By Andrea Lin /
For the Journal
Normally, eating five kinds of meat in one meal might be cause for concern, or almost certainly some indigestion. When those five, slow-cooked and juicy as they are, are served as part of a platter amply sized for sharing, you can call off the concern and call it lunch at Porky's Pride Real Pit BBQ.
A perfect restaurant space in the Northeast Heights, complete with drive-through, opened up last year, making way for the pit smoker of Guy Nix, an experienced meat artisan. Guy has been making barbecue in other states for many years and has now brought his craft to the Duke City.
The space is purely functional. Red vinyl chairs cluster around square tables in the brightly painted room, bearing lively stripes in red and yellow. But the décor, as rudimentary as it appears, is not what will bring you back for meal after meal from breakfast to dinner.
Breakfast starts daily with egg-based options, creative in their flavors. While I've not yet tried it, the French toast concept is still bouncing playfully in my brain. It's baked casserole style with layers of cream cheese and bacon, salt against sweet, sounding irresistible.
Before I talk about lunch, let me tell you about buns. Burgers have crossed my lips, excellent but for the trashy, dried-out supermarket white bun that ruined the experience. Having the care to put your sandwich on something better — whether it's homemade bread or just a better version of a prepackaged roll — makes a huge difference. Porky's Meatwiches (“because,” the menu explains, “you won't find any ‘sand' between our buns!”) pile your choice of smoky protein between halves of a premium bun, for $6.75-$7.75. The two-fisted meal, overflowing with its contents, is worth that price alone, so you won't feel shorted when you skip the average coleslaw on the side.
Platters ($9.75-$15.75), despite a side of Texas toast, are all about the meat without bready distractions. Your best bet is to share the four-meat combo with a friend and then add on a couple of sauce-slathered ribs ($1 each). Beef brisket is by far the best in flavor and number of deliciously charred bits, but chicken is a close second. The pulled pork could have been good on its own (and was, in a Meatwich), but next to that beef it seemed to shrink in comparison. The smoky barbecue sauce drizzled over the plate was barely sweet and a touch spicy, though in the East or Midwest it might be described as “hot.”
You must get a side of Triple Baked Beans whether it comes with your platter or you've added it as a side ($2.25), easily one of the best things Porky's creates in its kitchen. Three kinds of beans meet a sweet sauce studded with bacon and ground beef — it's almost a bowl of chili rather than simple beans.
After sharing that platter, save room for a slice of homemade Pecan Pie ($2.50), a welcome treat. Despite being served too cold, its crunchy nuts were still a great finish to this hearty meal.
Porky's Pride Real Pit BBQ
LOCATION: 2906 Juan Tabo NE, 292-7427
HOURS: 7 a.m.-9 p.m. daily
NO ALCOHOL SERVED
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