The Hog Wallow Pub — Restaurant in Cottonwood Heights

We've driven by this place several times, usually on the way home from eating elsewhere. Today we drove by it on the way to another place and decided to give it a try instead. The number of cars in the parking lot and lining the street suggested it might be pretty decent. But our experience was meh.

First of all, service was really slow and mostly inattentive. We seated ourselves inside, waiting for a table to open up on the patio. And then we sat, and sat some more. Eventually someone came by and got a drink order / waters. And eventually they came back and took a food order. Eventually our number came up for a table on the patio. Eventually a server came around to acknowledge us there and finally our food made it. But everything was slow and none of the staff we talked to seemed too engaged.

Onto the food. Meh again. There was nothing very amazing about the Philly cheese steak or the overpriced Angus burger. In fact the Philly was pretty dry, so grateful we ordered it with aus jus from the French dip. Fries were OK, but we've had much better. They were served with with marinara, which was an interesting choice. The saving grace on the meal was the onion rings.

The place is primarily a bar. Food options are limited. Beverage options are plentiful. You are ID'd at the entrance and no one under 21 is admitted. Not a sleazy dive bar, but complete with typical tavern decor and trappings nonetheless. They appear to have a regular live music schedule, pool tables, etc. The interior is pretty dark / dimly lit.

The patio is lovely with lots of terraces, bushes to separate tables, sun umbrellas, and tons of natural light. However, the patio also allows smoking, which was a disappointment.

At the end of the day, if you are looking for a place to get some drinks with friends and are OK with moderately priced, but fairly mediocre food, this place has some definite charms. Go in with expectations of...

We wasted a perfectly good Friday night experiencing, by far, the worst service at a restaurant in ages. We were up for a lively evening out for simple pub food and atmosphere but we were relegated to be forgotten by a bevy of servers, who were clearly understaffed, poorly trained, and clueless as to their sections and duties. An outdoor table reserved for us was stolen by another patron who couldn’t be bothered to follow the system set up to seat people outside and the staff was unable to budge the jerk. Luckily another table opened up and we were happy to enjoy a rare cooler summer evening outside. And thus the wait began. No server seemed interested in taking care of us, I guess we were invisible. Other tables seemed to be experiencing similar issues with no menus, no service, and no attention. Finally, we were able to get the attention of a server, who did try his best at the outset, but was quickly overwhelmed with other patrons. Having waited at least 30 or more minutes after placing our order, we had to flag him down again to ask about the wait only to learn it would be another 15 minutes. With beer glasses empty, we continued to wait, until finally a different sever dropped our very cold food at the table, with no followup to see if things were ok. No, they were not. A cold and dry pulled pork sandwich is not ok. Getting our check delivered was nearly as long a wait, but Hog Wallow will wait an even longer time before we ever have the bad idea of going there again. Management seems to be sorely lacking basic notions of running an establishment. It is a shame because the setting is unique and desirable in this age of cookie-cutter everything. They are wasting a golden opportunity to create a very special place that earns happy,...

I'm going to give this joint 5 stars because it is very unique for Utah. Ostensibly, I came to Hog Wallow to listen to a band called Groovenment out of Fayetteville, Arkansas, a white R&B band. I was the oldest cat in the place.

Interestingly, the crowd made me feel as if I was in Jackson, Wyoming or Helena, Montana. There was some western, mountain vibe. No whiff of social Mormon rejection or Utah LDS subliminal weirdness existed amongst the crowd. The people in Hog Wallow all seem to know each other, and if this was Pacific Beach, they would be surfer dudes or dudettes. In Utah, I would guess snow boarders; young, attractive, with a stoner attitude. The girls could even dance, unique for white folks. I did wish I was 45 years younger. I wanted to dance, but it would look unseemly for a guy my age. Too bad, because my NYC, 125th Street and Lenox Ave, moves are still intact.

My bartenderess, a biker chick wanna be, was cold and unfriendly, dismissive of my urban affect and my increasing age. She acted tough and smug, making me laugh, because I knew she would poop her pants with fear in the South Bronx or Bed Sty. Her drinks were weak, and it took ten cocktails to get any semblance of a buzz. Yet, I took her stocky boorishness in stride, the music was cooking, and the eye candy on the dance floor healthy for a dude my age. Food was decent, I enjoyed my brisket sandwich, and the drinks cheap at $5,00 a pop.

I will return to Hog Wallow to listen to good music, to drink vodka at $5.00 a hit, and to imagine how much fun and trouble I would have 45 years ago in this bar. Hog Wallow is an...