Hog Wild BBQ & Catering

Reviews 4

SR

Srinivas Subramaniam

The worst service experience we have had period! Our family recently went to a company event which was catered by Hog Wild, apparently they were also catering to vegetarians in the crowd (a decent proportion were vegetarians)! Even though we have been to a number of events where the vegetarian menu was extremely limited the service staff have always been polite taking extra consideration and trying to help with accommodating our personal preferences. I have no problems with a bun and cheese or ketchup if its given with a smile! So when my wife, 2 kids and I went to the queue which the catering had set up we saw that they had buns, pork, beef, beans (w meat), some steamed veggies and potato salad. I got a bun and requested the server to give me a couple of addnl buns thinking we would go put the veggies and salad on the bun and have a go. To my extreme surprise, server refused to give me buns! The reason being that these were meant only for folks who had the meat servings. So the choice was that I either just ate the soggy veggies and potato salad which was considered the vegetarian option with nothing else. Or that I give up my personal preference and turn to meat if I wanted a bun!!!!!!!! I tried to reason with the person who was very adamant and refused us point blank. As upset as I was, I think that I was even more upset for my ravenous 4 and 8 year old kids, whom I had just picked up from daycare thinking we would have a pleasant evening outing at the company picnic with food and games. Not only did the have basically nothing to cater to vegetarians who made up 16 of the total 100 or so persons attending, they were inconsiderate enough to refuse something as simple and cheap as a bun. Not like this was a specially baked bun from the restaurant or anything. Just a regular supermarket bun (Franz bakery if I remember!!!) Not only did these folks starve us, they had 10 bottles of water for the whole crowd on a 90F evening. First come first serve they said so, my kids could not even get water. We ended up leaving immediately very upset with the whole experience. Assuming you have someone in your close network who is vegetarian please, please, please avoid this place for their sake. Or at least forewarn them so they can take a rain-check or eat before coming. Assuming you have no issues with the vegetarian deal, I would still give this place a miss for the rude and uncaring attitude of the caterers. Come on guys, dont count buns and bottles of water !

TA

Talahna R

We have been here 3 times now, last time was awesome, more food for decent pricing, and more than could be eaten at the table. Went in about 3 months ago, and now tonight went back in. Far too many issues, and this will be the last time we go here. Which really sucks, because we love a good BBQ place. 1- The menus have changed, which is fine, but if you want to make changes to the menu, then do it. Dont use black sharpie to cross things off and also write in items with pen....just change the pages. 2- The prices have increased, yet the portions have decreased....A LOT. I ordered the 1 meat plate with the brisket (I love some good brisket) I received about 5 slices, 3 were FULL of fat. Im not talking a little fat, but the entire slice was fat. All the sides were very small. A handful of fried okra, a handful of sweet potato fries, and the cornbread.....well that is no longer made from scratch...it is boxed, and served COLD. Who the hell wants boxed corn bread???? I want the butter to melt into it, the way it should be. Not to mention, they have cu it about HALF of what they use to serve, now its just this little thing, way smaller than a Post-It.....And the jalapeno poppers as a side- 4, thats it, just 4. Now this side cost 4.95. For 4!! What?!?! 3- I am NOT ok with a line cook eating ON THE LINE COOKING....!!!! This is what we had the joy of watching, the line cook, cooking the food for the customers, EATING AS HE WAS COOKING!!!! Like WTF!?!?! 4- Waitress chewing gum, not discreetly, NO NO, walking around, talking to people, CHEWING GUM LIKE SHE WAS CHEWING CUD......NASTY. So must that we could almost hear it smacking in her teeth. 5- Now this is the topper- One of the manager was telling a waitress that there was 6 bone-in chickens left, and then SHOUTED out loud for everyone to hear "Unless I eat them first". Like, what, really???? So, this has been a very expensive, traumatic meal out, and we will not be going back. I hope they make some major changes, but I think they need to have the Health Dept pop in. I dont think they would like seeing some of this, I think eating while cooking may be against the rules....

MA

Mayo Finch

Brisket and Cheddar sausage. Mashed potatoes and jalapeño poppers. Brisket: Not bad. Flavor was pretty typical of what you would expect. Not sumptuous juicy, but, not dry as a bone either. Cheddar Sausage: Unless you have a strong jaw, its probably better to try a different kind of meat. It was difficult to cut and equally challenging to chew. The waiter knocked $5 off the bill when I showed him. Mashed Potatoes: They were whipped potatoes. Not bad flavor at all. If you are looking for a thicker more chunky mashed potato side, you can skip this one. Jalapeño Poppers: The four came out pretty good. Crunchy and done right. Pretty standard other than being bigger than average. Service: Attentive and friendly. The staff really was THE reason I went back and forth between 3 stars and 4 stars. Ambience: No frills. The tv was playing basketball with the volume off. The music that was playing ranged from "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson to "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. The speakers had no low end and hardly any mid-range and seeing as how it was being played loud enough to be heard, it was distracting rather than enjoyable. Overall: I think if the owners were willing to put money into the place settings (ie: quality forks and knives), a real stereo and more than one little tv, it might make sense as a restaurant. It felt more like an upgraded cafeteria than a BBQ joint. The food, while not bad wasnt anything to make a trip out of your way for. The sauces were good, but it really was basic BBQ food. If you happen to be in the area and have a yen to spend $20 (+$2.50 for soda) for 2 meats and 2 sides, go for it. Portions were good for 1 person to get really stuffed, but not quite big enough to split with a friend.

C.

C. A.

My husband and I ate there today and wish we had not. We walked in a little after 3 p.m. and where the only customers there. We left around four and only three more people came in while we were in the restaurant. This seemed odd because of the busy location that the restaurant is located in. The menu was moderately sized. The beer and wine selection was minimal. Its a BBQ place in PDX. You need a lot of beer options. Heck you should have liquor options like whiskey. If you want to claim to be the best in town (Wish they do and they are NOT) have some legal moonshine. Go with your theme or go home. Anyways, the portions were small and the food we had was anywhere from just not good to gross. My husband (see Seth Andersons review) ordered the four piece chicken with two "trimmings" His meal was over 15 dollars. I had the three bone baby back ribs with two "trimmings" for a similar price. The BBQ sauces were something you could find on the shelves of a discount grocery store. The mild, medium and hot spicy did not have much variance except in their taste which was odd. The food had a commodity taste to it and was a far cry from homemade tasting. Unless of course your mother was a terrible, microwave meal only kinda cook. The corn bread tasted more like a corn, vanilla cake and was served not warm but yes cold. It was somewhat "sweaty" like a baked bread or cakes gets when you wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerated it. When the waitress asked our opinion we gave it to her and she said "We get that a lot" She told us "Ill tell them" and told us that it is a family run business. She did not offer any solutions, discounts or coupons. We left without eating most of the food and we will not be going back.