Hop Hog Lowell — Restaurant in Lowell

Arrived at 7pm Thursday 8/1. Waited less than 5 min for a seat upon arrival. Could have been seated immediately, however my wife and I wanted a booth. 75-80% of the tables were full as was the bar.

Booth seats were freshly recovered and comfortable. Flatware was clean however didn't match. Forks were particularly thin. As a person with big hands, they were a little uncomfortable. (Nit picking, but it's part of the experience)

We were met promptly by our server (Savanna). Throughout our dinner she was attentive, friendly and funny.

My wife ordered the blackberry Seltzer (standard Seltzer brewed with cane sugar, blackberry syrup added), I had the Dullahan Irish stout and eventually the RedBeards Ryesing. The Irish was on the smokier side of irish stouts. Leaning more into the roasted coffee and chocolate notes vs a more tradional cream stout. The RedBeards Ryesing, if you like Rye Beers was a great representation of the style. Slightly dry, slightly bitter and quite refreshing overall.

For our appetizer we had the Armadillo Dip. It is a Jalapeño cheese dip with crispy bacon. It was on the smokier side vs the spicy side. As an appetizer it was quite solid. We chose to get the house made kettle chips and the Tortillas to compare the two. The kettle chips were mildly seasoned with salt, pepper and what may have been a lite onion/chive powder. Very mild but enough to make it have flavor. Tortillas were crispy and what you would expect, though the kettle chips were preferred after trying both. The seasoning with the dip paired well together.

For our Entrees, my wife ordered the French dip where as I ordered the smoked chicken wings.

The sauce I chose for my wings was the parmesan garlic, which can come either sauced or dry with sauce on the side.

They have 7 different sauces available. The Hop Hog Heritage (on the smokey Chipotle side but not spicey), Memphis ( more on the more vinegar finish), Carolina gold (honey mustard like), Big City Heat (medium heat that would build over time), Alabama white (white bbq on the horseradish side of things). I did not try the others as the are kept in back.

Entrees took roughly 15 min to come out. Perfectly reasonable for how busy they were.

The wings have a distinctive smoked flavor which paired with the Parmesan garlic. Meat came off the bone well but did not fall off. Juicy but not soaked, firm but not dry. They were very well cooked. I would have liked slightly more sauce, but thats a personal preference. The blue cheese on the side is a chunky blue cheese. The ranch is very good and tastes homemade. Thick and flavorful. Far better than their old version. Celery was not an option as people rarely eat it. I love celery with my wings, but understand the logic.

My wife's French dip was very well prepared. She prefers a heavier sauce and ordered an extra side of the Alabama BBQ. The bun was lightly toasted and absorbed the Au Jus as you'd hope. The Au Jus was very flavorful and well seasoned.

Her side of Gouda mac n cheese was creamy and salted accordingly.

Overall impression: Their food and beer is far and above better than what we were accustomed to with the old format as Big Boiler. Our tab with 4 drinks (2 beers 2 selzers), 2 appetizers (wings and dip) and an entree (French dip) was $62.54

The Beer is worth of a visit on its own as any brewery should be.

The food was arguably better than I expected. As a person that was skeptical of the change, this was a very positive addition to our community.

Good beer, great food, solid service. Would...

I don't think I've ever written a negative review in my life and I feel awful for doing so, but my family and I were very disappointed in our meal tonight. Spent about $75 on take out and most of it went in the garbage bin.

Didn't receive the waffle fries that were supposed to come with our chicken tenders, or the BBQ sauces that were supposed to come with them. Waffle fries were not fully cooked. I ordered the Buffalo Mac and cheese off the specials menu for $18+change. The portion size was quite small; more like a lunch portion. I wish it had specified that it was only dark meat. We were about 10 minutes late picking up our to go order, so i can understand that things may be soggy or cold, and we definitely took that into account. The chicken tenders had an odd tasting breading on them and there were some white blotches on the breading (I'm guessing paremsan cheese?). Our kids would only take 1 bite of the chicken tenders and of the waffle fries. The burnt ends appetizer had good flavor but seemed like it had been in a warming tray for many, many hours. My husband ordered the Philly French dip and said it was terrible - he threw it out after one bite.

We wanted to love this place so much! We've had great food at the Greenville location the handful of times that we've been there. I hope this was just an "off" day for the restaurant! But after a 30 min round trip to town for an $80ish meal that ended up in the trash bin, I felt compelled to...

UPDATE: I went back recently and had the fish and chips again. Just a reminder, don't try to sub the fries with another kind of potato. I asked for tater tots, which I saw in someone else's plate. The server did not let me know that it was a $4 upcharge to switch out waffle fries for tater tots. Was shocked when I got the bill. It was added as an additional side. The way they build it I should have gotten the waffle fries and the tater tots. UGH. I like the fact that they have $3 drafts on Wednesday and Thursday, but you got to be careful with what you order at this restaurant it appears to me.

This was my first visit since this place was rebranded as Hop Hog. I always liked the fish and chips in the past and my server said they had been improved since then. Unfortunately, that was not my experience. While I never like fish with too much breading, the fish I got suffered from way too little. For two of the three pieces I was basically dipping cooked fish planks in the tartar sauce. I much prefer tasty breading complimenting fresh fish. The waffle fries were food - but the rebranding resulted in no more cold slaw even tho the price ($16) for the entree is the same as in the past. I would encourage management to re-add that to this entree on their menu.

I will be back to try something else on the menu as I live in Ada, but this first venture was not quite what I...