the salted pig

environment and changing draft selection are fantastic. we had the battered dates and nearly floated to heaven. burgers were a little over done and the bun was burnt, but that aside everything was great. ask for matt or james. they made our experience exciting.

ridiculous wine prices. $15 a glass house cabernet is quite out of place for their typical clientele


-----13 mar, 2011-----

finally, a place to get good food and a pint. great place to grab a drink, and the sunday brunch isn't half bad either. food is good, not great, but at a minimum, it is apparent they are trying. please don't stop improving the menu. owners please remember, dining establishments stay in business because the food is good...nothing else matters.

late night. apparently for senior citizens. saturday night and the kitchen closed at 10pm.

this place definitely gives me shrek vibes, especially with the decor inside. the service is truly amazing and they bend over backwards to serve you. while this place is a bit on the pricey side, i would definitely recommend their bone marrow entree. it's included with four large pieces of bone marrow and toast to go with it. as for the appetizers, if you're interested in a new concoction of mac and cheese with corn flakes, it's not as bad as you'd think.

my first impression was a bit off but at then end of it i quite enjoyed it. had a number of items, pig fat popcorn, beef carpaccio, brussels sprouts, tacos, msg burger, black and tan, both with eggs, smutty fries. only the carpaccio was disappointing. everything else is really different and i like to see a chef trying different things. not cheap, but it's gastro.

fairly good. a little pretentious and overpriced for me but they have a good beer selection and good appetizers. the mac and cheese and the popcorn are for sure the best dishes.

decent burger, stacked way too high, made it hard to eat. super overpriced for what it was. got a sesame based burger that was way heavy on the sesame, had to remove the buns to try and enjoy the meal.

finally tried it. really good drinks and good service.  the chef gave us some stuffed dates to try. loved them. thank you for the good time. we will be back when in the neighborhood!

i was recommended by several people to try this place out. the inside is really cool & different. the restaurant is quite huge and only more than 1 floor. we had a work function/meeting so we were downstairs. service was ok. food was ok. prices were a little more than what i'd actually pay for .....place is quite busy when we went.

hipster-ish place.. friend picked this place out for our "restaurant of the week" to eat at. we ate here probably a month or so ago.

so i do not regularly drive through the area of riverside that this restaurant is in. apparently after 5:00pm on a weekend all the paid parking areas are free, otherwise you have some parking spots across the street from the restaurant or a parking lot.

when we arrived, we were queued with probably five or six other patrons. i think we were told it would be about a 35 minute wait, which was accurate. unfortunately i think i was suffering from a headache and the added dimmed lighting of restaurant made me just want to sleep.

we both tried one of the pumpkin beers they had on tap (we thought our server had said it was some sort of "pumpkin pie" beer, but i did not see it listed on the beer listing website.) we got the bacon fat popcorn appetizer, the lamb burger for myself, and the roasted bone marrow for my friend.

the bacon fat popcorn was not bad at all. i really liked the maple sugar that was on it, but i thought there was too much sea salt.

i am not much of a burger/meat connoisseur, so when i was asked how i would like my lamb burger cooked... i said "well done." (what a grave mistake i made.) the burger was dry. the amount of black walnut butter and rhubarb jam they put on it was not enough to counteract the dryness of such a thick patty.

the fries and the spicy ketchup that came with it were really good though. i liked the style of fries (shoe string) they make.

my friend loved his roasted bone marrow. i tried a little bit of it and it was delicious.

i did not think the filthy fries at the salted pig quite lived up to expectations. this seemed very much like a pre-packed french fry product (of not the best quality) with various toppings poured on. i also requested some of the house-made ketchup, which seemed to be nothing more than tomato paste.
yes, the vibe here is is nice and hardly ever do you read any criticism of this place.
filthy fries were a tremendous disappointment. i like the salted pig, but i did not like these.


-----14 feb, 2013-----

trendy eatery for downtown riverside. i knew about the salted pig prior to its opening a few years ago, but due to a number of factors i delayed my visit until recently. i had been curious about the place, but i just never made the trek over.
i like trying most things, but i just never got too thrilled when so many restaurants started the hipster/gastropub/craft beer trend.

the salted pig is a nice spot for downtown riverside, ca which is really lacking in attractions that would make one want to visit the area, although that is starting to change. the atmosphere was nice and service was pleasant and not overbearing during my visit. i do suggest sticking with the script and order your burger medium.

not that it really matters in regards to the overall dining experience, but the salted pig does not have wi fi, which is something that i would expect from a trendy place like this. i was instructed to connect with the free wi fi offered by the city of riverside and that seemed kinda lame to me. i read on another review site some time ago that the initial partners that made up this restaurant are no longer, which could also explain why the twitter feed has gone silent and the website is not being updated.
maybe it does not matter to many, but is quite common for many "trendy restaurants" in the inland empire, to start off with good intentions but quickly trail off in their activity.

wow!!!!! great food. if you are a pig lover, make sure you visit this place. there are non-piggy items on the menu but i couldn't pass up the bacon popcorn or the pork belly sandwich with pickled peaches. i really wanted the maple bacon ice cream but i was tooo full. great, friendly service. can't wait to drive an hour to go back again!

went for lunch with a customer. had the pork belly sandwich. it was very good. even liked the ketchup they served with the fries (tasted like a chili sauce ketchup).

this hidden gem gives the word "bacon" a higher meaning. the atmosphere is open but cozy. staff is friendly and is willing to explain the in-season micro brews, as well as the history of, "the salted pig." must try the bacon popcorn! just thinking about it makeshift mouth water.

i was hearing great things about this place and was very excited to check it out. the restaurant is set up with two distinct seating areas; one by the bar and one by the kitchen. we sat in the seats at the kitchen counter and were rewarded with some free samples of their deviled eggs. i only ate one and it was good just not something i focused on throughout the meal. i wish the seats at the bar were a little higher up so i could actually see what was going on. it was strange to sit there trying to see what was going on but being unable to do so. another annoyance was that my server had not tasted many of the items on the menu. it is always alarming to hear a server say “people have told me that this is good” or “i’ve never tried that”. if you really care about your restaurant you will taste and be able to talk about all o