The Dancing Pig

I see a few people gave this place a poor rating but I don’t know what they’ve been smoking because this place was awesome! Wide selection of eat and drink, good service, not too crowded — what’s not to love!
Wife and I in town for a cruise but first chose to stay in Ladner (because it was cheaper) for two nights first. Way cute little downtown and this Dancing Pig place was perfect. Good assortment of beers, local craft beers and cocktails. I had great ribs and beans and slaw/​wife had assortment of appetizers and drinks all for a reasonable price.

The place has a nice décor. However, the service is slow. Took 15 mins to get our drinks when there was only two tables of customers. They also can’t make drinks to save their life. The food is expensive and small portions. Tried it twice. Never again.

Finally got a chance to go here. The other reviews I read were a bit concerning to me but I have to say in the end the food was great the atmosphere was a bit lacking but the service made up for that.
Ended up getting the one beer one scotch one bourbon. It was an interesting choice but I may stick with picking my own in the future.
For the main we ended up getting the big platter that says it is for 2 – 3 people. It could have easily fed 4 the brisket the ribs everything was good. The chicken was moist and good but not what I would call southern style bbq.
All in all I would say it was good and I will go again for sure.
I am not sure what the hostesses name was but she was really fun and spunky and had a great time chatting to her as well. She has a nose ring and black hair if you run into her ask her for some food advice.

I’m not a big fan of writing negatively towards people and places but we wernt very impressed when we went here. It was on a Friday afternoon and the place was practically empty. Only a few tables. It took us over an hour in there total. The server didn’t know anything about the meat my boyfriend was asking about. I asked for water at the beginning and I had to wait 20 min for it. She brought my boyfriends beer but didn’t even ask as a reminder if I needed anything and as I sat there in a position of «hey I’m waiting for some service here» she never came until my boyfriend had to actual flag her down. Then when we finally got our food it wasn’t quite what we expected. I ordered the southwestern soup which I expected, it being southwestern, to be a red tomato based chowder. It was completely white cream base. I think the only thing «southwestern» in it was some black beans and corn. Other then then it was just a good old fashion chicken corn chowder. NOT southwestern. And by the time we were ready for our bill it took her another 20 min to just bring us the credit/​debit machine. I’ll remind you there was only about 5 tables total (including us) in the entire restaurant. It should never take that long with that empty of a restaurant.

Went there for the first time yesterday and it was outstanding. Our party had various combos of chicken and ribs and everything was amazing. My baby back ribs with the Kentucky BBQ sauce will become an addiction I’ll have to deal with at some point. A round of Bourbon smashes was a hit to start the evening. Our server should give lessons to other servers as to how the job should be done. Informative, friendly and attentive. All in all an excellent experience and I’ll definitely be back.

Call me a spoiled American who eats BBQ likes it’s going out of style, no seriously, call me that. It’s a fitting label. I eat BBQ once a week, think we should put a pig on the flag, and once took a bath in homemade BBQ sauce (it was awesome).
My girlfriend and I decided to stop by this pig shack for a bite one night after driving around looking for a place to eat. We were both starving and usually when I’m hungry even the awful bits of cuisine start becoming tasty. Nothing could have prepared us for the travesty of BBQ that awaited us that fateful night. It was so bad, we still joke about it weeks later. I’m talking like hospital cafeteria bad.
The ribs were totally dry, I basically had to saw them apart and none of the sides had any flavor to them.
The only reason this place should be visited at all is because they had a good beer list and friendly staff. Maybe get a burger or something but skip anything they try to BBQ.

Am I the crazy one? I can’t be the crazy one. Because there was four people at my table with me who all agreed that this was a five star spot. It’s very rare that my experience with a restaurant is so incredibly different from everyone else, but there it is.
Being noobs to «the pig» as we will likely refer to it as from now on, we asked three people what they would eat and got three different but similar answers. At the end of the day, I am never, ever going to turn down cracklin’ (my father would disown me)… so I got the Crackle Burger (hand made delicious super beef patty, lettuce, tomato, candied bacon, and cracklin… which is basically crispy pork skin.). Three other people followed suit, with one opting for the (truly f*#&$ing delicious) Crispy Chicken Sandwich. (Did I mention it was truly effing delicious?)
We had a long discussion with one of the servers about the brisket, but when no one ordering it, he brought a little sample over for us. Sweet mother of God. Thinly shaved, perfectly sauced, smokey, spicy… I honestly think it was the best brisket I’ve ever had (and no, I’m not a BBQ noob.) What fat was present on the meat melted on your tongue in a pool of happy. I have no idea what happened to the other reviewer? But that brisket was insane. Another unanimous agreement.
Can we talk about the kale coleslaw? My husband NEVER eats his coleslaw. Never. I always eat it for him. He ate almost his entire portion. In fact, we all did.
Oh, and the fries… the fries were outstanding.
Finally, the service? Was exemplary. Attentive, and obviously going out of their way to make sure we had a good experience (and no, I wasn’t wearing a Unilocal shirt today).
Anyway, I’m not sure if the earlier reviewers just experienced new spot issues or what, but we had a wonderful experience.
Oh, and for what it’s worth? Unlike the other reviewer I loved the décor and ambiance and really wanted to steal the hanging exposed light fixtures. Great soundtrack playing too.
We are going to make «the pig» a regular post golf spot from now on!

Delicious BBQ and craft beer — excellent! I have only had positive experiences here, so I am not sure what happened with other reviews, but I recommend the Dancing Pig if you are looking for a good beer and some delicious ribs or pulled pork.

I need to take a moment to grieve the loss of what was yet another opportunity for Ladner to have a decent, hip and happening spot. Then I remember that this is Ladner after all, and any attempt to be «cool» is on par with a weird uncle trying to rap.
The Dancing Pig could be on its way to become a strong entertainment pillar in the community, but so far it’s missed every mark. The décor is far too «industrial chic» and uninviting, the food is extremely sub-​par for BBQ, and the prices are outrageous for what they’re offering.
I would love to see the Dancing Pig reduce the size of their menu and instead focus on mastering the basics that everyone will love: brisket, ribs, smoked chicken, baked beans, cornbread & slaw. There’s too much on the menu, it’s overwhelming and the food is underwhelming.
I see the Pig going places, and I hope that in this first year of business they will work out the kinks. Until then, it’s a solid 2-​star rating.

I along with other Ladner-​ites was hoping this would be the BBQ place we’ve been hoping and praying for, but alas, it was a big disappointment. Went there for an early dinner with mom and being that it was Thursday «brisket» night we decided to order it with fries for mom and baked beans for me along with piña colada and root beer. the place was empty when we entered and were told by the owner (wasn’t sure if he was — never introduced himself or said hi) to sit anywhere, but as we were going into a side area the waitress quickly said — «except there». The food arrived and looked appetizing, the brisket was cut into thick long pieces with some fat and some side mystery sauce. I had to remind the waitress about the corn bread which she promptly fetched and returned with cold individually wrapped butter — corn bread was a bit dry and tasty but fell apart when trying to spread the butter.
Now for the bad news the meal was just –meh. The brisket was dry and missing the bbq flavour — if i was blindfolded I would have thought that I was eating boiled/​steamed beef. the sauce made it easier to go down, that’s not saying much. The baked beans were tasteless, again no flavour — I think a can of Stag beaked beans would have tasted better. Oh and it came with coleslaw-​which was uneventful. My mom’s fries were ok, but she just ate one or two slices of her brisket before she called it quits — she did enjoy her piña colada…
Being that my mom never likes to waste food we asked for a doggie bag and was disappointed to find that the server just tossed everything in the styrofoam container –beef, french fries, and the soggy coleslaw which mixed in with everything! And if the food wasn’t bad enough as we were leaving nobody from the staff asked how was our meal or thanked us as we were leaving — they just sat around like we weren’t even there. My mom who uses a stroller usually gets a staff to open the door or offers assistance, but not this place. i hope the proprietors read these reviews and make an effort to actually serve the community with decent food and service.

I had the nachos with pulled pork as well as a flight of four local craft beers. The nachos were fantastic and I was quite impressed with the selection of craft beers. I will definitely be back when I am in the area.

First time .
Party of 4 adults and four kids.
Great food, not dry, amazing burgers and ribs!
Will go back.
No Guinness!!!

First off, I was so incredibly excited that there was a new restaurant in Ladner AND it was BBQ! I would not call myself a BBQ expert by any means but I am very picky about it. We lived close to the original Memphis Blues on Broadway and when it first opened, we went there ALOT. Since being in Ladner the only other BBQ I have enjoyed is the Hog Shack in Steveston, which is the best out there in my humble opinion.
So fair enough, my expectations going in were pretty high. I have had both take out and dining-​in experiences and was very disappointed both times.
I will break down my thoughts:
1. Pulled pork on a bun: came with lettuce and tomato (never seen this before). Typically pulled meat is served on a bun with coleslaw and bbq sauce. Pork was tender but it had a slight metallic taste and no bbq sauce.
2. Brisket on a bun: Brisket was tough and extremely fatty. I literally tossed ½ of it out as it was fat.
3. BBQ beans: they were dry and tasteless. resembled refried beans more than what I expect bbq beans to be.
4. kale slaw: basic slaw with a few dried cranberries
5. rib bites: these were actually quite tasty but probably would not order again.
6. poutine: I sent this back. I actually have not seen what was to referred to as ’ gravy’ on fries or any other food for that matter before. Both myself and my lunch date were honestly baffled. it was grey/​beige and glutinous, as in not running all over the fry and cheese curdy goodness. it was a blob on top, and grey, and tasteless. very very strange. sent it back and asked for reg fries. they were quite tasty. was charged 2.95 for the small basket of fries.
Service was very friendly, atmostphere was nice. I think they really really need to do some better BBQ research and change some things if they want to please the BBQ crowd. I won’t be back until/​unless I hear some positive feedback. Really too bad!

I went to the Dancing Pig with high hopes as I have never been disappointed at the other local restaurant with the same owners. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about this place. A friend and I went here for a weekday lunch and it was not overly busy.
Ambiance — the interior of the restaurant was decent. It has been spruced up from the restaurant that was here prior and it was clean in the area that we sat.
Service — our waitress was friendly and attentive, nothing to complain about here. The food preparation took longer than I would have expected, especially for a lunch hour. I would say it took almost 30 minutes to arrive at our table from when it was ordered.
Food — I ordered the Lettuce Wraps with BBQ chicken and a cup of the Southwest Chicken Chowder. The portion of shredded chicken was skimpy and should have been at least doubled in my opinion. There was a bit of kale slaw to go with it as well as lots of crispy noodles. There was way too much Iceburg lettuce provided, so much so that I felt guilty only using 3 pieces of it and knowing that the rest would be tossed. The chowder came at the same time and you could tell it had been sitting for a while as it had that film that develops on the top. It was a generous portion, I actually clarified with the waitress that it was the cup of chowder I had ordered, not the bowl but she confirmed that what I had received was correct. The ingredients in the chowder were nice and there was a smoky flavor to it, but that was the ONLY flavor. The chowder base was so bland otherwise. It has a lot of potential if only they would add some more seasoning to it. My friend ordered the Chicken Lunch which was a quarter chicken, kale slaw, BBQ beans and a buttermilk biscuit. She didn’t care for the flavor of the chicken seasonings (may have been personal preference — I didn’t try it) and commented that the biscuit was «as dry as a popcorn fart». I tried a bite and have to completely agree, understanding that biscuits are not normally a moist food but these were quite different and not flaky like one would expect with a biscuit. It wasn’t worth eating. The BBQ beans were just okay.
All in all, I would give this place another try since I know they just opened and that it has the potential to have awesome food, given the success of the other restaurant owned by the same people. But if they don’t improve beyond what I experienced today I would never go back.