Tampa is definitely no stranger to great barbecue. All throughout the area, this Southern-inspired cuisine prevails throughout small hole in the walls shops, casual chain restaurants, food trucks, and more. We've visited a few of these places in our ongoing Taste Tour of 813 and decided to keep the streak alive with a stop at Holy Hog Barbecue in South Tampa this week.
Holy Hog sits in a standalone location off Armenia Avenue. The inside is lined with various knick knacks including some pretty impressive taxidermy, as well as long, picnic tables, single booths, and an order counter where you order and get your grub all in one go.
The menu is all standard barbecue fare - ribs, pork, brisket, sausage - with all the classic sides like baked beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni, and more.
An order of ribs comes complete with four meaty sections well worth the visit to Holy Hog alone. They've got the sauce if you want it, but these things are so ridiculously succulent, I found myself halfway through before realizing I hadn't used any. And, when I did, the results were just kind of "meh". Their Carolina inspired mustard sauce led the pack, followed by a generic standard barbecue sauce, and a hot barbecue sauce marred by so much heat it was pretty hard to taste anything else.
Luckily, Holy Hog more than makes up for it with the aforementioned ribs and hearty brisket. Our brisket order came with a paltry two slices of brisket, each of which were lined with a nice layer of fat and nearly melt in your mouth texture. I could taste the wood it was cooked upon as the melded meat and fat flavors worked like heaven together.
The only thing, this meal with two meats and two sides (as well as a drink) was a staggering $14. You can get far more for far less at a handful of other barbecue restaurants throughout the area for that price, so it's hard to completely recommend Holy Hog Barbecue, but if the barbecue craving hits you around the Armenia Avenue area, you know where you can satisfy it. Just bring a big wallet along.
