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A new review of an old favorite.
Baby back ribs with homemade barbecue sauce served with three-cheese mac and cheese, baked beans and corn muffins at Hoggy's. Photo by Michael A. Foley/Rycus Assoc.
Hoggy’s has been around for quite a while. In fact, I remember its early days because it was the subject of one of my first reviews for Columbus Monthly, which appeared in the October 1996 issue. At the time, I gave it three stars.
Now, it seems to have slipped a bit (I visited the Linworth location). The service was not on the fast side, even on an evening when it wasn’t crowded, and I had a few issues with the food. But it was a friendly joint, and folks appeared happy loading up on all that meat.
The appetizer called “Killer Wings” did not “kill” anyone in my party of six companions, but they were unobjectionable. Hand-dipped onion rings were crisp (hard, even), but the coating slid right off the overcooked onion.
The mini burgers were well done and perhaps as a result didn’t have much flavor, although they came with nice onion straws. The sweet potato fries were tasty, but we wished we’d asked them to leave off the powdered sugar topping: The potatoes were plenty sweet on their natural own.
BBQ Nachos were substantial enough to serve a family of four, but the dish wasn’t quite hot when it arrived and the flavors seemed faded.
Not quite hot also described all the entrees. (Maybe our orders waited while some last item was finished?) Portions tended to be generous and thoroughly cooked.
Several of us couldn’t bring ourselves to pass up the ribs. We tried and shared both the longer and meatier St. Louis style and the shorter and more tender baby backs. (We ordered dry and sauced versions.) They all were tender, but only barely warm. There was not a consensus among the eaters I brought, but the baby backs got my vote.
The half chicken was OK, with a good-enough sauce. Perhaps the star of the event was the pulled pork, which was really good and not greasy.
Side dishes were unmemorable. The asparagus was underdone and the mac and cheese was under-salted (better than over-salted, though). The coleslaw was of the long-cut sort, with a boring dressing.
There was beer, but no wine on the menu and only a few cocktails.
Back when Hoggy’s opened, there were fewer barbecue joints in town. Now, it has the misfortune of operating in the same town as the top-notch City Barbeque.
Hoggy's
Multiple locations; see hoggys.com for hours, phone numbers and addresses.
Price range: Appetizers $6.45-$13.95; entrees $12.95-$24.95; sides $2.75.
Reservations: Accepted.
Rating: ** 1/2
