The Prized Pig

It is hard to get barbecue in the north but priced pig delivers. I am in a meat coma. The employees are very friendly and welcoming.

have lived and traveled "Down South" for a few years, I also lived in Chicago for 10. I LIKE and KNOW a little about Bar-B-Que. This is the fifth or sixth time I've eaten at The Prized Pig, it's time I write a review.



The short review: for a place like Niles, MI, The Prized Pig is a welcome addition and a good restaurant.

If this were the West Coast of Florida, I would never eat here.



First, the atmosphere is DREK!!! They always have someone different working the counter (high employee turnover rate) and if you pay by card you are required to respond to one of those OBNOXIOUS TIP-BEGGING screens on the point-of-purchase machine. And right next to that is a HUGE gallon-sized, glass jug with the word "TIPS!" written in large, demanding text.

Very bad form and déclassé!

O.K., I KNOW this is a rib joint- but, begging for tips is never cool!



The deadpan "personalities" of the employees do nothing to liven-up this dull, dreary little place and it completely lacks any warmth or friendliness.



The food: I 've had mixed experiences here. I've eaten the pulled pork sammich several times and a couple of those times there were hunks/chunks of fat/gristle in the meat.

I don't expect/accept this in a pulled pork sammich that costs $6.49 (sammich only).

Their BBQ beans are TOO vinegary! The Mac and Cheese is REALLY GREAZEY!- like a puddle of oil left in the bottom of the Styrofoam container after the Mac is gone. Today the girl at the order window suggested gumbo as I was choosing my 2 side dishes. I LIKE gumbo! But, this gumbo was bland and flavorless. I suspect the spicy zest, usual to gumbo, has been dumbed-down for the proletariat/redneck/AARP audience in the Niles, MI market.



I did get the half-rack of St. Louis ribs today, and they were good. Tender enough, not the MOST tender ribs I've ever had, but I was able to pull the bones apart and the meat was tasty.

Nice and lean with a LOT of meat on the bones!



They have a huge T.V. in the dining room, which is fine, I like T.V., but it is almost always on some spawts-moron channel like ESPN. Today it was tuned to WSBT's all weather-all-the-time 22.3, which was fine, but I noticed a simple T.V. antenna in the window next to the T.V. indicating to me they maybe got rid of their cable service as a cost cutting measure- a sign things may not be going very well financially, perhaps?



As I said, for Niles MI, where there are very few choices for ribs (or ANY kind of unique food!) The Prized Pig is a welcome addition. But, if I had a few other choices like I did in Florida, I would never eat here.