I decided to stop by Mean Pig on my way to Memphis to try their ribs and Shut Up Juice. Let me start by saying DO NOT FOLLOW GPS DIRECTIONS for this place! The restaurant is NOT located six miles from the freeway; it's only a block from it next to Sonic. Now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about ribs. To be honest, I thought the mild rub could have been more flavorful, so next time I'll request the spicy rub, but you can definitely taste the quality of the meat. I prefer dry rub over wet ribs because you can get a purer taste of the meat itself instead having it drowned out by sauce. But speaking of sauce, if you do want some on your ribs, Mean Pig has some good ones. The mild is good, but the (regular) hot sauce has the perfect amount of heat and flavor. Now the Shut Up Juice is a whole other story. I dipped my rib into the sauce and I had beads of sweat on my face for the next twenty minutes. I should have bought a bottle of that to play pranks on my friends... or to clean the rust off of my bike. These ribs were better than the ones I ended up eating in Memphis, so if you're in the area, come on by. read more

The Mean Pig BBQ - Ribs w/ mild rub - Barbeque Near Me - Cabot, Arkansas

This is probably my favorite place to eat at. The beans and coleslaw was the best I've had since being here. The ribs I ordered was cooked perfectly and tasted just as good as it looks. What is great about this place is that everything you order will probably look something from a reality cook show. Warning-try the shut up juice first. It was one of the spiciest I've had. I only had it dipped on a toothpick, and it was so hot my brain was rattling all day. read more

The meat was DRY (sauce didn't help) Beans were BLAND Potato salad GRITTY and TASTELESS We went home and I had to prepare the already cooked meal. Wouldn't recommend and we love eating bbq, just not here. read more

This place is a must if you're looking for excellent barbecue in family size portions. We had the pulled pork, potato salad, baked beans and Cole slaw for 8. Delicious!!! read more

The Mean Pig BBQ has been a staple of the Cabot area for years! Buddy and his family are great and do a lot for the community. I have been buying their food for many years, clear back to when they sold from a food trailer across the street and have never had a complaint about anything and no this is not a complaint now, however there was a misunderstanding and confusion on my part, so I thought I'd post this and maybe help to keep someone else from being as confused I was and still am to a degree. This afternoon I stopped and purchased a pork family pack which included the meat, buns, sauce, Cole slaw, BBQ beans and potato salad. Now I realize it says no substitutions, but, I asked if I could get all beans and no potato salad, as I have potato salad in my fridge (they do have very good potato salad btw) and he said sure, there would be an additional charge, which I figured and was fine with, however, I wasn't pleased with how they did this. I paid regular price for the complete meal and regular price for the extra beans and didn't get the potato salad. I was expecting to pay and additional dollar or two on the beans, but not full price and still not get the potato salad. So the moral of this story is, go ahead and take the meal as it comes and pay for any extra items you want and it will save you from feeling that you got screwed! This little incident will not keep me from going back, because the food is that good! read more

The Mean Pig is a great place for BBQ. The crew there is always pleasant. The price is good for the food that you get. Nothing flashy, just good food and people. read more

Pork sandwich was pretty good but nothing to fly to Arkansas over :) Ribs, on the other hand, were out of this world! Do not miss this place if you're in Arkansas. Ribs come with sauce on the side, covered only with a thin layer of dry-rub. Extremely tender, flavorful, fall-of-the-bone, perfectly smoked meat melts in your mouth. I'm not sure why you'd wanna put the BBQ sauce on - it'll just mess things up :) A few tips: * Come early as they run out of ribs fast (they even have a sign for it) * Don't do the "shut up sauce" challenge unless you're nuts. * They can wrap this stuff for you to go (or even to take on the plane) The staff and owner were friendly and helpful. The atmosphere was great and prices absolutely reasonable. read more

The Mean Pig BBQ - The Sign - Barbeque Near Me - Cabot, Arkansas

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We went in with high hopes due to being referred here. We were greeted by very friendly workers and they helped us with the menu. That's where the good stuff ended. I got the Frito pie dish with brisket(cool concept) and my wife got a pulled pork sandwich. There was ZERO smoke flavor on both, however, the pork at least had a good flavor profile. I'm sorry, I really wanted to like this place but I expect a good smoky flavor to the meats and there was none. Potato salad was awful as well. I was told that different people working the pit put different amounts of wood which created different amounts of smoke. I was even shown the pit area to show me they use wood when smoking their meats, which was nice but it left me so dissatisfied after smelling the smoke that should have been in the meats just in the air. So disappointed. Hopefully they will read this and retrain everyone that's smoking the #1 most important category at a BBQ restaurant, the meats so that others can have an awesome experience. Again, customer service was too notch! read more

Good barbecue is abundant to find in this state. But great barbecue is subjective. In my opinion, the mean pig has the best ribs in the state. And that's a bold statement. But it is far and away the best I've tried. They are family owned, and for the most part run. Great customer service every time I've been there. If they make mistake, just let them know and they fix it on the spot. Or pork is awesome shredded beef awesome, but I love their ribs. read more

This Jersey girl lived in Cabot for about a year and a half and honestly this is the only restaurant I miss! First, the owners are sweethearts. I was fortunate enough to be there the day Man vs. food filmed their episode there. I told them it was my moms birthday who was visiting from out of town and they made sure we had a special table and Adam from the show made moms day special. I miss their pulled chicken and sweet bbq sauce so much I may have to order some online! Very inexpensive and some of the best bbq I've ever had. read more

In ol Cabot, the question comes up, "y'all want BBQ?" Well I'm in Arkansas...they got beans? Potato salad too...yes, beef please. The food was picked up, brought home and placed on the counter. My sammich was neatly folded in aluminum foil...with love, apparently. I could tell. I claimed my fare, grabbed it, had to go a solid 2 pounds. I'm telling ya, I unfolded the foil like it was a fragile gift on Christmas morning. Oh my...the pulled beef fell off the sides. The smell was good, very nice. I polished it off, only to find I had the jumbo...that explains the massiveness. Did I look hungry? Was I hangry? Nah....I had beans and potato salad for my sides, loved the beans, the p salad was a bit dry. The only complaint, it may not even be that...a preference perhaps. A hard roll for me. Good chow from a vet! read more

We've been talking up the ribs and shredded pork to our friends for months and planned a dinner tonight with four friends. Ordered full rack MILD pork ribs and a pound of shredded pork with mild sauce. We expected another awesome meal!... sadly, we opened the packages to SPICY, full rack and 10 spicy cups along with 2 mild cups of sauce. We are so embarrassed! No one could eat the food. Very disappointed. read more

Food was good for the price, but nothing outstanding. My husband can smoke a better pork butt than this, but we would out and about and hungry. Not sure we would return. Staff was friendly and environment was good. read more

Good food good people. You won't be disappointed here. I am a little surprised by some of the reviews of the beans. They are my very favorite and when my meal comes with two sides I usually get both beans. They put cole slaw on the sandwich so that's greens for me. I have done the challenge and have the shirt lol. Not sure it was worth it though as the night that followed was not good. Buddy and family will take care of you. They do keep hours that suit them. It is their business and family definitely comes first for them. I say good for them. read more

The Mean Pig BBQ - The shirt - Barbeque Near Me - Cabot, Arkansas

What a treat! We went to eat lunch at the Mean Pig while we were visiting relatives in Cabot. We were received by Chad and the other operators of this establishment like we were family. So friendly and welcoming. I have had bbq all over the USA. I've never had anything that beats this place. Taste and tenderness of the pork was off the charts. My wife had the pulled pork Frito plate and I had the pulled pork sandwich with bbq beans. The portions were very generous and the prices were a bargain. We had such a nice time chatting with everyone that we stayed long past what we should have. We spent our day looking around Cabot for properties to buy and taking about how wonderful our experience at the Mean Pig was. Dinner time came around and we had to go back. A rack of pork ribs and peach cobbler this time. Ribs were as tender and tasty as they come. Just writing about the sauce is still making my mouth water. Yeah, we had to get a jar of sauce to take back to Los Angeles with us. Peach cobbler topped off a great day of "Pigging out" at the Mean Pig. If you are on Weight Watchers, don't stop here. If you want the best damn bbq you've ever had, this is your spot! Thanks Chad and team! We will be back. After all, it's only a 1700 mile drive and worth it! Glenn and Geannette read more

I did not like the ribs at all. My daughter talked me into going back and trying the Smoked Frito pie it's was good.

Great find on my way through Little Rock! Conveniently off the interstate and easy to get in and out of. I ordered the spicy BBQ Frito pie and peach cobbler. The portion was good on the pie. There was a nice spice to it and the pork was very moist and tender. Unfortunately, the cobbler definitely lacked in taste for me. For starters, when I got my order I asked about the cobbler because I didn't see a serving on my platter. I was informed that the thimble-sized foam cup was the cobbler. That's not a good start...and on top if that, I didn't enjoy it very much. Perhaps the sauce seared my mouth to any taste, but really the cobbler wasn't anything to write home about. Needless to say, I enjoyed the BBQ and the atmosphere and would be back... read more

The Mean Pig BBQ - Spicy BBQ Frito pie and peach cobbler... - Barbeque Near Me - Cabot, Arkansas

Stopped in for lunch. Just wanted a sammich. Which they gave me quickly. Somehow the bread was already soggy. Over sauced undersmoked. I've been to chain bbq that does better than this. I should have known better when there was no line to eat. read more

Good food, good service. If you want a good smoked/bar-b-q, check this place out. Great sauces as well.

The food was amazing and the service was really quick. I will definitely be back for the jalapeño cheese sausage!

I love this place!!! The food is great and the staff is fast and friendly . I always stop in for lunch when I'm in Cabot. The Smoked Frito pie is awesome!! read more

Ive eaten here a couple times after taking my kids to the cabot pool. The bbq is good. I tried the shut up juice sandwich challenge today. Lets just say it takes a real man to tame that flaming beast. Its more like pepper spray than hot sauce. I made it and got a sweet t-shirt. But soon after realized it wasnt worth the pain... read more

The Mean Pig BBQ - Challenge accepted. Challenge complete! - Barbeque Near Me - Cabot, Arkansas

Racks of Pork Ribs were undercooked, very pink, tough, couldnt cut off bone with knife.

Wonderful food!! The only thing I was disappointed was they didn't put any coleslaw on my Frito pie and they just gave us a small bag of Fritos to go with the barbecue if they would do more Fritos and coleslaw it would be amazing other than that it's a really good combination read more

Great bbq friendly staff and fast service. I love the taste of there bbq. One of the best places around I feel.

Welp, I gave them one more shot and they managed to get worse. The staff was rude, and food was garbage. Save yourself the trouble, go to The Whole Hog, they actually know what they're doing. read more

Best bbq place ever! They're good at what they do and are famous for it too. There is literally not a thing that I don't like in their menu.

Went here after hearing about the "out of this world ribs" they had here. I was VERY disappointed with them. Not only were they so tough i wore myself out trying to get all the meat off ,they were served cold. I received them before i could even sign my receipt. If ur looking for good ribs don't go here. Go to Texas Roadhouse or Chilis. Will not go back here. read more

OK. I really love you guys but you can't just rest on your fame and your laurels folks! When I drive out of my way off of Interstate 40 just to try to have some good BBQ and you guys are NOT open, then WTH?! Even the local folks say you are NEVER open. I brag about your place and then I get embarrassed because you are making me look bad here! Your portions are generous and your food is good. Way better than average. But when other reviewers also complain about your hours then this is not just a fluke! I am going to try to come back again someday because you folks do good work but c'mon!! I want the pulled pork and the pork ribs and the hot links and the awesome sauce but give a guy a break! It was a Saturday around lunch time! It was not a national local or national holiday! Yes, I am whining. I like your Mean Pig that much but this is becoming a thing of diminishing returns for me here. I like to write good reviews and in fact I wrote a good one for you already if you read so don't flame me or get angry please. This Yelp thing is constructive criticism. Y'all want that, right?! OK. Let's still be buddies.. but this is getting ridiculous. I still love you Mean Pig, but you are leaving me in the cold here and other lovers are beckoning me with their meatsy treatsy goodness.. where is the love Mean Pig? Where is the love? I am feeling like I got stood up at the prom... OK..that never happened but that is what it feels like to me!! Hope to see you again one of these days Mean Pig.. Maybe you will love me more when I am gone... :-( sniff..sniff.. (That sniffing is NOT from the hot sauce I didn't get to taste either). read more

I've visited my dad in Cabot for several years now, and I've been trying for that long to visit the Mean Pig. They have, hands-down, the worst business hours to be found in any restaurant anywhere, so it wasn't easy to plan. But finally, I made it. It wasn't exactly worth the wait. I'll start positive: the people here are really, really nice. Warm, friendly, helpful, happy to see you there. Two of the three BBQ sauces -- the "medium" and "hot," according to them -- were pretty good. The potato salad and cole slaw weren't bad. This ends the positive portion of this review. When we got there -- at 1:00 IN THE AFTERNOON -- they were already out of ribs. And chicken. And while we were in line at the window, they put up signs that they were also out of the beef. There's just no way to excuse this. The place wasn't even that full. Someone in management there is simply failing, in a big way. So, this review is limited to the one item left on the menu: the pulled pork. Here it is: generally flavorless, too finely chopped, kind of cold. They chopped it so much it was like mushy hash, and no longer had any meat texture. Any barbecue place worth visiting smokes its meat for hours and hours, imparting a nice smoky flavor. There was none of that here. The BBQ sauce helped a little ... but I suggest you avoid the "sweet" sauce. I'm pretty sure it's just plain Kraft sauce. The beans were terrible. I'm 70% sure they're straight out of a can, with some extra spices and pork added. If you're at all familiar with barbecue, this place will disappoint you ... but since it closes at 6:30pm (yes, really), and is closed arbitrarily on many other days, odds are you'll never make it here when it's open anyway. read more

One of my favorite things about my ex was his ability to take on the weirdest, wildest and most insane challenges known to man for no reason. So, of course, we hit the road to take the Shut Up Sauce challenge. I like my intestines intact and my mouth sans third degree burns, so I opted for a pulled pork frito pie (nice spin on the classic, by the way) while he held down a pulled pork sandwich, drowned in some of the hottest sauce known to man, for five minutes. He did it, but it was a horrible next 24 hours. We literally had to pull over six times in the next hour and a half for him to throw up, and he spent the next eight hours hugging the toilet in the hotel room. I would think he was being a baby, but I tried a finger-lickin' taste of the sauce and my mouth was on fire for thirty minutes. Basically, this place is for people to go watch other people make stupid decisions for bragging rights' sake. It's pretty decent food while you do so. read more

I was reminded of my experience at The Mean Pig after watching Adam Richman visit on a recent episode of Man v Food. The restaurant itself is a traditional barbeque shack - wooden floors, picnic tables, and counter service. The resulting product is also as good as you would expect from the Barbecue Belt of the central United States, with a pulled pork sandwich that is indeed a mean pig. The appeal of The Mean Pig is the sauce, which is solid in its own right, but when taken to the extreme, can be quite challenging. As the story goes, the owner was consistently receiving complaints about the hotness of his sauce, so he shut them up by making Shut Up Juice, a sauce that is - for most intents and purposes - way too f'n hot. As is the logical progression, Mean Pig then began challenging patrons to finish a sandwich coated in the stuff. The winners of this feat win "the people's ovation and fame forever," to quote Iron Chef. A t-shirt is also involved. The sauce is not for the weak of heart, as the medical waiver you sign before you begin clearly states. I have conquered the Shut Up Juice, though without hamming it up as much as Mr. Richman, and have the shirt to prove it. As for the aftermath, well, I'll leave that up to the imagination. read more

I have done bbq all across the south and I thought maybe I would get lucky and have a great bbq just within minutes of home. They were out of everything but pulled pork and chicken. Don't let the chicken bit fool you! It was literally a frozen grilled chicken patty with grill marks lol! How can you say you are a great bbq joint and you serve a frozen chicken patty! That is downright embarassing. On to the food. We got the jumbo pulled pork sandwich (see frozen chicken for other item, nuff said) It resembled something that would come in a can. Manwich has more of a pulled pork look than this. It was bland and didn't have much smoke flavor. The bbq sauce had a nice bit of heat but no real flavor. You have to go out of your way to have a flavorless hot bbq sauce. When they said they were out of everything I expected it to be good bbq. That's a good sign of great Q when they are out two hours after they open. In this matter, it is a case of riding the fact they were on the travel channel for their ghost sauce. There are several bbq joints in the tri-county area to visit if you are looking for the best. If you are on a quest to find the best bbq in the area, start here first so you don't end your journey for Q on a sour note. read more

Best BBQ place i've ever eaten at! The employees are the best!!! I've been going there since it was a trailer on the side of the road. The best ever! read more

I went to mean pigs a month ago because I really wanted good bar-be-que. I was told Mean Pigs was the best in Cabot. Well they were wrong. The bar-be-que plate I ordered gave me diarrhea very badly. I will never ever eat food from Mean Pigs. My stomach was in so much pain I thought it was food poisoning or salmonella. The restaurants in this town are terrible, either undercooked or over cooked food. I will cook myself regardless of how tired I may be. read more

If you don't have a lot of experience with BBQ, then you'll probably be happy here. But if you've grown up around BBQ, especially between LR and Memphis, this probably won't be your favorite either. First, check the web site because this place has odd hours. Closes at 6:30 on Friday night. We had the pork sandwich with hot sauce and a rack of ribs with the spicy seasoning plus a side of potato salad and a side of beans. The sandwich was by far our favorite. The hot sauce isn't that hot, just a nice blend of seasonings with a spicy taste. The jumbo was huge with pork spilling out. We added coleslaw which was fine on the sandwich. The pork was good and not fatty. It was better with the slaw and sauce on it. Ribs were thick with lots of meat but the seasoning was just "okay.". Not enough of it on there for my taste or it didn't have a strong enough flavor. The meat was moist but not fall off the bone moist. I had to dip it in the sauce to get enough flavor for my taste. If you've never had ribs, these will be fine. But if you're a rib fan, there are better ones elsewhere. The beans were pork and beans with some BBQ sauce and some sweet flavor. A little bit of meat was in there too. They aren't my favorite either - too sweet for my taste. My husband is picky about potato salad. This is probably good if you like a mustard based salad. There's some mayo too, but still more mustard. They don't have fries, just a selection of chips. No meals or combos. You purchase everything individually except for the kids meals. They have a pork or beef sandwich for kids or a hot dog. Their meal comes with chips, a drink and a cookie or applesauce. The hot dogs were pretty big. The workers were very, very nice. Again, this would be a good place to take out or get meat, sauce and buns for a large group. But if you're wanting the very best BBQ this area has to offer, this isn't it. read more

This is an average BBQ place, there is better BBQ places in the area but if you want food fast I would come here. What i mean by average though is the meat is not very moist and is kind of dry. But this is my experience on it many people argue with me about this fairly hot take, so i would recommend you try it out maybe you will disagree because it's all about preference. read more

Love The Mean Pig BBQ!!! Living in MO now and no place here has anything that comes close to Mean Pig. Love that place and the people there. Always nice and friendly. read more

I am from AZ. Passing through Little Rock for a few days. Went directly from Airport to The Mean Pig. I love love love the Frito pie. Got it half sweet half hot. Hot is making my nose run just the way I like it! read more

The Mean Pig BBQ - Frito Pie half sweet half hot - Barbeque Near Me - Cabot, Arkansas

We ordered from the Mean Pig online and had it delivered to Saint Petersburg FL. Smoked ribs...OUTSTANDING...Pulled Pork with Mean Pig Hot BBQ Sauce...INCREDIBLE...Baked Beans...OMG so awesome! The owner went out of his way to make sure the online ordering experience was a positive one and that our food arrived safely. My guy had visited AR ages ago and eaten there...even used their online presence as a solid example of how even the smallest companies/restaurants could have LARGE visibility. He had spoken of them for a while. We finally ordered and no lie...BEST BBQ!!!! I highly recommend you give this place a try regardless of where you live!!! read more