Hamilton Pork — Restaurant in Jersey City

My boyfriend and I had a sampler which included pork ribs, pork belly, and pulled pork, the 1/2 rack of spare ribs, as well a side of mac&cheese and fries. Pricing was $23 for the sampler and $17 for the 1/2 rack. For starters, the portions are small. I am a chunky monkey which means I do not mind paying $$$ for good food even in small portions. This was more pricey than I expected for the serving size. My boyfriend is from North Carolina and he knows good barbecue. It's one of the perks of being from the North and dating someone from the South. We were not impressed with most of the food. The baby back ribs are very hard, and the sauce they are cooked in is sweet. Like a maple-apple flavor. Also, these were tough to chew because of the hard "crust" - my boyfriend says they were cooked too fast - which was just like a charred outer layer of meat. The pulled pork was overcooked. I've had way better pernil (pulled pork) in Latinx restaurants and cooked by Latinx friends. The pork ribs were somewhat better. Dry rub (the best way to have ribs IMO) but a little dry. It would be like trying a DIY and making them yourself. Just Average. The mac and cheese was not what I am used to. Skinner's Loft on Newark Ave JC has the BEST mac and cheese ever. This mac was lacking salt and the variety of cheese. It reminded me of boxed mac. Like Annie's or whatever the healthy brand is. At least Kraft has that amazing fake cheese flavor you know and love LOL but Annie's is sorta off. Same with this. Now on to the good stuff. In the sampler back there were two pieces of pork belly. If you don't eat it your missing out. If you don't like it, there's something wrong with you. Just get it. Like bacon on crack. Melt in your mouth, salted to perfection, soft, not dry, robust flavor. DO IT. Also get the fries....

Hamilton Pork is really easy to miss. From the outside, it doesn't look like a grand BBQ joint. And after trying the food, I would say that it lives up to its appearance.

My boyfriend and I came in on a Thursday at around 8. It doesn't look like it, but the place is actually pretty big on the inside. That, or maybe the empty tables just made it feel bigger.

To start, we ordered the nachos. It comes with your choice of brisket, chicken, or shrimp - then topped with beans, jalapeños, crema, guacamole, and cheese. These were okay but I think that was just because we were pretty hungry. I've definitely had better nachos elsewhere. Plus, the brisket was kind of dry.

For sides, we had the Mexican street corn and the jalapeño sausage. The corn was alright but I wish they put more cotija on there, as opposed to just 1/6 of the corn (just the top sliver). The jalapeño sausage was not on their official menu but it was written on their menu board. A more accurate name for it would be mushy, spicy hot dog. I believe there were 3 of them for $3.50, so I guess that should have been a red flag.

For my entree, I was afraid to go with any more pork since the brisket from the nachos were pretty dry. So I went the triple deck sandwich (pulled BBQ chicken, smoked bacon, jalapeño, avocado, spicy mayo). This was very underwhelming. The bread they used was not good and everything was just falling apart. He got the pork ribs, which I thought was kind of dry and super salty.

Drinks are expensive. Manhattan prices in New Jersey. NO. But I guess everything there is pretty expensive in general.

We really wanted to like this place. It looks cool and it's literally down the block from my boyfriend's apartment. The only good thing about this experience was their BBQ sauce. But I wonder if they...

Disappointing experience despite decent food. Hadn’t been here in a couple years but now I remember why!

Went to Ham Pork on a quiet Sunday, early brunch time, and the service was painfully slow despite the place being nearly empty. I watched my Diet Coke refill (which I had to pay for the refill ?! lol) sit on the counter for over 10 minutes while the staff, including what looked like a manager, stood around chatting. Eventually, someone grabbed it and brought it over after it had been sitting there while they had fun talking... so lukewarm vibes and soda right off the bat.

I also asked our server if the Frito Pie had cilantro, because I have an aversion to it and it was listed as having Pico De Gallo (which often has cilantro). She said if cilantro is not listed by name, it’s not in there - I confirmed again to be safe, and she said NO cilantro. Spoiler alert: the pico de gallo did have cilantro. Exactly what I was trying to avoid. Strike two!

Then my brisket breakfast burrito showed up...no jalapenos, even though I’d specifically asked for them to be added. Our server never once checked on us after the food came, so I didn’t get a chance to fix it and ask for a side of jalapenos. She only returned when it was time to drop the check, after ignoring us for our entire meal. Three strikes, Ham Pork is officially out for me.

It's def a bummer because the food here is actually pretty solid, which makes the whole thing more frustrating. It just feels like a place with decent potential that’s tanked by disorganized, inattentive service and zero urgency. Poor management, even on a slow...