The Iron Pig Smokehouse

Good place for lunch. I had a pulled pork sandwich with fries. Both were great. The meat and bun was top quality. The potato chips are homemade and are unique and tasty as they are dusted with ranch dressing mix. The price was $13.00 which is good when compared to similar lunches. My 4 star atmosphere rating was because there is limited seating and the table arrangement could be improved.

We all enjoyed our lunch! The pulled pork with the slaw was delicious. And the mac and cheese flavor worked well with the smoked meat. Fries with their ranch were very good. Waitress was kind and inviting. I'd eat here again if in the area.

The brisket was dry, the ribs had no flavor, I had to get my own fountain drinks, and order at the counter. The tip was given when I ordered and paid, then I was informed I had to get my own stuff. The baked beans taste just like the ones from the can.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Must-Stop! Iron Pig Smokehouse absolutely knocked it out of the park. We shared the sampler platter and were blown away—every bite was a highlight. The ribs fell right off the bone, the brisket was tender and packed with flavor, and that jalapeño sausage? Hands down divine. The mac and cheese was rich and creamy, but the real showstopper was the cornbread—drizzled with maple syrup, it was dessert and side dish all in one. Who needs sweets after that? Topping it off was a smoked Old Fashioned that was as bold and smooth as the service—our server was friendly, fast, and knew the menu inside and out. Amazing food. Amazing waitstaff. Amazing drinks. Can’t wait to come back.

Note: this is a new location previously on main st. Really enjoyed the brisket flavor and taste, unfortunately about half of the meat was fatty and inedible. I mentioned this to the server and was told that was normal. Not sure what the sauce is on the corn bread, but it was delicious.

Service was good. Atmosphere is fun. We walked in to get carry out and it wasn’t a long a wait but the place wasn’t busy either. Brisket was good but a couple pieces were overcooked. Nothing the good bbq sauce couldn’t help. Horseradish sauce was good too.

Now, I had high hopes for Iron Pig Smokehouse. I mean, with a name like that, you expect bold flavors, smoky perfection, and maybe a little bit of barbecue magic. What I got instead was a masterclass in how to overcook meat and underdeliver service. The brisket had the texture of a history textbook — dry, dense, and hard to get through. The ribs looked promising until I realized they were less “fall off the bone” and more “cling to the bone out of spite.” The sides weren’t much better. I’m fairly certain the mac and cheese and I are still emotionally processing what happened. Service? Let’s just say I’ve received warmer hospitality from a self-checkout kiosk. Drinks took forever, food took longer, and checking on the table seemed to be treated as an optional side quest no one accepted. And then there was the owner, Ian. If customer service were an Olympic sport, he’d compete in Avoidance and Defensive Responses. Any concern was met with the enthusiasm of someone being asked to do taxes. It’s always a bold strategy to make customers feel like they’re inconveniencing you by… being customers. Iron Pig has the vibe of a place that thinks its reputation will carry it — unfortunately, the barbecue didn’t get that memo. One star:…for the parking lot being easy to exit.

The food is delicious, it's smoked. We got the sampler platter with just a pinch of extra brisket. The Brisket was great, the Ribs were fall off the bone, and everything was perfect, thanks. Will definitely stop by again.

Stopped here for a bite to eat, ordered at the counter and they brought the food out to us. We had the cowboy bites, Texas Twinkies, brisket nachos, and the iron pig burger. Also got the sampler platter to go. The sampler platter is definitely the way to go here and is very reasonably priced compared to some of the other options. Food was pretty good, portions were good for the main dishes, and we left stuffed and happy.

Stopped after working our shift for a quick bite. I guess it may have been because we were late getting there and it was close to quitting time, that we felt rushed with our orders. Food was ok.

My colleagues and I are staying in Gaylord and working in Grayling. The Iron Pig popped up as close by the hotel. Nice place with a much larger seating area that opened up away from the bar. I had the Iron Pig Sandwich and Onion Rings. A very large, tasty sandwich that didn't need any sauce to be delicious. The rings were cooked just right too. Will return, maybe even in the next week.

Ordered brisket Mac n cheese. There was almost no cheese, the pasta was overcooked, the meat was cold and not very smoky tasting. The Texas bites did the job, but that's about it. And to note if you want a Shirley Temple drink apparently you have to be specific you want it made with Sprite or Vernors, or else you'll get club soda. Would not bother here again.

Wow! So good. The $11 pulled pork platter was amazing for the price. I wish there was a metro Detroit location.

My sister wanted breakfast which we were told they only serve on weekends. Pretty cool they made her a very nice breakfast anyway. I ordered 3 Korean Tacos. the pork wasn't crispy but with their Cole slaw it was fantastic. I asked for salsa and a bland tomato sauce arrived in a thimble. I don't like the tortillas chips that came with the tacos but all in, it was a 10. We felt comfortable dining here but the atmosphere wasn't as fun or friendly as I had expected. Still, that's only what I like to experience in a bbq restaurant that also offers karaoke every other Wednesday. Enjoy!

Walk-in and order at a counter. The service was good. We ordered a pulled pork platter and pulled chicken platter. Each platter came with cucumber salad, baked beans, coleslaw, corn muffin. The sides are very small. The food is delivered to your table for dine in. Meat is flavorless. No smoke flavor or dry rub flavor for the meat. Creamy Coleslaw is flavorless. Baked beans are bland with very little flavor. Cornbread muffin was moist and ok (best part of the meal). Cucumber salad has a slight vinegar flavor. The sauce that is warm (poured onto pulled pork) tastes different than the sauce on the side but it is the same sauce. The bbq sauce is just ok. Portions are large. The amount of meat you get with a platter is good. I would not visit this restaurant again. I would look for other restaurants options in Gaylord.

Updating to 3 stars from 1 as it's been a while. 3 years at least. Definitely advise researching prior.

Very disappointed with our meal on Jan 15. Would not recommend. Also service was very slow and inexperienced. Ambience was nice in new building but did not make up for a very disappointing meal.

Not very good service. Dinner was good. Server could have been a lot more tentative during our visit. Received wrong drink and wrong dinner. Really didn't offer any apologies or alternatives for her mistakes. Most likely won't dine there any time soon.

Ambiance is bar with a larger seating area next door. (Seems to be a trend in Gaylord- see Crave across the street.) Order and pay at the register and the food is brought out to you. Seat yourself service. It is odd that a tip is asked for at payment for this service. I find this an odd style how do you have it both ways- no table side service but ask for a tip at time of placing order. When no service has been delivered. Our assigned not wait staff greet us and tell us the information on how food would come. Our server/ food delivery was as soon as the food was up. Our party of three had the loaded Mac, potstickers, iron pig burger, and brisket tacos. Food was great! Everyone enjoyed the homemade chips served with the iron pig burger and tacos! The brisket tacos were very bland looking but my son said they tasted great, iron pig burger was SO GOOD and all the potstickers were quickly consumed! Loved that concept of a BBQ sticker. Solid BBQ option. The service situation is fine but for the food prices and tip at time of payment put me off. Hope management considers how to navigate this conundrum. 4-5 star foods 3 stars for food delivery Expensive bar- bq

Kinda weird vibes walking in. The staff seemed unhappy we were there. I ordered a sample platter which included ribs , brisket , pulled pork and some corn bread. The ribs were not good at all , 1/5 stars the brisket was incredibly fatty most of it was inedible, the cornbread had a very sweet sauce on top that was pretty good. Mac and cheese was served in a very small container and was 7 dollars, the bartender was a bit aggressive not rude but not friendly either. Won't be back but I'm sure they will be fine because it the only bbq in this small town. Disappointing meal over all!

We ordered the Texas twinkies and were totally shocked when they brought out our food. Shame on us for not reading the menu properly. We didn't realize that they charge $12.00 for 2 tiny cream cheese stuffed peppers wrapped in bacon. They were very good but $10.00 would be overpriced. I'd say that for $12.00 you should get 6. Wish I would have taken a picture to attach to the review. Its actually laughable but I still feel like I got ripped off.

Good food , fast service and fun atmosphere. Great for breakfast , lunch or dinner. Easy to find on Main street.

Delicious. We had a salad and a flatbread. Nice service everywhere. Bravo. Clean and family friendly.

Laid back! Relaxed! What a great stop. Variety of food was good. Lots of seating options with a full bar. There was plenty of TVs to see sports in the bar area. You make your orders at the counter and take your number back to the table. Food was fast and accurate. Service was great. Food was awesome. I enjoyed the variety.

The pulled pork was cold and flavorless. The Mac n Cheese seemed to have left out the cheese. Not at all cheesy and again lacking any flavor. You are allowed to season the food guys! Service was decent. The restaurant itself had the typical BBQ joint vibe. The clientele had a surprisingly trailer park quality. I was expecting more of an upscale tourist crowd. Unless under-seasoned, bland food is your thing, there are much better restaurants in the area.

This soy calls to you from the highway with signs advertising Barbeque with a side of freedom. We decided to stop in on our drive and try it out as a result of the sign, so great advertising! The spot is easy to find along the main road and there is ample free street parking in front or you can circle the block and park behind the building where there are two lots. Once you walk in we were greeted immediately and told we could sit wherever. There are menus on the tables and one above the register. There are high tables, regular tables and two smallish rooms to choose from for dining. There is also a full service bar which is to the right of the register. There are also pool tables so you can enjoy a game while waiting for food or with friends. Once you know your order you go to the register to place it and get a number. Drinks are at a fountain and serve yourself which is nice plus a handy spot for water. The service is fast and we had our food within a short time even with it being super busy on a Friday night. We ordered their smokehouse fries which came with a fun sauce and were spicy but in an amazing way! Loved that they brought them out as soon as they were hot which I appreciated! The chicken platter was large with two sides and a great cornbread covered in a honey sauce. Yum! The sides were baked beans that had a delicious Smokey flavor and then green beans that had bacon and a Parmesan type sauce that make them hard to stop eating! My husband loved the chicken and the variety of sauces made it delicious he said. Everything had a good spice rub on it which added to the flavor and added a level of spice. Very yummy and would highly recommend it!

Really disappointing and mostly flavorless. I got a Brisket Bowl with shredded 'brisket' with no smoke flavor at all, although it was moist. The guacamole it came with was Family Fare bagged guacamole and the salsa came from a jar. All for 17 dollars. Also order at the table was a pulled chicken sandwich that was completely flavorless. The tater tots were crispy, I guess. Good beer selection. Nice environment, classic bar and nice patio seats. Very quick service (which I suppose is easier if your food comes from cans and jars.)

Ordered the sampler platter, pulled pork was ok, Brisket was super dry, and the ribs were burnt to the point of not being edible. Beer was barely cold and was given a warm glass. Self service. My wife had the brisket sandwich and it was mediocre. My sons had the brisket rice bowl and pulled pork platter, both were ok. Not worth the money or time.

My husband has been wanting to visit this freedom loving gem for a couple of years now. I am so happy we finally made it and, from now on we will make the two and a half hour drive just because the food is so amazing. It's nothing super fancy but it is perfect for the smokehouse that it is. It's like an indoor picnic area, but very clean. You order from the counter and your food (and alcohol) is then delivered to your table. They have a full menu, appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, Mac and cheese/loaded, salads, tacos. Something for everyone. So worth the trip. I'd "Risk it for the Brisket" any day!

The food was just ok. We got a platter and shared it. I am very picky about my coleslaw, so I didn't like it . The brisket was really good, and I would say the pulled pork was just alright. The one objection I had was it wanted you to provide a tip, which was already set to 20% before you got your food. You needed to walk up to the off side of the bar to order. No table service, they dropped off your food with no return to see if you needed any thing else. So, you do have the option to change the tip amount, but you should pay for the quality of the server not a % of the bill.

This place is pathetic. It is not very good and the help could care less. There was one lady who was kind but didn't get anything done. The portions are small and I am a BBQ expert. Small kitchen, too small for good bbq. Didn't have much of anything. It is just a bar trying to serve BBQ.

I ordered the beef brisket platter and it arrive incredibly fast, not kidding it may have only been 5 minutes! The entire platter was delicious and it came with so much meat for $19 price tag on it. It is a no brainer to go back there the next time we drive through the area!

Definitely not worth the time. Definitely not worth the price. And pay attention to the inappropriate responses of the "business manager" to reviews he dislikes. Definitely not a business to support.

Should have read the reviews prior to dining. You walk into what looks to be a typical BBQ/bar restaurant, but I quickly learned of a few things during our meal here: 1) The staff has no problem bashing other employees/owners to customers dining...talk about lack of respect for where you work and poor ambiance for others. 2) The portions are really small...bar nachos are traditionally much larger than MAYBE a 7"×4" metal plate. 3) The brisket was not bad, but again, for the price, you wonder where the rest is?? 4) the establishment flaunts defying a public health order from the covid-19 pandemic - if they're willing to defy that order, who's to say they're adhering to other public health orders, such as food safety measures per the county health department?? Lastly, as evidenced by the sheer amount of free time the "business owner" seems to have to respond by berating the experiences had by others who visited the establishment instead of addressing/working to improve the business, I highly recommend people consider this review (and all the other reviews preceeding this) to change their lunch/dinner plans. As someone who regularly crosses the bridge for leisure and business travel, this will not be a repeat trip.

I have to say that the prices here have gone off the chart high. I do love the ribs, but the Mac and Cheese was just Mac, no cheese, and for 12.00 this is not okay. I spent 25.00 for a half rack of ribs with a micro portion of baked beans and a single muffin. I can't justify the cost for the product. I hope they come back more in to line price wise soon.

Dropped in with a friend that recommended this spot. It's tucked into a building with plentiful parking out back. You order up front and grab your own soft drinks and waters . Beers and food are brought to you. The table had Mac and cheese, Korean tacos, poutine, and Buffalo chicken dip. The Korean tacos had a bit of a bite and the chips that came with them were delish. I had a bit of Mac and cheese with smoked sausage and it was also very good. I had a bit of the meat from the poutine- solid! Definitely a must try spot!

Just ate there today. Was awesome brisket and drinks! Can't wait to go back! Beef Brisket

The IronPiggs Smoking house in Gaylord has got to be the worse restuaraunt or place for BBQ in north America. The smoked meat was dry, tasteless leather. Everything was overseasoned or slathered in sauce to try and make up for it. The few offerred sides were dry and tasteless. The service is horrible, owner was very rude, angry and political? seriously? .... Dont waste your time, we never will again... ... anywhere else butt thu ironnpiggs smokkkshop!!!! NO THANK YOU.

The service was good and the food was fantastic. I had the pulled pork tacos with fries to go and when I got to the hotel the food was still great.

The food was cold, the chicken on the nachos was not heated, it was ice cold. They definitely used queso from a jar and didn't even heat it up. The tortilla chips were of poor taste and quality. Not happy at all. Nice decorations but the food and service was bad.

A typical BBQ smoke house you would expect. Their homemade spicy BBQ sources really set the bar high

Brunch not so good. Very small portions. Couldn't find the brisket among the potatoes

Causal ambiance. Good bar menu. Easy food. Cheap prices. The homemade chips are delicious. Korean tacos good but not authentic.

So good highly recommend the pork nachos and the smoked Ruben! If I lived closer id be there often

Poor service, poor overcooked food, poor cold bbq, poor Experience. I would not waist my time for mouth watering BBQ when you get dried up old BBQ.

We were in town for a bit if day shred sesh at a close by ski resort. One can get pretty famished by the time the evening comes to a close. This is pretty much what brung us here. Typical bbq joint. Brisket platter is what I went with and it was actually pretty good. I smoke my own meats and if I was to pay for bbq, it'd be better than mine. And it definitely is. There was beer and such, but we had a drive back to Detroit so I opted for diet soda instead. I'd come definitely come back to eat here again. Maybe once people stop pretending this virus isn't real and we finally squash it. But for now,, cheers to the memories. Thank you for reading my review. I hope this helps with your decision making experience. Enjoy your awesome yelptastic day!!

how is this place in business? the food is absolute garbage. I honestly think it's all just microwaved.

Just one server for the whole restaurant. Food and ambiance were okay. I had the Thai bowl.

I've had the privilege of living in Kansas City for the last 5 years. This is not bbq. It's - literally - hot garbage.

I recently went to the Iron Pug smokehouse, and it was terrible, I would have rather shit into my own deep fryer and ate my own deep fried turd, then ever come back to this lousy attempt of a restaurant. The pulled pork was hard because I am assuming it had been in the crock pot since Monday. The brisket from a Rhinoceros would have tasted better than whatever the hell they tried to feed my girlfriend. The Mac N Cheese was harder than my cock is in the morning. My French Fries were undercooked, it felt and sounded like I was eating carrots. Drinks were ok, but dealing with the shitty service and shitty food, we needed alcohol, and ALOT of it.

Amazing for the most part- some little altercations with service. We were here for the marathon and stopped in. Not very busy so we were a little worried but we were quickly served after ordering at the counter! Brisket platter: YUM BRISKET with the burnt edges oh my the beans were okay- they were supposed to be Smokey but I couldn't pick up on that. I didn't get to try the jalapeño cornbread because of a dairy allergy but my husband and mom said it was a little on the spicier side. The pickled cucumbers and onions were delicious I think I ate a whole raw onion 4/5 Sampler platter: my husband didn't like that they only had 1 kind of barbecue. The sampler comes with brisket, ribs and a choice of pork or chicken. My husband said the cucumber onion salad was AMAZING. The beans tasted like the bbq sauce to him. Corn bread was good but not the best. 3/5 Brisket Mac and cheese: the brisket pieces were amazing as mentioned above, the Mac was cheesy and stringy BUT the price was too much for the portion. 4/5 Drinks: mojito platter: the drinks were fresh made with real fresh fruit and mint muddled with whole berries and fruit on top. The drink flight was a bit pricey but they were super delicious. Unfortunately one fo the drinks had a fruit fly inside of the lime. I brought it to the server who brought it to the bartender. I spoke quietly and said I didn't want to sound round or upset but that I would like a new drink and they could make it whatever she wanted. She said "what do you really want me to do about that?" In a crankier voice. I said whatever you feel is appropriate I won't be drinking it but my sister in law will- my sister in law went up and talked to her and sorted it out and she changed her tune when my sister in law said she really didn't care what she wanted to make so she made her a nice berry flavored drink. 3/5

Doesn't look like the owners care about peoples health, much less care about good brisket, some of the driest, most flavorless dry rub I've ever had, and the cook doesn't look like he bathed himself

I give 3 stars because the bartender/server was delightful. Absolutely the worst barbecue I've ever had...everything was dry and almost inedible. The whitefish dip was decent

Food was ok. Service was outstanding. Gave me the runs. I think it was the tacos.Yuck

Outstanding BBQ plus they have the most delicious side items. This is one of those places where in day you will wale up craving their brisket! Buy extra to take home - Promise you will thank me Later'n

Nice food and atmosphere in this Downtown Gaylord spot. Spoiler alert: you have to order food and drinks at the bar, and then the servers bring it out to you. If that's not your style, go somewhere else instead of leaving a bad review. This place is definitely worth stopping at.

Awful food. Owner is a total nutjob who goes off at the slightest criticism. Only thing nice I can say is I feel sorry for the poor people who have to work for him.