Holy Hog Barbecue

We’re from out of town and arrived at our hotel in downtown Tampa later in the evening. We needed a place we could walk to that was open, was casual and was appropriate for kids since we had our 13-​year-​old. We found Holy Hog Barbecue on Unilocal and decided to try it out. We’re sure glad we did.
I don’t know which was more amazing — the staff or the food. I had the smoked chicken. My husband had the brisket and my son had the ribs. Our sides were the beans, green beans, sweet potato and mac ‘n cheese. All of it — wonderful! Portions were large; chicken was moist; ribs were «fall off the bone.» The staff was exceptionally friendly and accommodating. We’re only in town for one night so we won’t have the opportunity to go again, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Holy Hog.

We were looking for a place to eat after the Florida aquarium and this place came up on Unilocal.I got the spicy sausage with jalapeño Mac and cheese and green beans. My gf got the burnt ends with mashed potatoes. This place reminded us of a place in New York which is a good thing. I would say holy hog is a bit tastier and the people working are much friendlier. This is my #2 favorite bbq spot so far.

The HH is all about the BBQ, which is 5 stars. Everything else is ok.
Do that math (carry the one) and that’s a solid 4 bill-​stars for lunch.
bbq… yow, bill

It’s a shame but this place is going down hill. I got chicken and a beef rib today for lunch. Both were extremely dry! I won’t go back unfortunately.

Ribs are no joke. Beer variety is perfect and original. Staff is 5 star. I love food and nice people.

Loved the rib tips here! First time in Tampa and wanted to try one of the bbq restaurants. I wasn’t disappointed. Food was great and they have a great outside bar and seating. If you are in town give this place a try.

This was a great find in downtown Tampa. Lots of menu choices and really, truly good BBQ. It’s counter service — order, get it and sit (or take-​away). BTW, there is no seating indoors — it’s all covered patio outside. Speaking of outside, there is a nice bar with lotsa good stuff on tap. Prices were good and the staff was friendly. I would try it again when in Tampa.

Wow! What a great lunch. I’ve been wanting to stop by and finally had the chance to today.
I got there right when lunch started, so it was pretty empty. The staff was extremely friendly. My plate was prepared quickly and neatly. Nice presentation! I hate when BBQ places put your food in a red little basket, but this silver tray was nice and big.
I went for the Pork Summer Sausage, mashed potatoes and jalapeño mac and cheese. All were excellent choices!!! The spicy BBQ sauce added a good kick to the sausage. The mac and cheese was some of the best I’ve tried. That alone is worth another visit.
So why 4 stars? None of it seemed that hot. I ate there, so there wasn’t much time to cool off. All three items were just barely warm. It was still delicious, but knocked off a star.

Holy Hog is very casual and in an ideal central location downtown (Kennedy and Florida Ave) easily accessible to anyone in the riverfront area.
The smoked bbq is the best of its kind downtown (most likely only true bbq). The numerous sides are even better and more unique than the meat. Try their house special jalepeno mac & cheese, or the loaded baked potato salad. I recommend the turkey, sausage, or brisket the most of all the meats. The ribs and chicken are also good. In addition there are always good craft beers on tap (usually all FL breweries such as Cigar City or Funky Buddha) along with a decent bottle selection (20 or so).
The indoor seating is scarce but the outdoor patio and bar area is quite large and kept cooled with high powered misting fans.
Anyone seeking great bbq and willing to venture out 10 min or so should check out Al’s Bbq (Ybor city) or my personal favorite BJs Alabama BBQ on south Dale Mabry for true, authentic, 5 star family owned BBQ joints. Holy Hog or Three Rivers are otherwise the best in town and you won’t be disappointed in either.

Why 2 stars? Because this was one of the worst meals I’ve had in a while.
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After recently dining at Holy Hog in Carrollwood (and just penning that review) I was happy to visit the downtown location for a quick bite. The results were pretty drastically different.
I ordered pulled pork, mac-​n-​cheese, and the loaded baked potato. I finished none of them because I basically lost my appetite from how terrible it was.
The pulled pork had kind of a white/​pink color, which is not a good sign from the beginning. It tasted unlike any other pulled pork I’ve ever had. It’s hard to describe, but after about 3 bites, I wanted no part of finishing it.
The mac was sloppily dressed with cheese. It tasted like it had been sitting for a while.
The loaded baked potato was the best of the 3, by default, but also seemed to take a step backwards from the one at the Carrollwood location, just a couple weeks earlier.
A super disappointing experience. The employees were friendly enough, which is the only reason for the 2^nd star.

As per my own personal standards I try to round my liminal ratings down in order to protect the integrity of a 5 star rating. That being said, this is a solid 4 ½ star establishment.
The good.
The jalapeño mac and cheese is probably the best I’ve had. The Mac was both spicy and flavorful, with whole pickled jalapenos and fully cooked slivers of onions for extra flavor. The cheese itself was also delicious, which would seem like a foregone conclusion but is not always the case with every Mac and Cheese.
The collard greens were also delicious, they were savory and smoking, and in the flavor department only like a little bit of vinegar taste to make them perfect. However the condiment bar contains the requisite hot pepper vinegar more or less completely making up for this.
The environment and atmosphere were also great. There is ample outdoor seating including an outdoor bar with a good selection of beers on tap.
The bad.
There does not appear to be any indoor seating which could potentially cause an issue for some. The outdoor seating is very ample, and is well covered however.
More importantly, well overall very delicious, the brisket was a little dry. It was not crazy dry or anything, but for the cost it was drier than I would have liked to.
Since this was the centerpiece of my meal here, I feel like it was just enough to knock the rating down a hair into the four star range. But the jalapeño Mac with still the best I’ve ever had, and I highly recommend checking this place out if you are in the area and interested in either some good BBQ or delicious southern sides or even just a place to grab a beer outside.

While in Tampa for a conference, I found this place through Unilocal.Everyone in our group got a different meat– pulled pork, ribs, brisket, etc. I thought the brisket was far superior than the pulled pork. Sides are pretty good too– I got the Mac n cheese and green bean casserole (lots and lots of fried onions on top)! They had a variety of sauces for the meats as well. Service was fast and price was reasonable. Overall, definitely a place I’d recommend if you are someone like me who used to live in GA and got spoiled with good BBQ and now can’t get any decent BBQS meats in CA! I hear this place has fantastic burnt ends– I might come back to try that if I’m in this area again.

This place is a miss for me, although their green bean casserole is off the hook! Their ribs are very dry along with all the other meats that they have. I’ve had this place a few times and there’s nothing that would prompt me to go back unless I just needed to have my barbecue fix while working downtown. The portions aren’t worth the price that you pay for either. The French fries are drenched in oil so it doesn’t matter when you eat them, they’re always soggy. It was just not a good fix and I thought that maybe today would be different but it’s not. No go for me!

My bf and I were in downtown Tampa on a weekday afternoon, it’s lunch time and we’re hungry. Where to eat? So many options! After recently having eaten at 4 Rivers, we decided to try Holy Hog to compare.
As I stepped inside I realized that this location has no inside seating. Middle of the day, middle of the summer, I was already dreading the Florida heat and humidity. We got in the long cafeteria-​style line to place our order. We were actually in a bit of a hurry, but the speed of the line was quite slow and the cashier was super slow. We had to stand by the cash register for about 7 min before we could pay because she had to ring up the people who had placed their orders online.
I got the Texas Style Brisket and Southwestern Corn Medley and my bf got Smoked Turkey Breast and Cowboy Baked Beans. I absolutely loved the brisket! It was smokey and tender and the portion was HUGE! I literally only ate half of it. The corn, on the other hand, wasn’t to my liking. There were big chunks of tomatoes and the taste was off somehow. 4 Rivers has more and better tasting sides.
My bf seemed to enjoy his order. I had a bite of the turkey and thought it was really dry. Not sure why he’d order turkey at a BBQ joint. He did say the beans are really good.
Sitting outside wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. The seating area is shaded by the upper levels of the building and often a breeze would blow by.
Holy Hog is definitely the go to place from now on whenever we’re in downtown Tampa.

I ended up stopping by here to check this place out on a weeknight. I would always pass by and going across Tampa Bay through downtown and see it.
There is seating indoors and outdoors, but of course most including myself prefer to sit outside by the bar. You seat yourself at this restaurant.
At the time, they had predominantly all Funky Buddha craft beers on tap! This place has far exceeded my expectations. Honestly, I didn’t think of this place much when I first walked in until I saw the menu. The smell of the place was a good first impression too :-)
I had the St. Louis ribs with jalapeño mac & cheese and collard greens. It was all great! You also had your choices of various barbecue sauces. I chose the smoky spicy one. I would recommend this is a nice spot to have dinner after work or lunch if you happen to be around this area.

Amazing BBQ, outdoor A/​C, live music, good beers and sangrias. This review is over because if you need more than that, then I can’t help you.
… Have the B-​B-​Q-​ban (the redneck version of the Cuban.) You’ll thank me later!

Customer service here is awesome, 5 stars all the way, every time I’ve been. Very friendly and eager to help you out when deciding what to get. They also seem like a fun bunch who enjoy working together.
However, the quality of their food is not up to par and that’s what holds the most weight in my reviews. I’ve tried the chicken and the pork and with both meats, it’s too dry and it doesn’t have the smoky flavor that I seek. I am not a fan of any of the sauces either so that doesn’t help with the flavor. As far as the sides, I recommend the sweet potato casserole. Drink selection is very good. Various types of craft sodas, fountain drinks, sweet/​unsweetened tea and Arnold Palmer.
Unfortunately, no inside seating although there appears to be room for 2 seat tables. Instead, they have a large outside patio with a bar and regular tables and picnic tables. It’s covered to keep you dry and a little cooler, so that’s a plus.
Tip: Metered spaces north of Kennedy Blvd. are free on weekends and weeknights after 6pm, although not enforced after 8pm. This means if you’re parking on Kennedy or south of Kennedy, pay the meter to be safe, otherwise ticket is $ 35 if I remember correctly.

Got sliced brisket to go:
Pros:
They gave me some of the point along with the flat.
Good, rich beefy flavor to the meat.
Cons:
They sliced the brisket with the grain! C’mon! There are some slices in the flat that are completely inedible as a result.
They don’t trim the fat cap on the brisket. I love the taste of the extra fat in there, but there were some slices that are half fat.

I’m typically not in the downtown area during a work day but I had Jury Duty (Yay me!) so I was excited to see on Unilocal that Holy Hog was not too far from the courthouse.
When noon struck, I rushed my way over to Holy Hog BBQ. I’ve heard many good things about their BBQ and wanted to finally try it. I ordered the pork rib dinner plate that came with two sides. I chose the jalapeño mac and cheese and the green beans and ham.
I ordered my food to go as I knew I wouldn’t have been able to finish it all. I also only had one hour and the courthouse was a few blocks away so I had to plan accordingly. I sat at the bar area outdoor which was nice. They had fans hooked up, so it was breezy and I never felt hot. I do not like to sweat while I’m eating– it’s gross.
I enjoyed the green beans as well as the jalepeno mac and cheese. I love green beans so it’s really hard to mess that up, in my opinion. I enjoyed the heat of the mac and cheese, it wasn’t too spicy nor was it lacking in heat because you can still feel the kick. And now the ribs… I was looking forward to the ribs, but I could tell it looked a bit dried. But I didn’t want to judge without tasting them. I got the smaller end of the ribs, so maybe that’s why it was so dried? But there were parts where I swore I was eating jerky because of how hard I had to chew –that was not pleasant.
Overall, I think there are better BBQ joints in the Tampa bay area. I wouldn’t really recommend getting the ribs or at least the smaller end pieces, but the jalapeño mac and cheese was delicious and so was the green beans! I’ll have to go back and try their brisket, because that looked good.

The meat (burnt candy edges) was juicy and tender. I didn’t even need the bbq sauce (and I’m a HUGE sauce person usually).
The loaded mashed was just as good as the meat. One of the best I’ve had.
The green beans were normal. Nothing special, but good enough. Same with the Texas toast.
I can’t wait to try more of the meat there!
The «dinner» which came with a choice of meat, 2 sides, & Texas toast cost around $ 14.