Smoking Pig BBQ

Got chicken ribs pulled pork and brisket. Everything I ordered felt like it was sitting all day and got reheated. Really really dry… Mac and cheese was even cold… so I knew that was reheated for sure. Maybe I came on a bad day because locals seems to love this place. Ribs were ok but I can’t say anything was moist… service was good but overall disappointed with the meats. Expect to pay $ 20 a person

Ribs & pull pork were dry and no flavor. Briskets were dry and lack flavors too. Their bottled sauces were good. Will I be back? No.
I’ve had better at Mansmith BBQ.

So, was traveling down the coast from SF and my wife and I were in the mood for some good BBQ. After Unilocaling several options on the way, we decided to give Smoking Pig BBQ a shot.
Here’s the breakdown:
Décor/​Ambiance (–1*):
Have you ever sat down at a restaurant and thought in your head, «how can I walk out?» To me, one of the most important aspects of a restaurant (besides their food) is the décor and ambiance they set with it. Upon entering this establishment, I immediately noticed that the place had not been upgraded for quite some time. The wallpaper was aged and fading, a good amount of the booth seats were ripped and worn, the overall appearance of the place cried out for some attention. The other thing that immediately hit me upon sitting down was the strong smell of cleaning solution, the tables reeked of the smell of it.
Server/​Bus Boy (–1*)
Our server was the owner (according to the posted pictures here on Unilocal). She was very friendly and offered her advice on some of the selections. With our forthcoming personalities, we shared they we found her joint on Unilocal which immediately put her into «over-​zealous» mode. Don’t get me wrong, she was very nice and provided great service, we just felt a little funny because of how hard she was trying and felt as though she was working for a good review as oppose to just providing «good old fashion customer service». But I have to give her credit either way, her attention and presence at our table every 5 minutes made for a speedy lunch. I guess it wasn’t really her fault since we were pretty much the only customers she had at the time.
The over zealousness of the waitress isn’t really what influenced the point deduction here, it was the dirty finger-​nailed bus boy. The other workers she had around were quite dirty and greasy as well. Not sure it it was because they were working both the grill and tables? In any case, if I were someone who was concerned about reviews, I’d be one top of my staff to ensure cleanliness and presentation were suitable for a restaurant.
Food:
The reviews of this place, with regard to food, are spot on. They do serve up some tasty ‘Q’, and it’s worth stopping in at least once. Because the other reviews have gone in depth on the food, I don’t feel it necessary to draw this review out, I just felt I needed to hit on a few of the concerns I had, and I think others may have as well.

Had such high hopes for this place because if the great reviews, but in the end … it did not Iive up to its hype.
The décor is very run down and old, the place itself was big enough and had its own private lot, so that was good. but be careful because people drive a wee bit crazy in there.
Their portions are generally smaller than the other bbq places that I’ve been to. Most other bbq joints offer two sides with your meal, but Smoking pig you can only choose one. It also doesn’t help that they use metal cafeteria trays to plate the food … but it couldnt not fill the tray even halfway so it made it look even less appetizing.
I opted for the brisket sandwich, they offer lean brisket, fatty brisket, or mixed. I got mix. I wish I got fatty all the way because tell lean pieces were sooooooooo dry.
Their mac n’ cheese is pretty decent though. I feel if they plated it better and add some crumbs or some fancy lobster oh top it could be served in a high end restaurant. The corn bread is also good, good crunch on the outside. However a tiny little muffin will cost you almost a dollar!
My friend got the ¼ rack of rib and she said it lacked flavor, she didn’t even want to take her leftover rib home.
Wolf turds were good to me, because I like jalepenos, and bacon, and cheese, and sausage. but a couple of my friends weren’t too impressed. They said it’s good, but now out of this world they would order again good.
I was a bit disappointed, expected more.
The service was great for the location though. I forgot our servers name, but he was a Caucasian male, and he was great. We waited for a few people in his party so we took up the table for about 30 mines but he as still so Patient with us.
I’d come again if my friends wanted to, but I wouldn’t still seek it out.

Got a 3-​meat combo with brisket, chicken, and «burnt ends» — the brisket was good when slathered with sauce but otherwise dry and just alright. Don’t pay extra for the burnt ends — it’s barely any meat plus didn’t really taste like I was eating anything but chew. Chicken was also on the dry side.
The mac and cheese was good — next time I’d probably get fatty brisket + mac and cheese and skip the rest.

finally gave it a try after having my boyfriend BUGGGGG the living hell outta me.
I ordered online around 7:40pm on a saturday night. got a call from one of the hosts at the restaurant regarding one of my orders, saying that i was not able to get one order of brisket, and another order of fatty brisket, which is ok with me. (at least she called)
While on the phone, she had a bitchy attitude, telling us to re-​order online again when we already ordered. We asked her if we could just tell her the order, which she let us, and she said she put the order into the kitchen.
about 5 minutes after the call, we got a confirmation email stating that our food would be ready at 8:19. Got to the restaurant around 8:20, my boyfriend went inside to grab the food, when he came out he had nothing in his hands. «They told me 5 minutes» he said. waited at least 10 minutes, and he headed back inside. He was talking a very long time, so I looked back and saw him with his «sorta angry» face on. And I knew something was wrong.
Short story, that Dirty blonde haired, Light skinned, in her 20’s lady at the cashier had lied to us telling us 5 more minutes, on top of the 5 minutes she already had told us. When in reality SHE had «lost» the order receipt. And she didn’t even ask the kitchen how long it would take.
So instead of telling us that «Hey look i made a mistake, i lost the order, but the kitchen along with myself are on top of it, and i pushed your order to the front, i apologize, is there something i can get you to make up for it or whatever.» She made us wait almost an hour to receive our food. And she wasn’t even apologetic, she was a bitch. At least the waitress who brought out our LATE food, was more apologetic than the bitch who talked to us on the phone, who lost our order.
On top of that… Flat out, the BBQ wasn’t great. Not amazing, not impressive, i was really gonna give this place a 4 stars if the food was good. But i was really disappointed. The mac and cheese, was nothing amazing. the mashed potatoes didn’t have gravy, and it was a bit cold. And the brisket rub did not bring out any flavor, and was way to peppery. The pulled pork was way to dry, the chicken… i’m just not impressed.
Would i come back? i will, just to give the food another try, i’ll eat inside the restaurant instead of ordering out. But only if that compulsive-​lying-​eye rolling-​non apologetic-shouldn’t even be allowed to interact with humans-​cashier lady isn’t there.
(**NOTE i tried the food in the car, just so it would still be sorta fresh)

this was my first time at Smoking Pig BBQ. I’ve heard only good things so my expectations were high going in. BBQ food isn’t high on my list of favorite foods, but it’s still a yummy option once in a while. (I do LOVE my meats!)
it was Saturday night n we wanted an early dinner cuz we only ate a slice of pizza for lunch. we drove to the downtown San Jose area. (it’s not really in downtown. more like by downtown.) the restaurant is all by itself by some small old offices. we would’ve missed it had we not seen the sign in the front by the sidewalk. we pulled into the small parking lot n walked in. (probably 10 spaces.)
we noticed there’s 2 oven-​like black contraptions in the parking lot. they must use those to smoke their meats? no idea, but gives the customers a feeling of authenticity.
our server was friendly n waited for us to make up our minds. she could tell we were first timers. their menu was easy peasy to read. there’s combo meals, à la carte items, appetizers, n drinks.
we quickly ordered our 3 meat combo of ribs, brisket, n hot links; which came with 2 sides. the plate that came hot was huge so we were pretty happy we decided to share it. even though it looks like it’s not much meat, we seriously couldn’t finish all of it. maybe it was the long hot link?
everything was good. the ribs weren’t my favorite cuz I like my ribs tender as hell, but they were big n meaty. the hot links were good n spicy. I had to drink a bunch of water! :) I think my favorite was the brisket cuz it had a really good smoky flavor. u can order either them lean or fatty so we got some of both. the cornbread was amazing! it was soft n crumbled apart. YUM! we also got the skinny Cajun Fries which were perfectly spicy from the spices n it was a HUGE pile! it seemed like it was from 2 big potatoes.
I enjoyed my first visit n would gladly return next time just for the brisket n cornbread.

Update:
Compared to other BBQ places in the area, this one takes the cake. And speaking of cake, try their peanut butter pie (cake, pie what’s the difference, they’re both amazing). But seriously that peanut butter pie is amazing. I don’t even care for peanut butter, but the light, airiness of the pie made it an amazing dessert. My only regret is now I’ll have to eat less BBQ to save room for dessert…
Pretty good BBQ here for a decent price. I’ll definitely have to come back to try more of their meats. Only got to try their Wolf Turds (stuff jalapenos wrapped in bacon) and a pulled pork meal. The Wolf Turds were okay, I probably wouldn’t order them again. While they were very spicy and pretty tasty, you could tell that it was basically the bacon giving all the flavor. Ours also came out somewhat warm temperature wise so maybe they would have been better fresh. This place really shines in their sauces. There seem to be 4 kinds with my favorites being the hot one and the «sassy» one which had a bit of tartness to it. The sauces are great and I could see them going well with any meat. The bbq beans were also fantastic, I’d recommend that as one of your sides rather than plain old mash. The service is a bit lacking. Though friendly, they seem a bit understaffed and unable to keep up with the number of customers. Overall a great place that I definitely want to revisit!

I only have positive things to say about this restaurant!
The food was amazing! I had the pulled chicken sammy w/​southern greens & corn bread. The chicken was very tender & seasoned to perfection, pairing very well with the selection of BBQ sauces. (My favorites were Sassy & Original, but the Spicy & Sweet were great background tastes when mixed in.) The Seasonal Hard Root Beer is also a must try!
The service was very friendly & consistent. The temperature of the restaurant was even exceptional, warm & cozy.
Will be a regular customer :)

I stopped in for lunch — the «Wolf Turd» appetizers were great. I wish the green salad came in a ½ or ‘side’ portion… 2-​Meat Combo of Beef Brisket & Hot Link was delicious as well, but the brisket felt severely under-​portioned given the price tag associated ($ 16.99 got me a full sized hot link and 3 very skimpy pieces of sliced brisket plus a side and a roll — I would NOT order again).
The service was fantastic, but the pricing per portion needs to be re-​worked in favor of the customer — $ 30 for BBQ lunch for 1 person is ridiculous. I’d sooner take a visitor to Armadillo Willy’s before I brought them to back to the ‘Pig’.

BBQ sounded so good tonight… heck, it sounds hecka bomb every night!
Price: Look to spend at least $ 15 per person.
Parking: Lot
Food:
We ordered:
Wolf turds: IF i came again, I woud order this again.
2 meat plate + side: ribs were tough and very fatty. Not very flavorful, and decided to try burnt ends (+$ 3) but they were super fatty and oily with every bite. The cajun fries was our chosen side and they were thin and okay.
Chicken salad: Compromise people! This was probably the best part of the meal, but still quite bland and the dressing (vinaigrette) was an interesting thick liquid…

Great place for BBQ. I was told by Charles the waiter, «we are the best in San Jose.» I will have to say they are the best in the Bay Area! It has Carmen’s BBQ in Hayward beat ten fold. Large portions and great service. It is a hole in the wall, not a big box franchise.
My son Joel needs to try this place, he is a BBQ con osier. You need to try their homemade peanut butter cream pie and the stuffed jalapeño peppers as a starter.

Tried it last eve… A 3 stars and a half restaurant, here is why:
What was nice:
— Original idea, restaurant decoration and seating settings.
— Service very nice and friendly. Also very FAST! :)
— Large bottled beer selection (and the beer I took was pretty good: Prohibition Ale)
— Good French fries!
— The hot link dish was good though toooooo HOT (spicy)!!
What needs improvement:
— The food I ordered is supposed to be warm/​hot, but it was on the cold side
— I was little disappointed at the spareribs taste. Was expecting something much tastier.

I came here with some friends at 7:50pm on a Wednesday night.
PROTIP: Even though they close at 9pm, last call for food is at 8pm.
That was bad news for us… they ran out of all the good stuff… the ribs, chicken, and brisket! But we decided to stay any way.
I got the pulled pork meal. It comes with cornbread and a side, which I substituted for a salad for an extra $ 1.50. You’re probably thinking, «Why would anyone go to a bbq restaurant and get salad?» This girl, hahaha. I always need some greens with every meal, but once the server left, I was thinking maybe I should’ve gotten mac and cheese. But the salad was well worth the extra $ 1.50. The croutons and the sesame vinaigrette was super refreshing and delicious.
The pulled pork was so tender and juicy. They also offer 4 different kinds of BBQ sauces. Paired up with the meat, and you got an explosion of flavors in your mouth. I was somewhat disappointed with the cornbread… it tasted healthy. I was expecting buttery goodness, you know?
My friends all ordered the pulled pork sandwich (which is cheaper), so they all spent around $ 12. My order came out to be $ 17 (including tax and tip). It’s a bit pricey, but the meat was delicious, so no regrets!
They also have a tv (Warriors were playing!) and lots of beers and wines to choose from. If I lived closer, I would def come back more often :) But I will be back to try the chicken and ribs, yum!

Oh. My. Gosh. This is hands down some of the best BBQ I’ve ever had the pleasure of consuming. There’s an appetizer called «Burnt Ends» that is out of this world. It’s tender, smoked tips of meat served on a silver tray. It comes topped with an amazing tangy glaze. Make sure to try it with their classic sauce, as the hottest one is a bit much for meat that is this good.
That’s just the appetizer! The Parmesan Sausage Burger absolutely changed my life. BE WARNED: It’s a gift, and a curse. I’m going to look at every other burger I have for the rest of my life and judge it compared to this one. I hope one day another one stands up to it, but my hopes aren’t high.
The dessert was a slice of Peanut Butter Pie. God Bless America. It tastes a bit like the inside of a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup, only topped with Caramel and whipped cream. It was like my mouth took this epic journey into a peanut butter forest and got lost for 3 years only to leave and realize it had only been 3 seconds in real time. Just get one and thank me later.
Matthias was my server, and he does one damn good job. My table always had water, and he’s just a cool person. The rest of the staff was a lot of fun to talk with too, and they really make you feel at home. I can’t wait to go back — I wish I could give this place more than 5 stars.
I’ve got a new death row meal, and it’s the Parmesan Sausage Burger from the Smoking Pig.

I had heard about the Smoking Pig from numerous sources and decided to take a former work associate and treat both of us to lunch there.
If you plan on going south on 4^th street, you cannot turn left directly into the parking lot. I had to drive further south past the no-​tell hotels and turn around to get to the restaurant where my friend was waiting. The lunch crowd was just leaving when we arrived. They have a small parking lot next to the restaurant.
The General Manager, Janet Renteria seated us in a booth and received our menus to peruse over. Our server was Scott, a tall lanky dude that enjoyed talking BBQ with us.
Both of us decided to try the Beef Brisket Sammy at $ 12.95 each and I ordered Cole Slaw and my associate ordered potato salad which comes with the sandwich. We both ordered a bottled So-​Duh Craft Root Beer made with sugar cane sugar at $ 4.00 each.
Scott asked us if we wanted both fat and meat in our sandwiches, which we did.
They offer at each table four BBQ sauces they make in house. They are their classic BBQ sauce, California Honey BBQ sauce, a Kansas City HOT BBQ sauce and a Carolina Sassy BBQ Sauce. We had fun putting drops of each sauce on our knives to figure out which one we would like the best with our brisket.
They also had a HDTV on Fox Sports One and played a nice set of blues tunes in the background.
Our sandwiches were served on small aluminum rimmed cookie pans with a sheet of paper on it which was different.
The slaw was nice and fresh and the brisket was nice and moist with the fat. We added our combination of sauces and dug in. The Root beers were a great accompaniment to our BBQ sandwiches.
We split a single order of Banana Pudding $ 4.25 for dessert which was very good and freshly made.
I enjoyed reading on the takeout menu the history of this restaurant and admitting their humble BBQ beginnings.
Scott made sure we got a tour of the smokers outside. The ‘pit master’ was a grizzly old Hispanic gentleman that could have come right out of central casting for ‘The Old Man and The Sea.” For some reason he did not want to be photographed. He opened the smokers and to my surprise I saw they did not separate the pork, poultry, and beef, but had it all together dripping on each other as they rotated in the smoker. Scott said they used plumb and oak, but all I saw was what I thought to be white oak wood for smoke and coals. The second smoker is used for weekends so they would not run out of meat.
For the two of us was $ 41.49, plus tip.
We had a very nice lunch. Nothing too fancy or exotic, but a positive experience.

Smoking Pork!!! Yummy!
Was searching on Unilocal on best place for dinner in San Jose and this place came up! Thanks to all the Unilocalers reviews that led me to this place! Highly recommended!
We were driving up from the south and wanted to stop over in San Jose for dinner. This was rather near the highway 101 which made this place perfect.
They have a private parking lot which is always a big big plus though it isn’t a huge lot. We were really lucky as people were just leaving. The cars after us had to wait for a spot.
We arrived around 7pm, the place was bustling with activity. We were extremely fortunate to be seated immediately, shortly after there was a line forming!
Ordered a 2 meat meal which comes with a cornmeal muffin (SUPERB!), pork rib, sausage and Mac and cheese. In addition, we got ourselves honey wings which were absolutely delicious! They have 4 different BBQ sauces available for you to choose to pair them with the meat and they all taste so yummy!
The food was good and service was prompt. Though we overheard some tables grumbling that they waited for more than half an hour for their food.
Overall, a smoking hot place for some real BBQ pork.

«Barbecue may not be the road to world peace, but it’s a start.” – Anthony Bourdain
Disclaimer: I am an avid American BBQ enthusiast and home-​chef (read snob) so take my analysis of Smoking Pig (SP) with a tiny grain of salt – but also realize that I know what I’m talking about.
However, with that being said I am always pulling for places like SP that do things the «right way» (i.e., low-&-slow with wood) because so few legit Q joints exist here in the Bay Area. My last review I was not impressed with a majority of SP’s offerings, but after my latest foray there I’ve decided to bump them up to a solid 3-​stars in my book, and here’s why:
Wolf Turds– I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to try this aberrantly-​named dish that consists of a Sausage and Cheese stuffed Jalapeño wrapped in Bacon and Smoked to perfection! They claim it’ll make «your taste buds dance” – hell it made mine do the Macarena, Salsa and Tango all at the same time! It tastes as good as it sounds and needs to experienced. 5*
Brisket Sandwich– True to my last review the Angus Beef Brisket at SP is consistently good, and that alone is worthy of my 1-​star bump. It’s hard enough to find a place that actually makes legit Brisket – let alone good, legit brisket! The bun portion of the sandwich was the only bad part; old, stale and not worthy of feeding to the ducks at the local pond! Advice to SP MGMT: time to look into a new supplier. Brisket 4* Bun 0*
Mac & Cheese– At the behest of my work cohort I tried their Mac & Cheese and was pleasantly surprised. The pasta was cooked perfectly, and the cheese was very cheesy and gooey; almost like some kind of Velveeta? I’m not opposed to Velveeta, mind you, but this was a smidge too cheesy (if there is such a thing). 3.5*
Service & Ambiance– Same decrepit building and awful décor, but they did have some really nice Jazz playing in the background so that draws a thumbs up from me. Service was fast, efficient and friendly. They did a good job of keeping my drink filled up, so kudos to them for that! Ambiance 2.75*/ Service 4*
Value– Prices have gone up, and it’s a bit expensive but good Q always is. I felt like I got a lot of food for what we paid so I can’t complain. 3*
I’d love to give SP a higher rating, but the only meat I enjoy here is the Brisket and that’s not enough to warrant a fourth star. I’ll definitely round them up to a solid 3.5-stars if you stick with just the Brisket, Mac and Wolf Turds – just skip the bun.

I was really looking forward to eating at the Smoking Pig and trying their BBQ… pulled up on a Wednesday night and this place was packed! So from here this looks like a great sign and the smell coming from the joint was amazing. So you are going to wonder why the 3 star? Well here you go… walked in I was immediately seated A+ and sat and sat and finally a very nice gal came buy and asked if I wanted a drink order? Seriously by this time I am ready to roll with the whole order. I ordered a double order of burnt ends, spare ribs and a side of cajun fries w/​corn bread. Then here comes the wait… and wait Zzzzzz! Finally my food comes out and while my small intestine started to eat through my large one I wanted to throw down on some delicious BBQ.
First bite into my burnt ends cold, fries ice cold, then the ribs same thing cold! How do you wait this much time for food and it’s all COLD! But let me back up the flavor and smoke was delicious and the BBQ sauce was something you could drink. I loved the Carolina vinegar one it was soooo good. So I am definitely going to give this place another try and keep my fingers crossed that they can deliver some hot food. Because the flavor they have it nailed just hoping I caught it on an off night.

Came here on a Wednesday early dinner (6pm). The place was not crowded yet. I heard this place gets crowded if you come late for dinner or even lunch.
My boyfriend and I got a sampler plate with the wolf turds, potato skins, and burnt ends (for an $ 3). The wolf turds are jalapeños wrapped in bacon. There is some kind of meat inside with some sauce that makes it so good! It’s not too spicy, but it will give you a kick if you cannot eat so spicy. The potato skins were delicious too! Not too much potato but just the right amount. It came with some shredded pork, green onion, cheese, and sour cream. Lastly, the burnt ends were amazing. It was brisket that was twice smoked and a bit fatty. It was soft and juicy.
For main course, I got the pork ribs and the brisket with a side of corn bread and house mac and cheese. The pork ribs were soft and good with a side of bbq sauce. Here they have four different kinds: classic, sassy, and two other ones I cannot remember right now. My boyfriend go the pork ribs and the hot link. Personally, I should have gotten the fatty brisket but instead I got half lean and half fat but it was more so lean. Therefore the meat was not as juicy or soft.
Overall, the meal was delicious. The pricing was not too bad. Although an appetizer and a meal each was a lot of food. We had leftovers for the next day!

Sehr gutes BBQ, smoker steht aufm parkplatz, schön mit anzusehen. Leckere ribs, brisket und pulled pork. Für einen kleinen (großen) Snack sehr zu empfehlen.

Nette Bedienung, Live-​Musik und leckeres Essen. Dies ist wohl eines der authentischsten Restaurants, wir sind die einzigen «Ausländer» dort gewesen, was eigentlich immer ein gutes Zeichen ist :)
Etwas komisch war, dass man von Kunststoff-​Einwegtellern essen musste mit entsprechendem Besteck. Wein wird dort wohl auch seltener bestellt, wir wurden etwas doof angeschaut vom Rest der Gäste :)