Cork & Pig Tavern — Restaurant in Odessa

I have eaten at C&P before and really enjoyed it. It's a bit loud, but the food is good. Last night's experience has made me reluctant to go back.

My family tried to eat there and the staff was very difficult. They tried to squeeze our party of 15 into the round room, with all chairs touching and no elbow room. It wasn't going to work, so we asked if we could sit outside. The staff said we could, but told us that we would have three separate servers because of how their patio was broken up. We said that was fine. We didn't mind our ticket being broken up to make it more convenient for them.

We went outside and put four tables together. The waitress came out and told us that we needed to move the tables apart. We said we would like to sit together, and they could divide our ticket however they saw fit, and we moved the tables apart slightly to appease her, even though it didn't make sense. She went back inside. We sat for about 5 more minutes with nobody taking our drink order or bringing menus.

Finally the manager came outside and told us that we would have to move the tables further apart. We told her again that we would prefer to sit together, as we had family from out of town visiting and we wanted to eat together. She told us it was a fire hazard, which was absolutely untrue as we were in an open area of the patio with space all around us. And in that case, how was cramming us elbow to elbow in a corner room not a fire hazard?

She was unaccommodating, and she told us they could not seat a party as large as ours. This was very frustrating, as we had called ahead and been at the restaurant for 20 minutes at this point. We were well dressed and well mannered, but it felt as if they wanted us to leave and did not want our $500+ ticket. I'm not sure why they decided to be so unhelpful and unfriendly, but I am not planning to return after last...

We tried calling for a reservation today with plenty of time and the girl that answered the phone told us that on Sundays they only do “seating as you come”. We had a party of 10 so we get to the restaurant at 7. As soon as we arrive the blonde hostess up front told us IMMEDIATELY “as a reminder, we close at 9” and that she wasn’t sure how soon she could seat us because she had several reservations ahead of us. She then asks if we can sit outside which we agree to do since it was around 70 degrees. Within 30 minutes of sitting out there and not having so much as our appetizers yet it gets super cold. So we ask our waiter if there is any way that we can be moved outside. There is clearly a long table inside that can fit us all. He does his best and goes inside to ask the hostess if he can move us inside and she tells him that it’s “reserved”....MIND you this is almost 8:30PM already and as she had stated to us 5 times while we waited to be seated “we close at 9”. Of course we had to stay seated outside, this “reservation” that had that table reserved “supposedly” never showed up. We waited in the freezing cold for our food and then when we got the food it was the hardest beef short rib I’ve ever had in my entire life. I struggled to cut through it even with a steak knife. I most definitely will not be going back and will pass on my horrible experience to everyone I know. BEWARE, if you’re looking for fine dining and a good atmosphere this is NOT the place. Wayyyyy overrated. The worst of the worst was the incredibly rude hostess up front. She deserves...

On the way to the Midland, TX airport, my husband and I chose to have a meal at The Cork & Pig Tavern. Upon arriving we were greeted by the lovely and friendly, Adriena. She seated us in her section and proceeded to take very good care of us during our time there. Adriena was very helpful in answering questions and making suggestions. My husband and I ordered the BBQ rib dinner with house-made sauce and the brick roasted one-half chicken dinner. We each ordered salads as a side. The salads were fabulous: mixed lettuce, corn, sweet tomatoes, goat cheese, great croutons and delicious house-made dressings. The ribs were delicious, and as the menu promised "falling off the bone" tender. The chicken had great seasoning and was good, but I have to say I felt it was a little over baked as it was drier than I prefer my chicken, especially the white meat. Mine was served with loaded mashed potatoes...yum! We also ordered some of the hand cut fries which were great too. This was a lot of food for us as the portions were large. We didn't eat all of the food...because we wanted to make room for dessert. The tres leches cake was incredible! Made right there, it was a huge portion of the cake, house-made whipped cream and caramel drizzled with fresh strawberries, blueberries and bananas. Wow! Save room for dessert! I don't know when we'll ever be in that part of Texas again, but if we are, a return trip to Cork & Pig Tavern is definitely on...