Whole Hog Café — Restaurant in Springfield

Another update 😔 I wasn't going to put this in my review, this could happen anywhere... but... the more I think about it, the more frustrated I get.

I ordered 2 meats, ham and burnt ends- The ham was moldy. When I told the staff, she said it was the smoke seasonings. What? When ham molds, it looks green and metallic and shiny, like fish skin? I guess, that's what this looked like. (See pics) She said it was their seasonings. 😡 That frustrated me. So, I said ok, you take a bite of it. No response to that. They did give me a large bowl of more burnt ends and they were delicious as well as the cheesy corn, as always. I just couldn't enjoy it as I was paranoid about moldy food. I'm not happy about the ham and insulted that she tried to spin it as seasonings. What seasonings are metallic green? C'mon

Update- My friend and I went back, still at 4 stars. The burnt end portions were much better. We had the burnt ends cheesy corn... phenomenal!!! Also had the smoked sausage- excellent! Best smoked sausage we have had in a long time!! So good! Only a couple of negatives. They had a sign at the entrance stating ham as a special. I ordered it and they were out of ham... why is the sign still out? Then I ordered burnt ends- I got the last of them. It's early on a Friday??? You're out of ham and burnt ends? The rest was great! I highly recommend!

Original review- I had a nice dinner at Whole Hog Cafe. I had the two meat platter w/ burnt ends, ham, Cheesy Corn, and baked beans. My friend had two meats w/ burnt ends, pulled pork, Cheesy Corn and coleslaw. No complaints on the food taste, that Cheesy Corn is worth fighting over! Everything tasted great. The portion sizes of the sides were fine. The meat portions were disappointing. They were so small. The burnt ends were just four small bites. (See pics) The ham was about the same. If I'm ordering the two meat platter I kind of expect a decent amount of meat. Both my friend and I were disappointed. The sauce choices are great, we both liked the #5 the best. The place was very clean and the cashier...

My Mom came to town from the west coast, she wanted BBQ. I figured (without trying it myself yet) this place has good reviews, it's all over the radio. They must be doing something right... They are... ADVERTISING! I wish I could say I appreciated the staff, but that would b far from true. If nothing else I would b OK if I enjoyed the food. Chicken was clearly still frozen at the joints b4 being "smoked" and obviously not brined, considering the moisture. The Brisket had decent flavor, but was not cooked in house, and was clearly vacuum sealed and frozen to b slow heated later, they were out of ribs, and not polite about it. Wouldnt even split their last rack for me, and all of this would have been barable if I didn't walk out for $40 without finishing my food... I've lived all over the country, and I'm telling u, you'd b better off at famous daves. Far better, unfortunately, and u won't walk out with buyers remorse... To the owners- $9 a plate for lupitas white corn chips drizzled with 'nacho cheese' from a frosting bag with 5 slices of Brisket and a 'butter ball' of sour cream is absolute bs. I will not b going back. I'm embarassed for...

Food 2: tastes like 3, MAYBE 4 stars, but on principle 2. We got to the register, she asked the cook if they had enough, heard the cook say at first they didn’t have enough product to make our orders, then they said they did and we got the last of it. Plates came out with different amounts of brisket even tho it was the same order. So they either go by sight, or don’t weigh evenly. It was roughly an hour before close so I anticipated the possibility of items out of stock, but would rather be told no then yes and not get what you pay for. Burnt ends creamy corn was great. Brisket was different than the sandwich I remember from the north location. Let down after this experience. Hostess ringing us up was great and friendly tho. Service is 3: although cashier was Great, we did the bogo 1/2 off for our $18 plate, and somehow paid $33, and no explanation or reason or premium sides or regular sides. Atmosphere is 2: there’s no structure, they took our order told us where the cups were, let us go and seat ourselves, called our number and we had to go get it. I can’t imagine the chaos when it’s busy. As a foodie, overall experience...