The Boar’s Nest

Don’t love the sauce selection, but the smoked pulled pork and fried pickles were great

I would love to comment on Boar’s Nest’s food but I didn’t get that far in my experience. Working in the Ballard area, there’s not a lot of quick and affordable lunch spots to choose from. We can only eat so much gyro and shawarma and we thought BBQ would have been a great change of pace! My co-​worker and I were excited to try something new. The place was empty of any patrons at the time, just a bearded guy behind the counter who refused to look up at us. He eventually pointed at the big menu board to our left, and still without looking at us grumbled «Menu’s on the wall» then walked back into the kitchen leaving us alone… to stare at a board… So we left and got our gyro and shawarma across the street.

I know I i’ve said this before but this truly is one of the best barbecues I’ve ever had in the Pacific Northwest. I had the boars nest plate which is three meats and two sides. I picked chicken, sausage and pulled pork –awesome awesome. their French fried sweet potatoes? off the hook, the onion rings perfect. Their spicy sauce is super spicy but Tasty. my wife had the fried chicken sandwich she has not had such good fried chicken in her whole life — that’s a quote. Enjoy some fried pickles. They’ll tickle. «go there you’ll enjoy it». The men’s room is a chalk board. No chalk, but a cool idea. The eating area has a Tuskegee University banner (how cool is that?).

Owner is super nice, food is awesome! Must try the hickory smoked sausage & pulled pork sandwich!

This was the first legitimate BBQ place that I’ve been to and I’m a fan. I ordered their mixed plate (3 meats and two sides) and had BBQ chicken, fried chicken, hot link, fried mac & cheese, a piece of corn bread, and sweet potato fries. I thought everything on that plate was pretty good. The chickens were tender and juicy. My idea of friend chicken was something similar to Ezell’s or Poppy’s but their version of fried chicken wasn’t similar. It didn’t have the crunchy texture outside and it wasn’t seasoned well. Thank goodness for their variety of BBQ sauces! They have five difference sauces so anyone can find something that they like. My favorite were their Kansas sauce and their habanero sauce. I mixed the two together to get a sweet, tangy, and spicy BBQ sauce. A huge tip would be to grab the small plastic sauce cups by the register so you have something to put your sauces in.
Another tip is the fried mac & cheese ball is really rich. If you’re going with a friend and both want it, I recommend just one person getting it. I was able to eat 2 of them before thinking I had enough.
If I were to come back I would stick strictly to their BBQ list. I’d like to try their BBQ pork or their half rack of ribs.

Absolutely excellent! We went for lunch to check it out for a party we were having. Lunch was awesome!!!
We ordered a large order for our party. 10 lb pulled pork, 4 lb hot links, sausages and a pound of collard greens… it was all SOOO good! Everyone at the party RAVED about the food!!! Can’t recommend it highly enough. Worth EVERY PENNY!!!

One of the better BBQ places in the Seattle area. The sides were amazing, you can’t go wrong. I had the ½ rack of ribs and they were juicy and fell off the bone. The prices were decent. I would recommend it.

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE! Wow… I don’t even know how to write this review. We ordered delivery and half of our meal didn’t show up and what did show up was cold and inedible. I called and said, «Hey, instead of just posting a crappy Unilocal review, I wanted to let you know what’s up…» The guy who answered the phone could not have been less interested– and then HUNG UP on me. I thought we just got disconnected, but I called back twice and nobody answered. So, in short: they will steal your money by not delivering the food you paid for, what food they will deliver will be cold and inedible, and they will treat you like sh*t. These guys don’t deserve to be in business. Very, very sad.

I’ve gone back several times over the past few years. I think it’s one of the best BBQ spots in the area. I love their sauces and their fried mac and cheese balls are to-​die-​for! Nice staff here and fairly kid-​friendly.
I have thought their pulled pork is a bit dry each time I’ve gotten it. Their hot links and fried chicken sandwich are great. I like the cole slaw, too.
I keep giving the pulled pork another chance but I will stick to their other menu offerings from now on. I have recommended them to many friends! They have a parking lot on the side of their bldg!

Very good pulled pork sandwich. The cole slaw on top was excellent. Greens weren’t great though.

There BBQ sauce is ok but had the beans and the and the collard greens. I know there is vinegar in there but BAM!!! I couldn’t taste anything else but vinegar. There are a number of other BBQ places out there. I would maybe pick up the sauce for home or something but pass on the rest.

In a Seattle market filling quickly with bbq places, this is one of them.
Overpriced for the quantity and quality, and was surprised to find that they don’t do brisket. While not all regions of the country reflect Texas’ sensibilities, it was certainly a disappointment.
The sauces were flavorful, though…

Do not come here expecting BBQ.
I had a ½ slab of ribs, sweet potato fries, and the fried mac & cheese. The fries and the fried balls of Mac & cheese were ok. The m&c needed a lot of salt, they were a little bland.
The ribs were terrible. I don’t know where in the south they are from but these were nasty Washington ribs. I got mine dry but they tasted boiled and like they’ve been in a steamer bin all day. There was no bark, no smoke ring, no smoke flavor and the dry rub looked like it was put on just before they served it. The ribs had been cooking so long that the meat disintegrated when I tried to cut the ribs apart. I’ve never had southern BBQ that tasted like this.

Really solid BBQ joint right off the main drag in Ballard. Prices are really good, since you get giant portioms, and the food is always a hit. Lots of choices here, and can’t really go wrong.
Couple favorites on the menu are the Pig in the Garden Salad, and the ribs. I highly recommend getting the ribs dry, since each table has its own pack of sauces. My personal favorites are the South Carolina Mustard, and the Kansas City BBQ sauce, although the Texas is a close runnerup.
Only downside I think to this place is the seating area is small, but tables can be condensed for other groups. On hot days the airflow isn’t great either (not sure if ac just wasn’t working or what). They could also use a bit more variety for drinks, so if you’re looking for a bite and brews in one spot, not your best bet. But, stopping in for lunch or heading off elsewhere after eating this is a great spot to stop in!

This place has gone seriously down hill, and it was only OK to begin with. As an example, they quit serving brisket. Which, if you are a BBQ restaurant worth anything, you serve brisket. I asked the cashier, who brushed past me with a pace that said «get out of my way». He said they quit making brisket cause it’s too expensive. What? He was rude and abrupt as others have noted in their reviews. The food I ended up with was completely forgettable. This is BBQ gone horribly wrong. Yuck is the word that comes to mind.
The number of 5 star reviews confirms that people in Seattle don’t know what good BBQ is. I don’t blame them, there isn’t much good BBQ here unfortunately.

Looking for amazing Texas style pulled pork and an amazing sauce??? This is it! Wanna an angry orchard beer while sitting outside in the sun? Here’s your place.
Unassuming, excellent service, food is what you expect it to be, neighborhood joint with that down home feel. Can’t beat it. Seriously. Love it.

Located a block away from the Ballad Library, if you blinked you would probably miss this place. Very cute and cozy little BBQ joint.
The ribs are pretty on point texture wise. Juicy, meaty and tender… They definitely fall right off the bone. You can get them dry or wet. There is 5 sauces to choose for saucing your ribs up. My favorite was the Kansas City. Flavor wise, I feel like the ribs don’t have too much flavor unless you drench them in sauce though.
The sides were mediocre. The potato salad tastes like typical Resers Tub potato salad with extra paprika. The Collard Greens were so tart they were basically inedible and the cornbread was a tad dry. However the fried mac and cheese and fries were delicious.
They also offer a lot of other BBQ favorites such as pulled pork, BBQ chicken, Smoked Sausage and an array of BBQ sandwiches. Service was excellent and the restaurant had a nice vibe. Not the best BBQ I’ve ever had but I would come back for ribs if I was ever craving them.

These are the best ribs in Seattle. End of discussion.
There’s not much going on in terms of atmosphere or vibe — a TV inside playing sports and 2 small deck tables outside that I’ve been fortunate enough to snag each time. The staff is wicked friendly. There are a few beers on tap — the IPA is my favourite. I like to get the ribs «dry» and try all the different sauces that adorn the table. I can’t say enough about them — best I’ve had since moving east — incredible.

Consistency is difficult to achieve when it comes to food and service but two visits and these guys have hit the mark both times…
Visited this place again — and again — these gentlemen are AWESOME! Ordered the Big Hoss this time out… definitely enough for 2 people but if you are starving — will definitely be enough. Here is a play-​by-​play: Big Hoss choose 3 meats and comes with cornbread and 2 sides.
Pulled Pork — BAM!!! so freaking juicy and flavorful — you can eat it without any sauce — by why deprive yourself — the Texas one is for me.
Chicken — let’s just say — boneless fried chicken with light breading– YUM!
Sausage — very good — not too tangy (I like it this way) flavorful — very good sausage.
Sides:
Deep Fried MacNCheese — first — who doesn’t like MacNCheese and to make it deep fried and do it the right way — Heaven!
French Fries — Had it last time and it was as good as the last time. but next time — I’ll do like Napoleon Dynamite — got for the Tots

The food is not really bbq and it is not particularly good. My standards for bbq are not particularly high, but I do expect the meat to be smoked. I was lured in by the photos of Shiner beer and many positive reviews. I was surprised to see they were not offering brisket, which is the bbq litmus test. The bbq chicken was likely cooked in an oven (no smoke) with some bbq sauce slapped on at the end. The fried chicken sandwich was just bad and probably frozen when it was thrown in the fryer. Beans tasted like canned Bushes. The cole slaw was too creamy and rough chopped.
BBQ should be good smoked meat and honest sides. The many sauces are superfluous.