Muddy Pig

In the event of a zombie apocalypse where The Muddy Pig was the last safe refuge for humans, I would gladly throw myself to the flesh hungry undead to be ripped apart, limb from limb, and devoured. That would be infinitely preferable to stepping foot inside this dive bar again. Come to think of it, The Muddy Pig is a very likely last refuge for humans in this scenario. The rude staff, horrible service, and disgusting food would be a much better defense against zombies than shotguns, chainsaws, and crowbars. more

I?m a quiet guy who enjoys a tasty beer and a good conversation. For that reason, I had enjoyed the setting of the Muddy Pig, dimly lit, relaxing atmosphere, and with a great beer listing. I am a local and for that reason my girlfriend and I had been going to the Muddy Pig for some time. The bartenders and waiting staff always seemed unhappy and a bit unpleasant, but I figured if I stayed out of their way and tipped well they would lighten up be respectful. I have to say I was quite wrong about this place, and after defending the place to friends I got burned. On Christmas night our family gift exchange, I joined some friends for a couple of drinks. While there I noticed that a nearby vacant table hadn?t been cleared for over 20 minutes. In jovial spirits I tried to hand my girlfriend a slice of left over pizza as a joke from the table when all hell broke loose. A skinny guy with a mustache immediately started screaming at me in front of the whole bar. Then an asian girl came around the corner and started screaming at me too. I dropped the slice immediately, and stood there eyes gaping at these two people. I mean these people were actually screaming, not inside-voices, not a firm talking to, actually screaming. I didn?t know what to say or do. I?d been in this bar maybe 30 times and now these people were screaming at me like I was a criminal. Did I mention it was Christmas?? I didn?t say anything and went back to my chair and sat in silence for about 20 minutes trying to figure out what had just happened. After a while I finally shook it off, and before paying the bill asked the bartender for a couple of waters. Instead of getting us waters, Mr. Mustache denied us service and called over the bouncer to escort me out of the bar. The bouncer then apologized to me for the bartender and said for my sake it would be best if my friends and I left. Who are these people? How do they still have jobs? Who treats people this way? How can they work in the service industry when they have the sense of humor of Joseph Stalin?? The ownership of this bar needs to wake up and fire their bartending staff before a couple of A-holes ruin the reputation of an otherwise good establishment. more

I just tried the Muddy Pig for the first (and last) time. I ordered the Pastalaya. It is penne pasta with various meats. It looked OK, but it lacked taste. I only ate a couple bytes and could not bring myself to eat more. My wife offered me some of her hamburger, but that was badly burnt and tasted like charcoal. If you go, I wouldn't plan on ordering food. Pros: Good beer selection Cons: Couldn't eat the food more

I want to start this review by stating that I generally have pretty low standards when it comes to service. My main concern is whether or not the food and drinks are good--having a particularly awesome waitperson is great, but I will still gladly tip an indifferent or slightly inept waiter 20%. Pros: lots of beer Cons: the ridiculous waiter we had last night more

We stopped in the Muddy Pig on Saturday afternoon, had a cold beer and shared the cuban sandwich. Service was good and the sandwich was excellent. Pros: Relaxed Atmosphere, Extensive Beverage Selection Cons: Parking is a challenge more

WORST BAR/RESTERAUNT EVER!!! more

I completely disagree with the previous statement regarding the service at the Muddy Pig. You should go to Applebees if you expect a waiter or bartender that will get down on one knee, ask you patronizingly about your son's little league team all while telling you how amazing the jalape?o poppers are. The Pig is the type of place that compels you linger around for a few hours and be comfortable, whether by yourself or with a group of friends. That said, I find the service at the Pig to strike the right balance, not too pushy nor too sparse. As for Daniel, he's a misanthrope and probably a Communist sympathizer but he does pour the best rye Manhattan in St. Paul, which in these times as they are, the value of which cannot be understated......... Pros: Beer List, Non-Pushy Service, Great atmosphere Cons: Non-pushy service inspires bored people to write bad things about people who are trying to make an honest living more

this is a great neighborhod bar! i love it, the food is incredible and so is the beer. thats what i really love about the twin cities is the micro brews more

The Muddy Pig is a good local pub with the widest and varied beer selection I have found. Appetizers and food is very good. Biggest problem is the service. You'll need to track down a server or be ignored at the bar for every refill. Even sitting at the bar your glass will remain empty for 15 minutes. The bartender Daniel is absolutely rude and the owners would double their sales just by getting rid of this idiot. Good place to stop for one or two because of the selection. Pros: best beer selection in town Cons: terrible service more

Pros: Great beers & selection, good service more

I have never had anything but superior service. Great to unwind during off hours. Highly recommend. Pros: Fabulous Cons: Can get a bit packed at times more

Very dissapointed. This bar has horrible crab cakes and the bartender raved about them. Two of my dinning companions got food poisioning from them. Drinks are pricy and waitress' are extremly rude. Don't bother with this bar instead head to Grand Ave where they know how to treat customers more

Just what I want in a bar!! Amazing food and great atmosphere. Don't forget about the unbelivable selection of beer. Comortable friendly service made me feel like this is my new home away from home. Pros: Beer, food, service Cons: a little crowded more

The first thing I noticed walking in to the bar were the taps, there are quite a few. The second thing I noticed was the elevated chalkboard crammed with beer names. I thought to myself, 'Self, the beer here will be good, but the food will suffer for it.' Boy I was wrong the food is great and reasonably priced, the best part being that the food menu is short, with changing specials. Pros: Tasty food, Beer of all types for all folks, Relaxed ambience Cons: If you like really fast get in, get it, and get out, this ain't it. Not slow, but not fast. more

My favorite neighborhood pub for the last three years, I have the Pig to thank for introducing me to Young's Double Chocolate Stout, which is always on tap, and Belhaven Scottish Ale. The service can be inconsistent, not the best if you're in a hurry, but the staff is knowledgable about the beer list and able to make good recommendations. The food is also some of my favorite - the salmon with pasta is amazing, and the pulled pork sandwich comes with delicious garlic mashed potatoes. There's also board games like Battleship, Scategories, and Jenga available for group play. I count myself incredibly lucky to live within walking distance of this place. Pros: beer list, food, laid-back Cons: dark, service sometimes slow more

My last (and final) experience at the Muddy Pig was HORRIBLE. I have been there before and always thought that the waitstaff all had some sort of attitude problem but figured they were just ""too hip"" to deliver good customer service but last night was unbelievable! My friend, boyfriend and I were there last night. My friend and I ordered ONE beer to share. The female waitress returned with one for each of us, when we proceeded to explain that we had asked for ONE TO SHARE she rolled her eyes and very agressively took the beer back, spilling it all over the floor even. From then on, I knew that this woman had a really BAD ATTITUDE. I already decided that I wasn't going to tip her. As one who has worked in customer service for 9 years and been a waitress for 4 of those years, I have a really high expectation for my food and beverage servers. I thought that this would be the end of it....BOY WAS I WRONG! My girlfriend is rather fidgity and throughout our VERY CALM conversation, she occupied her hands by tearing apart a paper coaster. When our horrible bartender saw this, she came over to (very rudely) say, ""Don't do that, it makes a mess."" She was looking for a fight as far as I could tell. My friend stopped for time and then habitually and subconsciously began again, when the waitress saw this she came for and just stared at my friend with a very malicous look on her face. My friend said, ""I have every intention of cleaning this up."" The bartender responded, ""Or you can give me 4.50 and get the F*ck out!"" We were very suprised by this for many reasons. One, even when you are angry you can not swear at your customers like that. Two, working with food and alcohol there are many worse messes than some paper scraps to clean up. Three, we were some of the quietest people in the bar. We tried to as her name and she wouldn't give it, instead insisted that we call her ""the bitchy asian girl,"" something we felt uncomfortable with. more

I've been patronizing this cozy neighborhood bar for years, enjoying the low key atmosphere and the novel-like beer list. Of course the food and drink was overpriced, but I could justify it as this was a ""destination"" bar, not just a watering hole. The staff has always seemed a little snooty, but on a recent visit a few members of their staff crossed the line into downright aggressive, rude, and beligerent. Sitting at the bar with my girlfriend and one of her friends, we ordered a few beers from a waitress who was clearly having a bad night. Her poor humor was evidently inflamed by my girlfriend's nervous tic of slowly tearing apart bar napkins (though she always cleans up her mess). The bar tender told us to pay our bill and ""get the ""f*ck out"", then repeated this phrase over and over with a few colorful variations. Upon paying our bill, the waitress actually threw the change at my girlfriend! I am not making this up. As we left, one of her fellow waitstaff members ran up behind us, slammed the door and locked it, telling us that we were never to come back. That, I can assure you, will not be a problem. The attitude of the Muddy Pig's staff is that if they don't feel like being polite, or if they feel like being rude, they will do just that, because their bar is so great. I , for one, will never set foot in the place again, and willl tell this story to anyone who will listen. more

My boyfriend and I went to The Pig for the first time tonight. After reading reviews here, I was expecting GREAT bar food. I had the buffalo chicken sandwich and he had the pulled pork BBQ sandwich. Neither of us were wowed. THERE ARE NO FRENCH FRIES AT THIS BAR - there's no fryer at all. Beer, music, and fries are what makes a great bar to me. The Pig has two out of three nailed. This is a great bar if you're just looking to get a beer and chill, but I won't be heading there again anytime soon for a real meal. The service was okay. Nothing wrong, but nothing spectacular... just what you'd expect for a neighborhood bar. Pros: Beer list, atmosphere, music Cons: NO FRENCH FRIES!! more

A friend and I visited the Happy Gnome this past Friday, 4/13. We had both been there several times before. We ordered an appetizer (not good) and some drinks. We noticed some lovely ladies behind us in a booth and turned around to talk to them. My friend asked if he could sit with them and have a friendly conversation. They agreed. I stayed at the bar to finish my overpriced and bland appetizer. The bartendar walked over to me and said that I needed to get my friend. ""He's not allowed to talk to those people"". I asked my friend to come back to the bar and informed him of the bartendar's comments. He called over the bartendar (a Scott Stapp looking wannabe cool guy). The bartendar was unable to form complete sentences to explain why we were not allowed to talk to the girls and called over the manager. The manager (who also 'claimed' to be the owner) stated that if you do not know people in the bar, you are not allowed to talk to them. What kind of crazy nonsense is this? I didn't realize I was in a suppresionist bar. We challenged the owner and his obscene claim and he was unable to verbalize his reasons. I would definitely not recommend this bar to anyone. If you do go, be sure you do NOT talk to anyone other than the people you are with. The owners of this bar also own the Muddy Pig. more

As far as I know, this is THE place in the Twin Cities to drink Belgian beer. They always have about 4 or 5 on tap, which is unheard-of around here, and they have scores of them by the bottle. This is not exactly a wine mecca, but they have an evolving selection of about a half dozen reds and whites each, all by the glass. And this is not your run of the mill Californian Chardonnay and Merlot selection either. You can get interesting wines by the glass that you won't find by the glass many other places. I've had barbera and viognier here. The menu is not hugely remarkable, but everything is tasty. There are about 7 or 8 meat and pasta selections, maybe 10 sandwiches, and a few salads. All in all, this is my favorite unpretentious neighborhood hangout. more