Fat Pig BBQ — Restaurant in Edmonds

In a nutshell: Great service Feels like a BBQ place when you enter Family owned To go orders seem to be common Affordable comparatively Nothing special about the food Meat is lacking the bbq cook part and flavor I want to support small local businesses

Detailed: I think the reviews for this place should average out to 2.8 stars. I'm not leaving a 1 star review for a small family owned business to try to even out the higher reviews. People who leave 1 star reviews are angry and really don't understand what that does to a business. I wouldn't leave a review at all if Fat Pig didn't already have so many positive reviews to hold up their Google reputation. Being a small restaurant is extremely hard and takes a lot of grit to maintain.

Most bbq places serve roughly the same menu items. It's easy to compare these items. The great thing about Bbq is you get a peak into the cook's palette. A glimpse of their idea of what their wood/charcoal/pellet/gas fire cooked food tastes like. It's an intimate invite into their kitchen. Unlike when you go to Subway or McDonald's... So it's a little unfair to the bbq places because when we go there we are looking for individuality. Bbq flavors come from different regions. A lot of standards and flavors come from cultures and resources developed in those areas. Each of these BBQ restaurants are trying to create their own niche. It's a tough business usually maintained with love and sweat and probably tears...

That being said it's about opinion at this point. My experience at Fat Pig bbq was brief. I ordered, in person, a rack of ribs and coleslaw to go. I asked what's good today? (I ask this because I know sometimes some meat cooks go better than others. Normal.) He says the chicken and the pork ribs. Offers me to try the beans and coleslaw and gave me a little bite of each. Nice guy! They were ~fine. Not special or a representation of a differentiating pallette. Just some beans and some coleslaw... I would tell the pitmaster that I would like to taste something different so there's a memory attached to your flavor. Make it special! To be fair, for the ribs, I asked for the bbq sauce on the side. I think that you should never hide behind your sauce especially if it's heavily ketchup based sauce like sweet baby ray's. (Also, I've been trying keep the sugar intake down lately.. Lol) When you bbq meat there's a Maillard reaction that happens on the crust which brings out the flavors creating an almost sweetness that mixes with the rub seasoning and fat that helps define your individuality. There wasn't much or any Maillard reaction or seasoning. This is where I'm knocking stars off my review. I want to know what makes this place special? The ribs were cooked. Probably then heated up on a gas grill to serve. I didn't taste any smoke...so no wood/charcoal fire on the initial cook. Maybe no pellet fire either. These methods of cooking COULD also be part of the flavor options a pitmaster gets to play with to individualize their bbq flavors. It was some cooked meat. Almost like it was packaged and cooked in the sous vide. (Vacuum packed and heated in a pot of water to a specific temperature for a period of time.) Then put on a gas grill for a few minutes and served. Remember I asked for my barbecue sauce on the side. I would assume when they put the ribs on the gas grill that they normally spread barbecue sauce on them during that time. If the meat isn't exciting before the sauce then you're just hiding behind the sauce. You would expect a family owned and operated bbq place to have a special flavor. Where's your flavor guys? You can't just heat meat up to a temperature and serve it with a generic sauce and call it bbq. OK! I'm not hating on them at all. Their location is fine. There service was great. Their food (ribs and coleslaw in my case) was lacking personality and flavor. I urge the pitmaster to find a way to incorporate more personalized flavor and individuality. I would definitely come back if that were changed/added. I do appreciate this family...

Nice staff. Limited tables due to covid with them doing mostly take out. Prices are more than fair and actually a good value. I ordered a rib meal, corn bread and pork sandwich. The meal came with Cole Slaw, baked beans and a roll. Service time was pretty good. They are doing a good job with covid protocols. I'm going to preface my review in that I have judged competition BBQ for several years and understand what competition level bbq is. I also lower my expectations when eating at commercial establishments and don't hold to the same standards. For example, you don't use the same standards for Top Chef Masters as you do Masterchef Junior. Ribs - beyond fall off the bone. I prefer a little tug but understand people like fall off the bone. However meat fell off when I lifted rib off plate by bone. The texture of the meat itself was beyond over. The appearance was ok, but a little over sauced. The taste... while there's an Oklahoma Joe's smoker out front, I wouldn't be surprised if it's just decoration. The ribs lacked any smoke. The meat itself was bland. The only flavor that came through was the sauce. The sauce was ok, not the worst and not the best. The Cole Slaw was ok. Was not soggy and was properly dressed. Baked Beans were pretty good. Not sure if canned baked beans that were doctored a little or straight from can. I don't think home made but that isn't always bad. I like to buy commercial baked beans and doctor to make a good batch. Pulled Pork sandwich. A good value. Nice bun. Nice amount of pork and Cole Slaw on top. The texture of the pork was one of overcooked pork shoulder. It too, lacked any smoke. Sauce worked fine with sandwich. Was the meal bad? No. Was the meal appropriate for what I paid? Yes. Would I come again? Probably not unless there were changes to how they prepare their meats and cook them. Would I tell people to stay away? No. But this would not be in a list of places I would take any of my BBQ friends visiting from Kansas City, Texas, Memphis or Carolinas. And that's OK. Every neighborhood area needs a place like place like this ans I'm sure they can work a...

Very good unassuming BBQ joint in Perrinville. Owners are very friendly and checked in on us multiple times making sure everything was good.

And it was!! Between the four of us we sampled everything. Ribs cooked and seasoned wonderfully. Tender and comes off the bone perfectly, not falling off... The way it should be. I had the pulled pork Sammy with double meat. Moist and flavorful, very good portions, the sammy was big. Could prob go single portion next time if I'm having some more sides. Chicken thigh was great, juicy and tasty. Beans were as they should be, no gimmicks. Classic Slaw was good, not overdressed, not dry. Corn on the cob cooked perfectly. Only thing I didn't have was a roll. Looked good, told it was good. Again, a basic BBQ roll to stack stuff on or sop stuff up with.

So overall, just a real solid choice. We did eat in. It is clean but the decor will not blow you away. It's a small BBQ joint, what do you want? Your attention will be on your food anyway. This is not a BBQ Smoke Pit Master type place, it's a classic small BBQ joint. Don't be looking for quarter inch smoke rings, a pile of post oak out back, or a line of their sauces to buy. You will find a very good lunch or dinner that doesn't break the bank and satisfies that BBQ hankering.

They do offer in car pickup, she was running orders out to cars while we ate. Go eat! Place like this deserves to...