The Improper Pig @ Fort Mill — Restaurant in Fort Mill

Not your traditional BBQ spot, but well-executed and comforting nonetheless. Only been once, definitely will return. Think "date night" BBQ, not "quick lunch" or "bring the kids" BBQ.

Let's start with the highlights: Pork butt/shoulder has a deep smoke ring and liberal salt in the bark. The stuffed jalapeno pimiento cheese app is hands-down the best jalapeno app I can remember eating. Jalapenos retain a slight crunch, and the filling is rich and glorious. Five sauces on the table to choose - covers all the bases: Eastern, Western, sweeter Western, Thai, and mustard. All of these are spot-on, but I liked the Thai the best. I tasted no fish sauce in the Thai, so I would describe it more as a honey/sweet-Eastern. The slaw is divine - perfect balance of creaminess and acid, hint of celery seed, finely shaved, and left to soften before serving. Not soupy, not dry, slight crunch remains. Service was quick enough given the packed house.

On to the lowlights: Complimentary hushpuppies? Nope (spoiler, they are $7 as an app. $7!!!.) Choice of sliced or chopped sandwich? Nope. Ham hock or lard used in the green beans and collard greens? Nope. They are "vegetarian or vegan" options. I get it, we are a "healthy" culture now, determined to appeal to the widest customer base possible. But c'mon, man, I didn't even consider them an option. Mac'n'cheese is listed as a PREMIUM side and is an extra $1. Since when is mac'n'cheese premium unless it has lobster in it? Didn't try it. Baked beans have light and dark beans, slow cooked with pork added, overall very delicious and simple. Sauce could be thicker. As for the sandwich, the pork quality is solid, but the ratio of pulled pork on my sandwich was heavy on the bark. It could have had an extra 50% more meat taken from the interior of the shoulder to balance the saltiness of the bark and make a heavier sandwich. Details, I know, but details and quality are what separates the exceptional from the ho-hum. Especially at near-premium prices in Fort Mill and CLT is only 20 min. away.

The steaks on the menu are all listed at "MKT" price, but the origin is listed. If it's a regular item, with a known source, how does it not have a set price? I was scared to ask the price, and probably will not try it. Not with Local Dish across the street who serves the best NY Strip in town.

Maybe I missed it, but I would have loved to see pork belly on the menu given all the other creative choices and the wink/nudge to the Asian influence. Major accolades deserving to the interior designer. Overall, we were quite satisfied, will recommend, and will be back. Proud to have Improper Pig in our...

I found this on our travels by search DDD featured restaurants and because we were on Carolina, we had to do bbq. We arrived at 11am (opening) and were the first customers for the day. We were immediately greeted, seated, and approached.

We ordered the pineapple basil lemonade, which was delivered 5-6 mins before the pomegranate Margarita that was ordered at the same time. The drinks were tasty but wish they had been brought out together. We paid $9 each.

We opted to share the DDD featured meal: Improper Charcuterie which had pulled pork, brisket, ribs, andouille sausage, salt & vinegar chips, pimento cheese dip, coleslaw, and hush puppies.

The pulled pork was good but nothing exceptionally remarkable. The brisket was probably some of the best I’ve had. My husband cleaned the rib bones and said they were outstanding and tender. The sausage had great flavor and a snap when you bit into it. The chips were good overall but didn’t taste fresh made and one or two even tasted a bit stale. The pimento cheese was very good and the perfect tang to compliment the chips. The coleslaw was delicious and even better with a few squirts of the Carolina Vinegar sauce. The hush puppies were cooked perfectly and covered in a sweet melted butter.

The meal was fairly priced at $30 and enough for two hungry people with a little leftover but not enough for a to go box.

The sauces were all very good. The spicy hoisin wasn’t really spicy (and I’m a weakling when it comes to heat) but was SO good on the brisket. The Mary Bs and Carolina mustard was good on the pulled pork and ribs. I think my husbands fave was the Queen Bs which had a bit of sweet taste. Tongs Thai sauce was really good but would be delicious on noodles. It seemed a bit out of place for our meal but was probably meant for salmon or some other entree.

The decor and atmosphere 5 stars! Super cute! The service 3 stars - felt a bit slow considering it’s bbq that should be prepared well ahead of time and nothing we had was made to order. It did get busy the closer it got to noon but we were there for an hour and 15 mins from order to check, which seemed like a long time for a quick bite. Another server or two might have prevented that. The food 4 stars - only because the house made chips (always a fave to me) didn’t taste fresh and the pulled pork was a bit dry. Value - 4 stars…I understand food prices are up but sharing a $50 meal for lunch...

Update 10/19/19

After my earlier review, the manager. Jason, reached out to me. He was very apologetic for our experience and assured me that this was not the norm. He wanted us to come and give them another try, and even mailed me a gift card. I have never had this kind of response to a review, and was impressed that the restaurant would want to make it up to us and even provide an incentive to give them another chance.

We went back tonight with another couple, and we are very glad we did. All of our dishes were excellent! We had the charcuterie plate to share as an appetizer; my wife ordered ribs and I had the Fort Mill plate with andouille sausage with baked beans and mac and cheese as my sides. Our friends both had the fern bowl. Everything was perfect! The service, as usual, was attentive and friendly.

We were glad we went back. Our last experience was clearly an off day. We are even happier that a branch of Improper Pig is opening in Rea Farms, just 5 minutes away from our home.

I am revising my rating based on today’s experience. Jason, thanks for the gift card - it’s not often that a restaurant is concerned enough to follow up, and we appreciate it. It’s even nicer that the food was excellent and the best barbecue we have had. The first time we went to this place, the food was excellent. My ribs were to die for.

Went back with friends a couple weeks later, and we were excited to introduce them to this place. Food was terrible! My ribs were totally dried out almost to the point of being inedible. My wife's chicken was also quite dry. Friends dishes were just ok. Service was excellent.

I should have sent my ribs back, but I hate to make a fuss. I did write to the restaurant a couple days later and was disappointed not to receive any kind of reply or apology.

Perhaps it was an off night, but I am not sure I will...