photos by Sarah Mayo
One look at the Slick Pig and you know they mean business, smoky business. One taste and you know you will be back again. Their hickory wood scents the air as you walk up to the doors—two doors: one for dine-in diners, the other for take-out and catering. Then the decisions begin.
The menu is straightforward and authentic, just like the food. Quite the opposite of fast food, their selections are marinated for hours and smoked for many hours after that (though the time from ordering to receiving your plate is pleasantly brief). Choose from wings, chopped chicken, turkey, chopped pulled pork, ribs or brisket, and rest assured your meat is the real thing, real color, real texture and real flavor. Once you’ve decided on that, then choose whether you want a sandwich or platter. Next, choose your side from a vast assortment of traditional selections that await you: potato salad, coleslaw, baked or white beans, mac and cheese, crinkly fries, cornbread, Texas toast, hush puppies and more.
Slick Pig offers great specials on certain days of the week, particularly the pulled pork sandwich that is only $1.50 on Tuesdays. Yes, you read right, $1.50. (This incomparable special cost only 99 cents for many years before the restaurant finally decided it needed to make a slight price increase.)
On Wednesdays, find a full all-you-can-eat catfish buffet for $11.99.
At a recent visit to Slick Pig I was taken aback by the crowd of diners that were lunching well beyond lunch hours. The restaurant obviously does many things right to keep the people of Murfreesboro returning, ranging from suits to uniforms and first responders to college kids. Customers order at the counter, take a cup to fill with self-serve fountain sodas or tea selections and count on the food being ready quickly.
My group sampled the smoked wings, pulled pork sandwich, brisket and chopped pork, and all were absolutely delicious. The chopped meat is piled high and the pieces so perfectly small they absorb the sauce.
A variety of sauces are on the table to choose from: Big D’s, which I found to be a thick, mildly sweet smoky sauce; the Slick, a thinner but also sweet mild sauce; and the Hot, flavorful but not too hot to enjoy on the meat. The wings contained such a rich, smoky flavor, they didn’t require any added sauce at all.
It was all good. “Mmms” could be heard as we passed the plates. Though I’m usually not a fan of coleslaw, this one was remarkably fresh, crisp and not drowning in sauce. The beans are your Southern classic . . . possibly made with tea. The crinkly fries were nice and crispy, and the potato salad was my favorite side, though there are so many more I’ve yet to taste.
This local treasure is a mom-and-pop business, mastering marinades and smoking since 1995 when Jerry, Teresa and John Robinson opened it on Main Street near the MTSU campus. Matt Nelson, the general manager, joined the Slick Pig family in 2002. To this day he says he’s sure he’s had at least a “chicken wing and brisket” every day since he started.
The restaurant underwent a renovation in 2016 to allow for their rapidly growing take-out and catering business, in which customers can buy entire smoked turkeys, hams, chickens and much more. The Slick Pig also offers full service catering.
Our young dining companion had this to say: “It was delicious: the pork, the brisket, the mac and cheese, the fries, all my favorites!”
If you need something sweet after a savory, smoky, meaty meal, visit the ice cream counter, offering several hand-scooped options along with sugar-cups and waffle cones.
I’m sure once you try Slick Pig, you’ll know where to go for smoked meats in Murfreesboro.
Visit the slickpigbbq.com for more info and please let us know if you visit, what you taste and what you think. Eat well, Murfreesboro!
Slick Pig
1920 E. Main St.
Mon.–Sat.: 11 a.m.–8 p.m.
Half smoked chicken: $6.99; 2 pieces of catfish with slaw and fries: $8.99; Half rack of ribs with two sides and drink: $12.95; 10 hickory smoked wings: $9.79; Fried bologna sandwich: $2.99; Redneck taco: $5.99
615-890-3245
slickpigbbq.com
