The Iron Pig Smokehouse — Restaurant in Gaylord

I had really high hopes when we out our order in, but ended up sorely disappointed after returning home with a takeout order.

To start, I thought the portion sizes were poor for the price. For a $18.95 half rack of ribs platter we received 6 ribs (not really large ribs either by any standard). The $15.95 brisket platter 5 slices of brisket with only 2 of them being fill length. Maybe I don't have a good enough gauge on portion sizes for cost, but from my perspective the food needed to have a huge amount of flavor given the lack of quantity.

This brings me to the taste. The coleslaw had no acid, salt, or pepper. It was warm and tasted as if someone put cabbage in a small amount of diluted vinegar and called it a day. The pickeled cucumbers and onions which we received instead of the cornbread we ordered had a similar issue. A short note, we were never informed that the cornbread was being replaced, that was a fun surprise when I returned home. This brings me to the meat. The brisket was a bit dry and needed sauce. The ribs were good though as they fell right off the bone. The BBQ sauce provided was very heavy on vinegar and only hit one or two notes in terms of flavor.

The bright spot of the order was the loaded Mac and Cheese which was the best amount of food for the cost, although again had a small amount of meat for a "loaded" Mac and Cheese. The cheese was a bit grainy, and the pulled pork we ordered could have used more sauce (ironically), however overall it was described as "good" among the family.

I expected far more on terms of portion and flavor than I received. Maybe I just picked a bad day and time, but I thought 5:15pm on a Friday would be a much better experience.

EDIT: The condescending nature that the owner has in their responses has made me change my review from two stars to one. I would give none if I had the chance. I provided honest critique and the juvenile response suggests they don't really care about feedback. I wish you success but will not return with the...

Any restaurant that serves a meal, knowing it was NOT made to its usual quality, should be ashamed of themselves and the public deserves to know about that. The only thing the lady, (I'm quoting her here), "was ALLOWED to offer to replace the grossly blan, liquidy Mac & *none" cheese sauce bowl was more of the same." Why would anyone want that? No thank you! Their explanation/rationale was...."because they make their cheese sauce from scratch and they have a properly prepared batch to replace the "liquidity" batch with, now?!" Seriously selling food knowing they messed it up? Not nice. As far as the brisket, chicken, and shrimp meals we had went, all were fine. It's what one might expect for $15+ per meal. Avg cost with fountain drink $20, and if you got tots/O rings instead of fries, was approx $25+ then we tip great. The 3 staff we interacted with were very kind, and courteous as well. Even the lady that "wasn't allowed" to do what it took to make satisfied customers out of us, was kind. I leave honest reviews and I am not a horrible person. Owners and/or Management seriously need to rethink how they can maintain satisfied customers. I suppose that only matters if they want "more new customers to enjoy their place enough to become repeat customers." Right? The 7 of us will not return. We will not go back to a restaurant that conveniently ripped off 2 of us, and knowingly, wasted their money on improperly made food. Then not be reimbursed or offered something different to enjoy. I don't care if what I bought cost .10cents... if it's made wrong, toss it and serve it up to proper standards! Also, the restaurant and bathroom could use a great cleaning! A clean establishment, even with old fashioned decor, smells and looks clean. As my Grandmother used to say, "put some elbow grease when scrubbing" makes a world...

We had an amazing lunch at the iron pig on 8/17/24. My husband had the pork platter with sides. I ordered the brisket rice bowl. We shared a mojito flight. Yummy smokey flavor. The bowl had a generous portion of nicely seasoned smokey brisket. Just enough jalapeños to make you start to sweat a little bit. Served with a side of fresh mild salsa. The flavors were spot on and fresh. I would go back just to have this dish. Pulled pork in bbq sauce was a perfect balance of sweet/salty smokey pork. We had our favorite sides. The cold pickled onion and cucumber salad. Crunchy, cool, mild side to help cut through the rich delicious pork, and jalapeño cornbread muffin with a sweet glaze that was a spicy sweet delightful surprise. Our mojito flight was perfectly made. Kiwi, strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry mojitos decorated beautifully, and served in small glasses on a flight board. You could taste all the flavors of the ingredients. Fresh mint, white rum. and berry forward. Their brisket and pork were both overcooked. It didn’t matter. The quality and freshness made up for any flaws and does not turn us away. You walk in, grab a menu at the door. We choose a table to look over the menu. Got our own water by the get your own soda machine, and to go boxes. My husband went up to the counter to order and pay. Our food was brought to our table fast, fresh and hot. We grabbed our own to go container and packed our own food when we were ready. It was all at our pace. There was plenty of room and no waiting at 1:53pm visit. The small bar was full. I would like to hang out in this place for drinks. Nice atmosphere. We felt comfortable, relaxed and welcome. We had an excellent visit and will return on future trips in the area or...