Sunday, August 22nd—Bar 224

Day 214—Saturday, August 21st, 2010

The Spotted Pig

It’s Saturday and we all know what that means: Cheeseburger Saturday Night! One place I’ve been meaning to go and try the cheeseburger is The Spotted Pig in Greenwich Village. It’s a popular place and known for its cheeseburger, so I thought I’d go early and see if I can snag a seat at the bar. So, it’s off we go.

Here we are, there's no official sign, you have to look for the dangling pig overhead.

Let's go in and see what's happening.

It's already crowded in here, but I see a seat at the bar.

Kristen was the friendly bartender and she was quick with a smile and a beer.

A brick archway leads to tables and chairs in the back.

Here's the view from my perch at the bar.

This lovely trio of ladies were seated next to me at the bar. From left: Abbey, Jeanine and Tracy. They came in from Hoboken and Jeanine had read about the 365 Bars website online. They told me about a bar in Hoboken that has great cheeseburgers, so that may be next week's stop.

And here I am with my neighbors at the bar.

Their food arrives and reminds me that I need to look at the menu.

Here's the draft and cask beers available at the bar.

And the proof of a great pub, a tin ceiling overhead.

Their signature ale, the Spotted Pig Bitter.

There's ceramic pigs in the front window.

And there's also pigs to the left...

And a quartet to the right.

These three hooligans were seated to the right of me.

From left: Buster, Andrew and John. They're studying at a culinary school in the neighborhood and stopped by to do some homework by sampling the cuisine.

And speaking of food, mine's starting to arrive. I started out with the deviled eggs. They had a hint of chili oil to them and were a little spicy and a lot delicious.

And here's the main course, the Roquefort Cheeseburger and shoestring fries. It looks great!

And tastes even better!

Now that's a tasty burger!

My neighbors at the bar were getting ready to head back to Hoboken, so Jeanine and I took a parting picture. Goodnight, everybody!

Review

The Spotted Pig is a cozy, two-level gastro-pub. The walls are brick and there are pig ornaments on the bar, wall and hung upside down from the ceiling. The bartenders and staff are friendly and the crowd is a mix of neighborhood locals and tourists who have read about the pub from guidebooks that all give this place a high review.

The owners bill the place as a gastro-pub and as such features two cask beers, Spotted Pig Bitter and Six Points Bengali Tiger IPA. Kelso Pilsner, Harpoon UFO White, Speckled Hen Pub Ale and Guinness Stout are available as draft beers. There’s a good bottled beer selection as well including: Samuel Smith's Organic Lager, Saison Dupont Farm House Ale, Pacifico Clara and Pork Slap Pale Ale. They also have a decent selection of wines and a full liquor bar.

There’s wonderful bar snacks available and some of the offerings are: Deviled Eggs, Marinated Olives, Chicken Liver Toast and Roasted Almonds. Some of the entrees include: Grilled Skirt Steak with Roman Zucchini, Milk Braised Pork with Roasted Trevise and Chard, Pan Roasted Striped Bass with Tomatoes and Saffron and Chargrilled Burger with Roquefort Cheese & Shoestrings.

Stop by and Dig the Pig (and yes, I stole that from Tim Carey.)

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The Spotted Pig

314 W. 11th St. (@Greenwich St.)

212-620-0393