High on the Hog

Location:

Hoggy’s (Grandview)

1416 West 5th Avenue

Columbus, OH 43212

(614) 485-4647

Last Sunday I met up with a friend from culinary school, Rich.  He had been raving for a few weeks about Hoggy’s in Grandview, specifically their gigantic mountain of onion rings that I just had to try.  We met around noon on a hot and humid afternoon, so of course the first action was to get some cold beer in our systems.  Blue Moon draught, one of my top favorites, was the choice for both of us.

After sipping the suds and catching up, we finally took a glance at the menu.  One legal-sized back and front menu held a plethora of options, from ribs to wings to brisket and chickens – yes, chickenS, for the Hoggy’s challenge involved a half chicken (and other goodies) and there is also a half chicken meal available.  We opted for a sort of sampler, with Mt. Onion Ring as our starter and Rich getting the brisket dinner and myself getting a ribs/wing combo.

Let me tell you, Rich was not kidding when he described the onion ring starter.  This beast cast a shadow over the bar as it was being carried out, and people turned in awe as it was placed in front of us.  I believe there were some tumbleweeds involved as well as the whistling of an old prairie song… or maybe I just imagined that part… either way, this thing was huge.  The onion rings were piled almost a foot high, and each ring looked like a donut.  A donut!  Made of battered onion!  It was like heaven.

I’ve been on a mission to find a tasty super hot wing here in Columbus, and Hoggy’s presented me with an opportunity to try their “hottest”.  Unfortunately, the “Texas Pete Hot” and Cajun sauces left much to be desired in the fire category; however, they were awesome in the flavor category. My combo came with five wings and babyback ribs (in original Hoggy’s BBQ sauce) and a side of celery & bleu cheese.  For $10.99 I would have liked at least one more wing, but it was filling.  As I said earlier, Rich got the brisket dinner, which was a half pound of sliced brisket and two sides – he chose tomato cucumber salad and coleslaw.  The brisket was absolutely butter!  He literally cut it was a spoon.  The coleslaw was fine, we were both a little “meh” about it because it just seemed to be lacking something, whether it was salt & pepper or some red cabbage, we just couldn’t decide.  I didn’t try the tomato salad, but Rich said it was crisp and refreshing and a good contrast to the heaviness of the brisket.  Oh! There was cornbread too.  I ate mine for dessert.

All in all, even though Hoggy’s is a chain restaurant (which I normally wouldn’t cover, but I’ve got a soft spot for franchises), it has the neighborhood feel to it.  Our barmaid/server (for she performed both duties with ease) was very friendly, prompt, and attentive and the management was helpful as well, running food out to us when the barmaid was busy so that we didn’t have to wait.  The value at Hoggy’s is fair, but in my opinion they could offer a little more food for the cost.

To learn more about Hoggy’s, click here to visit their website.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)                    

Cleanliness: 5

Value: 4

Accessibility: 4

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 3