The Swinery

Believe the hype… the menu is short and everything on it looks amazing. Carolina Pulled Pork sandy was great (authentic mustardy BBQ flavor) and the Zagat award winning Swinery Burger was as advertised.
We had the Danger Fries as well, they’re very rich, deliciously savory but an order could be a standalone meal and are priced accordingly ($ 7).
Check it out ASAP, and make sure you block some time after for a food coma.

Wow… just had the burger… wow…enough said…
Stopped in by accident basically. What a find. A butcher shop making burgers. Literally the best I have had. Only 6 seats or so during winter. But you must stop in…

Best meats in seattle. Whole. Animal butchering means some crazy awesome and hard to find cuts. They make their own ham and sausage which are amazing, and the fun odds and ends like rendered duck fat and maracona almonds are also top notch. All of that goes without saying they make a killer burger and fry their French fries in pork fat. I find it hard to stay away from here whenever I’m in seattle.

I tried the double B burger and the pulled pork burger sandwich with kalbi fries. It was so good and definitely hit the spot. The meat is so savory and delicious! Not a lot of room for seats so I would order to go!

6 stars. Places like this are SOOOO hard to find. The places smokes all of their own meats (which makes going here for a burger or sandwich such a good idea). The place is laid back and was not busy at all on a tues day at 12:45pm. I had a bacon caramel while I waited for my food and it was better than you could imagine. The grill here is only open from 11 – 4 on weekdays and 10 – 4 on weekends.
Ok now the about the food. I ordered the «Swinery Spectacular». This was the best burger/​sandwich I think have ever had. It’s smoked ham, pulled pork, crispy pork belly, Swiss cheese Dijon and pickles inside of a Macarina bakery bun. I opted out of the Dijon and got the swinery sauce that the gentleman recommended. I can’t believe after 4 years of driving by here everyday I finally found my new favorite spot. Anything you want with pork is here.

Their burger is the best burger I’ve ever eaten, period. It doesn’t hurt that the meat quality is top-​notch and the bun is pillow-​soft. I don’t know what’s in the sauce but it might as well be crack, I’m dreaming about this stuff at night. I haven’t tried any of their other hot prepared foods but I can comment on a few of their products:
–ground beef. It’s grass-​fed and costs THE SAME per pound as organic grass-​fed beef at Safeway. The difference? It hasn’t been handled in a meat-​processing factory where thousands of pounds of beef, some of it contaminated with fecal bacteria, has been ground in one giant batch. Meat processed in small batches at local butchers like the Swinery has significantly less bacterial contamination. I work in a hospital laboratory and I see enough poop at work, I don’t need it in my burgers.
–House-​cured bacon. Crisps beautifully and melts in your mouth. Worth every extra cent. I dare you to go back to eating supermarket crap after you’ve tasted this stuff. On a paleo or no sugar diet? They will custom-​cure sugar-​free bacon for you upon request! And it tastes AWESOME.
–ground lamb. Again– delicious, more sanitary, and way cheaper than the ground lamb you’ll find down the street at the farmer’s market on sundays.
–greek lamb roast– Kim gave me a deal on a giant hunk of greek seasoned lamb one day, and it was absolute heaven. Popped it in the slow cooker for 5 hours and feasted for days after.
–butter. They carry the fancy french salted butter that I became addicted to when I lived in France for the summer. It has blue plaid packaging and is perfection. It has large salt crystals throughout that are slightly crunchy. Hello obesity, my old friend.
–bacon chocolate chip cookie dough. No explanation needed here.
You’re not a millionaire, I get it. You’re going to pay more here than you are for a poop-​steak at Safeway. But if you care at all about the quality of the food you put in your body and the quality of food that is available in your community, you’ll consider stopping by. I see it as an investment in my community every time I shop here because I like knowing that I have options if I need to impress someone with a superb cut of delicious meat. Kim and her coworkers are all extremely knowledgeable and they will blow. your. mind. if you walk in and ask for a suggestion. I now add guanciale to my spaghetti sauce because someone there suggested it, and no, I don’t even know what it even is, it’s some sort of salted fatty deliciousness that makes my spaghetti sing.
Go. Now!

At first glance, the outside of THE SWINERY is an unassuming tiny place, tucked away among its neighbor’s. That, apparently works just fine for them. For instead of worrying about table linens and flatware and WiFi, they concentrate on what has not only made them a neighborhood stable but a nationally recognized business. Let me get what I didn’t like about this place out of the way first. They don’t serve beer!
Kind of a bummer because the food here would be perfectly paired with some finer, local craft beers. So there. Now that the unpleasantness is out of the way, let’s move on to what makes this place worth the drive for the fries alone. Other than burger’s that you may actually pawn some of your belongings to get, The Swinery is a full service butcher shop. When I say full service, I do mean full service. For not only can you get your free range, grass fed, organic cuts of meat but, you can have them smoked, brined and even cured right in site!
The staff is delightfully educated on their meats and can school anyone on the cuts they want. However, my trek here today was not for education, conversation or any of that. It was for the legendary Swinery Burger! The Swinery Burger consist of a pound of painted hills beef, caramelized onions, tomato, fresh greens, house pickles, red onions and I had mine with provolone. Now since this is probably going to be my red meat allotment for the week, I doubled down in bacon (Don’t judge me!). I had the hickory smoked bacon PLUS the crispy pork belly.
Pork belly is a piece of the belly that they smoke and then fry in site. Kinda like smokey meat potato chips. On the side I had an order of the Swine Fries which are house cut, fried in rendered pork fat, tossed with salt, fresh garlic and chives. I understood there is an outdoor patio but, it’s pissing rain and windy today so, to hell with that! Inside, directly across from the display cooler is one long bar with 8 chairs for you to eat. The ketchup for the fries are in the packs, the flatware is all plastic but, as long as the for is this sinfully good, I didn’t even care.
Eating here is like letting an elevator door close on a person you hate. Or having «Eye sex» with that hottie at the gym who wouldn’t give you the time of day! You SHOULD feel bad but, you really don’t! If this magical place is a «Guilty Pleasure» then I’m DOWN! If you are anywhere near here, you owe it to yourself to check this place out. I can safely agree with their recent ZAGAT nod and their multiple James Beard awards.

Not very many places in Seattle let you cook burgers rare. The patty here is a little greasy. Ok yea it’s a gut bomb. But oh soooo sooo wonderfully beefy good. juicy and flavorful. Excellent quality meat. The bun is brioche so it does make the burger extra indulgent, so it you don’t want it to be overly rich and greasy you might consider doing without the «swinery sauce «which is like a tomato aioli. Hehe. Love it! The fries are reallllly good too if you like crispy crunch hand cut fries. Almost chip like .
The pulled pork Sammie was okay. A little too meaty for my taste and a taaad dry .
The store is super small and cute. They sell a variety of handmade sausAges, cured meats, bacon (and beef bacon!), and fresh cuts of meat like steak. They also carry Zoe meat products. They will also have fresh turkey coming in for the holiday. Really friendly people/​and service. You can really tell the workers take pride in all of their products.
If you walk around the left side of the store front, there is outdoor seating And the kitchen.

Delicious, delicious, delicious. My god. Eat here if you enjoy delicious, heart clustering goodness (do not eat here if you’re on a diet.). The menu isn’t huge but there is plenty to choose from. Portions are enormous and you’ll leave feeling more than satisfied. The meat selection is ample and top choice, the service is wonderful. I will definitely be back!

Great neighborhood lunch spot for the indulgent and imprudent foodie carnivore.
Feeling suicidal? Order the Danger Fries! They will bring you back from the brink by giving you a reason to live, but satisfy your suicidal tendencies to guaranteeing you are shaving a few years off your life somewhere down the road: hand-​cut and fried in rendered pork fat, then salted generously, and smothered in a blue cheese béchamel sauce, and sprinkled with copious amounts of bacon, garlic and chives. You’ve died and gone to Heaven again and again with each bite.
You should always walk to The Swinery so you can walk back after the meal. That way you’ll feel less guilty ordering the Swinery Spectacular (pulled pork, ham, and pork belly with swiss cheese).
Don’t forget to pick up some fresh butchered meats for you home smoker. Or take some homemade links back to throw on the grill that night, and a slab of some of the best bacon you’ve ever had for your breakfast tomorrow morning… if you live that long.
Delicious decadence!

The Swinery is a beautiful butcher shop on the north end of West Seattle. There isn’t much room in here save for a few stools along the wall. Plan on eating at the little park across the street if the weather is right.
They are a sustainable butcher, so the prices are a bit higher than what you’d pay at a supermarket. Based on my visual inspection of the deli cases, everything looked of superior quality. The steaks were wonderfully marbled and the sausages looked plump and delicious!
At the recommendation of the person behind the counter I went with the Crispy Pork and Pesto Sandwich. It was a large serving of thinly sliced, deep fried porchetta, covered in pesto and stuffed in a butter ciabatta roll. It was delicious but lacked an acidic or pickled component to round out the flavors. And at $ 13 pre-​tax this is a splurgy meal to say the least.
I really wish the Swinery was in my neighborhood. Being casual and expensive make it hard to justify an exclusive trip to eat there. However if you are nearby, it’s worth stopping in for some lunch and to grab some steaks for dinner!

Amazing sandwiches though its alittle bit pricy, youll never regret that you stopped by for lunch, the owner is very friendly and accommodating the place is small because its a butchery store first restaurant second. No late lunch because the cooking stops at 4pm

I’ve been thinking of trying their burger for awhile but just didn’t think it could be worth the price. I was right! My bacon cheeseburger was about $ 12.50 (fries I did not get are $ 5 which can be shared by two ppl). The bun was delicious but not the greatest at holding the burger together. The beef was the most disappointing part. It was juicy but VERY FLAVORLESS, so what’s the point? So the bland juice made the burger fall apart which is only acceptable for amazing burgers, which this is not! SAVE YOUR MONEY and make your own. The bacon was decent.
Overall, a fair burger but if you take the price into consideration – NEVER AGAIN.
Also, awhile back I bought sausage from here and my bf and I thought it was too salty.

Danger Fries are nothing special, overpriced, cooked in duck fat I believe but doesn’t add much flavor.
Aioli’s are $ 1.50 a piece?! Really? You can get a sandwich and fries and they have stale mayo and yellow aioli in the fridge along with ketchup packages, not good condiments.
Prices on meats here either beef, pork, duck or sausages are all overpriced.
Seating inside and outside in front isn’t great but I believe they have some seating behind back as well where they actually make the food.
3 stars because their Pork Spectacular is delicious and worth trying for anyone ($ 12.50 is a bit steep though). Everything else I’ve had is probably 3 stars though. I think the sandwiches The Swinery Serves are probably for the most part 4 stars but everything else is below. Prices aren’t great and location is so-​so.
I’ve also had their pork banh mi which was just ok. A special of the day that was a fun take on the traditional vietnamese sandwich but their sauce flavors just didn’t quite work for me to get again.

Sandwiches are decent but the prices are astounding. I paid $ 14 for their variation of a BLT which included pork belly in addition to the bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. I can’t shake the fact that so many restaurants charge so much for sub par food. Being from the East Coast it’s very hard to wrap my head around the cost of food here. The quality is not the same and yet for some reason the cost is nearly 3x the amount for any given sandwich. I would not recommend nor would I return. Also, to remember, these sandwiches come out on hamburger rolls, albeit they are brioche, it doesn’t bode well with the steep price tag.
Turns out the management claims that because minimum wage is $ 15 in this city that gives them the right to charge ghastly prices for sandwiches. Well, Kim, when I was in your shop yesterday I watched you serve at least 8 people and all of their totals ranged from $ 16 (a sandwich with a drink) to $ 60 (3 sandwiches and drinks) I’m pretty sure that you don’t need to charge as much as you do you just choose to because people will pay. Well folks are stupid and perhaps haven’t experienced quality food for less money and maybe think that because you throw a $ 14 price tag on a BLT that it will make it the best BLT ever. I happen to know better. Your BLT is nowhere near all that and your pricing is despicable. I can make your sandwich at home for ¹⁄₁₆ of the price.

I wish I had known about The Swinery earlier! The danger fries and array of sandwiches will definitely lure me back to this little gem just north of the Junction area in West Seattle.
The flavor in the blue cheese béchamel sauce of the danger fries is worth the hype! The fries could have been a little crispier in my opinion, but the chunks of bacon made up for it. It’s a perfect size for 2 – 3 people to share with their massive sandwiches.
There is no skimping of meat on any of the sandwiches. The Swinery Spectacular was loaded with pork belly, pulled pork, and ham on what I thought was the perfect bun to soak up the juices from the meat. All three cuts of pork were delicious, but were lacking any texture. A crispier pork belly would have really helped. Regardless, the flavors were excellent!
They have a great deli case loaded with charcuterie, sausages, and other Painted Hills meats that looked fantastic.
I will definitely be back!

I ordered the Banh Mi special and my boyfriend ordered the prime rib special. The baguette they used for the the Banh mi was chewy delicious, the ham was probably the freshest ham I’ve ever had in a sandwich, and the pork belly was crispy and fatty good. The pickled veggies complimented the meat well too. My boyfriends sandwich was smokey, tender and really well flavored.
We also ordered a side of poutine fries (no pulled pork) but we were too full from our sandwiches to finish so we took it home. Initial nights in our first bites were, «Wow that gravy looks thicker than normal…» I wasn’t a big fan of their gravy, too thick and a tad too salty. Overall 5 stars for their tasty sandwiches and service.

On a recent weekend visit to West Seattle, we were hoping to eat at a restaurant on Alki, but traffic was just too crazy down by the beach. But as silver linings go, The Swinery is a pretty good one.
The storefront is located on California, about halfway between Admiral and Alaska Junction, and you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled, as the sign is a little hard to see. Street parking is available, but no lot.
When you walk into the tiny shop, you’re immediately confronted by a gigantic deli case full of meat, meat, meat. You’ll find steaks and chops, bacon, smoked meats, sausages, pates and confits, as well as all the pickled veggies, slaws, sauces, and sliced deli meats you need to assemble a truly kickass charcuterie platter.
If you’re eating at the Courtyard Grill, you order at the counter from the small-​but-​intense chalkboard menu. I had the smoked turkey sandwich with pickled red onions and Carolina sauce, plus fries. Order your drinks and pay at the counter, then grab a sidewalk table or saunter around to the side, where you can watch your food being made while you wait. It looks like it’s going to be hot and smoky down there by the grill, but it’s actually pleasantly shady and breezy outside.
Our food came pretty quickly and I was impressed by my turkey sandwich. I wasn’t in the mood for pork or a burger, and I figured the turkey sandwich was probably a halfhearted attempt to have a «lighter» option for whiny girlfriends like me. But no! The meat was tender, thinly sliced, smoky and flavorful, and the red onions and Carolina sauce added some tangy flavor. The bun was soft and fluffy and soaked up all the meaty juices. The plain fries are good, but if I were ordering them again I’d probably try them «danger fries» style.
Sandwiches range from $ 9 – 12, so with drinks or sides it will be about $ 15 per person. I thought the fries were overpriced at $ 4.50, and the sandwiches were a little spendy for the portion size (since you don’t get any sides — just the sandwich), but it’s all tasty and freshly made and we were definitely full afterward! Overall, a tasty lunch stop in West Seattle, and I’d like to come back and try the butcher shop side of the business when I feel like doing my own cooking.

The Swinery Spectacular is their signature sandwich and it’s a good sandwich, but I’m not that keen on it. That has more to do with me than it has to do with the Swinery. Every element of the Swinery Spectacular I had was executed flawlessly. They really know what they’re doing there. I want to emphasize that point. For me it was that there was, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, too much meat. Pulled Pork, Ham and Pork Belly all on one sandwich — they were killing me with kindness. I opted to cover their Carolina Pulled Pork sandwich for this series for a couple of reasons; 1) I haven’t written about pulled pork yet and 2) it’s insanely awesome!
Pulled Pork is a much maligned form of BBQ. Most often the pork is shredded too fine and is drenched in a ridiculously sweet BBQ sauce. But not so at the Swinery! The pork is broken down into reasonably sized chunks of porcine deliciousness. The pork is beyond moist and tender with just a hint of smokiness. It’s draped with a restrained amount of a very flavorful mustard sauce, hence the reference of Carolina in its name. I’ve never been to either of the Carolinas, so I can’t vouch for the authenticity of the sauce. I can, though, attest to the fact that it’s very, very good and complemented the pork very well. That in turn is topped with a bit of house-​made slaw and fitted in between to halves of a toast brioche bun. It’s an excellent sandwich. Now, I’m gonna have to try out their famous hamburger one of these days!

Where can you purchase boudain noir a day before Christmas? Where can you purchase and consume a massive BBQ pulled pork sammie and Orangina while waiting for said boudoir noir? The Swinery. That’s where.
The PPBBQ was tender, juicy, greasy… all the things you’d want in a ROASTED pork sammie. The reason I emphasize roasted, is I could hardly taste any smoke off the meat… almost nonexistent. Another downside is I prefer my pulled pork on the lean side. Not veined with copious amount of fat.
I know, I know fat provides more flavor. But it’s also unnecessary in my book. Also, a bit more BBQ sauce — even offered as a side for a buck more would’ve been nice.
Breakdown: Good; BUT needs less fat, more smokey flavor, and more sauce.
BBQ pulled pork sandwich = 3.4 stars
Boudain Noir = 4.1 stars
Ambience, design, display and other product offerings = 4.4 stars.