Hickory Hog
The Hickory Hog is yet another food truck moved to brick&mortar, settling down on the border of the food wasteland that is New Brighton/St Anthony. Not that there aren't restaurants here. I've coined the phrase "the New Brightonization of food service" to describe what happens. Chains (and it's mostly chains) tend to slide down toward the lowest common denominator for food quality and service, even when compared against the same store in other parts of the metro. We'll see if HH follows the trend - so far it's a notch above, especially on service.
I'll also put the caveat in that I'm less a fan of St Louis style BBQ. Molasses is for baking cookies, not for BBQ sauce. It tends to bury the meat in cloyingly sweet goop, hiding, rather than highlighting the flavor.
The place
Hickory Hog took over the departed Smashburger location, which had been a former video store. They saved the booths and high tops, which works just fine. They picked up a liquor license, and have a reasonable selection of domestic and local craft beers, hard seltzers, etc. What I noticed walking up was the smell - it wasn't BBQ, it was the smell of french fries. Not a bad smell, but I want to smell smoke and meat!
The menu is interesting. As noted, there's a lot of fried stuff and burgers. So not just a BBQ menu. The traditional BBQ sides were pretty boring - mashed potatoes, mac&cheese, baked beans, corn on the cob, cole slaw. No cornbread, no greens, no hush puppies or fried okra. We stuck with the cole slaw as none of the others appealed. I should've ordered one of something else - the portion was overly large to be included in the meal. Also, it's Minnesota cole slaw - so much mayo it's almost soupy. Flavor was OK though. The fries were almost too abundant - a half order would've been just fine, but didn't have much flavor.
The sandwich
My first exposure to any place that dares to call itself a BBQ place is going to be a pork sandwich. It's not fair to places that specialize in ribs or brisket, but if they are proud enough to put it on the menu, I'll start there. In this case, the meat was chopped rather than just pulled (as it should be). However, instead of being chopped to serve, I think it had been sitting in a hotel pan for some time, so a bit dry and part of it (the part at the bottom of the pan) was a bit greasy. It was well cooked, and the flavor was very good, with bits of bark, and a little smoke. The bun was very good - not just a white bun off the truck.
The sauce
There is a special place in BBQ Hell for anyone who claims to be a BBQ joint, and serves pre-packaged, brand label sauce. Sweet Baby Rays may be award winning in some circle, but it's just about the worst of the grocery store sauces.
The staff
When I walked in, I looked at the _six_ 'kids' who were visible and thought "uh oh". Couldn't have been more wrong. They were all courteous, friendly, helpful to customers, and conscientious about the normal counter activities - a quick wipe or straighten instead of a premeditated 'fix the counter'. They appeared to actually like working there and appeared to care. It wasn't *that* busy, and the restaurant is new enough that I would expect the number to drop a little as they learn the peaks and valleys.
Overall
I'll give them another shot - and i'll mix up the order a bit next time to try some of the other goodies. i do hope they decide what they are - neighborhood burger place that serves a little BBQ, a wing joint, or a BBQ.
Meat - B; Sauce - D-; Side(s) - C; Staff - young, engaged, nice; Charm - not yet.
Meat - B; Sauce - D-; Side(s) - C; Staff - young, engaged, nice; Charm - not yet.
