaw on the other end… pull…and the suddenly retracting chewy meat rebounds and BBQ sauce flies across your plate over to the table next to you.
They did an excellent job of making the Memphis BBQ. Memphis style tends to cook the meat far past what I personally prefer, but that’s the style and they do it well. The rub spices were very tasty… but didn’t overpower the taste of the pork ribs. Far too often, BBQ places put so much sauce on their food that you can’t taste the meat… you might as well eat hamburgers and hot dogs with that much sauce.
Overall these ribs were a solid 4 stars, highly recommended for ribs.
Now I need to eat St. Louis style ribs BBQ’ed Memphis style with a Tennessee rub, a Georgian mop, and Carolina dipping sauces in a Texan restaurant.