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| - First visit to the new Proper Pig in Mentor was so-so. The wait staff is very nice and attentive. I was greeted and handed a menu to look at while I waited to order. They were busy since it was the grand opening, but the wait was short to place my carryout order. I ordered the 4 meat plate with double brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey and a hot link sausage. My sides were beans, slaw and CLE potato salad. I also ordered a half rack of ribs. As far as the food goes I had very high expectations, most of the food items delivered but some fell very short.
I'll start with the good - the sides all were very delicious and over-delivered on my expectations. The beans had a nice tang, with a little sweetness, cant forget to mention some nice pieces of meat in them as well. The potato salad was also good, it has a nice kick from the stadium mustard and crunch from the veggies. The slaw had a good balance of flavor and good crunch.
Now we come to the meats where there were some issues. The good news first - my favorite was the smoked turkey. It was moist and tender with a nice slightly smoky flavor that did not over power the meat. The pulled pork came in as my second favorite with a nice bark and smoke ring - the meat was not quite as moist as the turkey but still as delicious.
The hot links came in third, they had a nice snap and the flavor was ok but nothing too special with a nice subtle smoke flavor and some spice. Fourth place was the brisket and 1/3rd of the reason for the 3 stars. The brisket looked very good, it had a nice bark and great smoke flavor. They have what seems similar to a Dalmatian rub flavor which was heavy in black pepper, my favorite type of rub. Now here is where I ran into some issues - the meat was quite dry, the bites with the thin layer of fat cap were ok but there were some pieces with an inch plus of fat that were not edible. Between the dry meat and excess fat I was pretty disappointed with the brisket. The fifth place goes to the ribs and where things went wrong and the main reason for 3 stars. The membrane was still on the ribs which when smoked, makes a leather skin that can't be bitten through or eaten. The real problem was after I bit them and removed the membrane, I still could not get a clean bite as the ribs were so very tough!!!
This was just my first visit and will not be my last, it was still better then any other bbq joint/smokehouse in Mentor. It was only their first day open, so hopefully this review is helpful and they can iron out some of the dissapointments with their brisket and ribs. Overall, glad to have The Proper Pig in Mentor and am looking forward to trying it again.
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