Long Lines and Whole Hog at Banger’s

This is way late, but my wife and I returned to Scream Hollow, and even got to go to the Castle in Muskogee for some fun frights! But in between, we ate at Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden.

The main attraction, for me, was the whole hog. In Texas, there aren’t too many joints doing whole hog, and it’s not exactly a regional specialty. However, this novelty meant a HUGE line. Banger’s has an inside restaurant where they make their special sausages. Outside is where the BBQ happens. The line took an agonizing time, and it was well over an hour before I got my food.

Watching the cutter coarsely chop the pork and mix in the vinegar sauce with the cracklins (pork skins) was a thing of beauty. I ordered a pound of the stuff, along with some “sweet tea” turkey, a couple of pork ribs, and their special coffee rubbed bacon with a side of their spicy BBQ hash and rice, bacon bourbon butter sweet potato, and coleslaw. Sadly they were out of their beans and mac and cheese, two fan favorites. I took the tray and sat down.

I immediately bit into the pork, and was pretty happy with my choice. I’m not quite sure if I would say it’s worth the wait, but the unique textures along with the natural flavors of the pork produced a bite unlike anything you will ever eat in Texas BBQ country. My wife, a former North Carolina resident, remarked that the sauce needed to be more vinegary for the pork to really bring her back home. I admit I would have liked a bit more kick too, but luckily Banger’s offers a variety of more traditional BBQ sauces ranging from Memphis style to Mustard.  The cracklins were definitely my favorite part of the bite, and if I ever return, I’ll try it as a sandwich. The pork rib was pretty good, plenty of smoke flavor penetrating the thick rib. The rub was a bit sweet, but it was cooked to perfection. This was my wife’s favorite item on the menu, but it didn’t blow her away or anything.

The sweet tea turkey actually tasted like the beverage it was brined in, and it was plenty moist. It had your basic turkey smoke flavor, which wasn’t a bad thing at all. The bacon, essentially pork belly, had a strong sweet coffee rub flavor, but it was so rich, I could only eat a few bites. I would later take these slices home and chop up the bacon into bacon burnt ends with sauce.

The sides brought on my biggest disappointment AND my favorite item. The sweet potato, as pictured, was a major letdown. Advertised as coming with a bourbon butter, there was very little bourbon flavor to be found. The bacon was a bit dry too, and overall this felt like an expensive waste. The coleslaw wasn’t my cup of tea, but it was an authentic offering of the side. Finely chopped and a bit too sweet, the slaw was definitely reminiscent of Carolina joints and their proudly heralded version of the stuff.

The spicy BBQ Hash though was a revelation. The hash brought the heat, and it was unmistakably BBQ. I’m not sure if they use the traditional organ meat approach, but it certainly tasted like they were sticking to the more original recipe. I literally could have eaten buckets of this and been happy.

I really liked my whole hog and hash, and the ribs and turkey were good too. But overall, I’m not sure if it was worth the long, slow line. The price isn’t bad though, and the novelty is certainly there. The biggest issue is that it’s in Austin, home to quite a few other joints I’d likely recommend over this one. However, if you’ve already tried those joints, and want a return to the classic, Carolinian BBQ style, Banger’s will definitely give you that fix.

SCORE- 8.0