The Notorious P.I.G. BBQ — Restaurant in Missoula

The Notorious P.I.G. is certainly not a secret to most Missoulians. This review is primarily intended for visitors to Missoula.

If you like good BBQ (and I DO), you aren't likely to miss with the P.I.G. I haven't had every item on the menu, but those that I have had are delicious. My favorite is a "Burnt Ends" sandwich. Burnt Ends come from the pointed fatty "ends" on a brisket. I view them as the "bacon" of the P.I.G. menu, as they are meaty but are laced with some very flavorful fat. Think of bacon with BBQ sauce and you start to get the idea. Like bacon, a steady diet of burnt ends isn't likely to be healthy for you, but like bacon, they are a fun treat.

If bacon isn't your idea of a culinary "good time", then there are always the delicious ribs, which are more meaty and less fatty than the burnt ends. Both entrees are accompanied by a choice of sides. The beans are a must as a side. If I have an entree with a choice of two sides, there is a large gap for me between the beans and my second choice, which is the slaw. In fact, I usually get two sides of beans.

Recently, cornbread has been added as a side and though I didn't try the cornbread, as I only got one side with my burnt ends sando on my last visit. Nothing is going to come between me and beans as my preferred side. However, next time I get an entree that comes with two sides, I'll try the cornbread.

The only other entree that I have tried is the beef brisket sandwich. Since it also is part of the brisket, it has much of the same flavor of the burnt ends sandwich but is much less fatty. In my opinion, it is a healthier choice than either the burnt ends or the ribs, but my taste buds are in love with the burnt ends.

There are two Notorious P.I.G. locations. The original location is in downtown Missoula. It has maybe only 4 or 5 spaces of off street parking next to the restaurant. After that you have to fend for yourself to find free parking, as downtown Missoula is pretty well parking metered up. If you are up for walking, the closest free parking on the north side of the Clark Fork River which runs through downtown, is to the east of downtown, near the library, maybe three blocks away from the downtown P.I.G.

So parking can be a headache. In addition, I'm pretty sure that there is less seating either inside or outside the downtown location than the southside location near Larchmont Golf Course on the southwest end of Missoula. Finally, though ambiance isn't a high point at either location, the downtown P.I.G. is more crowded and darker inside than the southside location.

So I prefer the southside location, which is a repurposed Jiffy Lube. They've done a good job with redesign. It is much brighter than the downtown location, and less crowded because there is way more seating, especially inside. And they have onsite parking, so no parking hassles. I think the bathrooms are also brighter and more spacious than the downtown location. (That's the cranky old man coming out in me)

Is there any difference in quality of food between the two locations? Not that I am able to tell. However, the two locations sometimes vary in the BBQ sauces available to dress up your sandwich or ribs. There are usually four choices of sauces at the tables. Sometimes one, or perhaps two of the four sauces available are only available at one location or another. Sweet Cady's is commonly available at both locations, a sweet/spicy concoction, a good base sauce to dress up with one of the other sauces.

I chose to review the P.I.G. because I have been a customer for many years and I still think they have the best BBQ in town. Chain BBQ is like a chain hamburger - not worth eating. Shop local and give your taste buds a burst of pleasure that they won't soon forget at the P.I.G.! I'm sharing...

My husband got to try this place when it was catered by a business for a luncheon. He was raving about it ever since. So today when we were in town he's like ya gotta try it.

We had the burnt ends, smoked turkey, racks of ribs, Mac -n-cheese, potato salad, and BBQ beans. It all came with big ciabatta rolls. Which by the way, I had no room for. No way could we eat all that. We got a very very large doggy bag to take home. 😉

I tried all their sauces and liked them all. I think the Cady was my favorite, but they were all good. The Carolina vinegar reminded me of what we would marinate our meat in for a few days back home. Back home is South Carolina and we would marinate for days. It breaks down some of the meat and makes it super tender.

Speaking of tender...when you can cut meat with a plastic forks then you know they are doing good things in that kitchen back there.😉

The mac-n-cheese isn't my favorite style (I like cheddar etc) but the rest of the family loved it. Most people love that creamy craft style stuff so I'm the minority on that so ignore me. Emmily....super cute, friendly, helpful Emmily told be to try the Wang tung sauce on it and I did and ended up eating it that way with a big smile. Thanks for the suggestion girl.👍

Also thanks for taking the initiative to tell kids (three in fact) not to run in your store. I didn't see any of the parents saying anything until you did. Thanks. I love kids happy energy but there's a time and place for everything and that's not the place.👍👍👍props to you girl.

Gotta give big props to Cricket for helping us order and get the best combo and deal for all the stuff my hubby was ordering. You would have thought we had a family of ten.😁 We have lunch for tomorrow now though.👍

Patrick gets a thumbs up too for being smiley friendly and on the spot to help keep everything looking good. If I owned a place I would want all of you backing my place up.🙂

Ok so if you haven't tried this place and you love flavorful, tender meat skip Dave's and try this place...

Notorious P.I.G. is a fantastic BBQ joint that knows how to do it right. The dining room is spotless, with shared tables and a lineup of four BBQ sauces to try with your order. As soon as you walk in, the smoky aroma hits your olfactory senses like a warm BBQ hug—a sign of good things to come.

My crew and I went all-in with a two-meat, two-side combo: brisket and ribs. The brisket was sliced thin, juicy, and tender, practically melting in our mouths. The ribs had a killer rub, just the right amount of sauce, and amazing flavor. Some ribs were a tad on the dry side, but they still brought the barbecue magic.

The Sides: The mashed potatoes and gravy were everything they should be, with satisfying chunks of real potatoes (definitely no powdered stuff here!). The mac and cheese was a creamy delight, with cheesy goodness clinging to those fun cellentani noodles. But the real MVP of the sides was the baked beans, loaded with bits of meat and a blend of their spicy and sweet BBQ sauce that hit all the right notes.

We'll definitely be back for another round of BBQ bliss and, of course, the inevitable...