“If you come through our door - you’re family.” That’s what the owner, Tammy Horner, of Pig-N-Out told us as we sat down to have a conversation about her restaurant in Halls, TN. “We cook it with love,” which means the BBQ is cooked on the pit slowly, 8-10 hours on an outdoor pit,  “We’re old school. charcoal and hard labor, and you can taste it! There are no electrical cookers here, it’s slow, slow, slow, which is why It’s all moist and fresh,” Horner explained.

The small town atmosphere really permeates the restaurant.  Everyone is friendly, the customers, and the staff all smile and say, “Hi!”.  Horner smiled as she answered our questions, “We have loyal customers, and I believe that you have to take care of the people who take care of you.”  She and her staff are committed to going out of the way to make the customers feel welcome, the customers are part of the family. “We all talk to our customers, ask them about their day - and their experience with us,” Horner continued, “It’s important, especially in a small town.”  Horner is also a big supporter of her community, especially the schools, “We try to help whenever we are asked, schools are really important!”

Pig-N-Out’s menu changes as they continually try new things, of course, they have the original BBQ sandwich, cheeseburgers, pork chop sandwiches and they’ve added a turkey deluxe that goes over really well.  As far as plates go, the Chicken Monterey is awesome, grilled chicken with mushrooms and Monterey Jack cheese, along with a couple of your favorite sides.  The 8oz and 16oz hand cut pork chops are really good, but so is the loaded hamburger steak plate. Monterey Cheese, onions and mushrooms make up the ‘load’ on this one. Weekends call for an even better smell outside, it’s RIBS.  Ribs are cooked in the Rib Pit, slow cooked for around six hours with a smoker, Horner grinned as she added, “Real slow.”

Pig-N-Out is a family restaurant.  They have an ‘ice cream parlor’ built in, with tables set aside just for the kids.  “It allows the kids to color, or play a little while parents are having a conversation during dinner.”  Horner added, “It’s nice that the kids have something to do, too.” The ice cream is hand dipped, no soft serve here.  They even make milkshakes the old fashioned way - milk, ice cream, and a blender. Flavors include Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Praline Pecan, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cotton Candy, and Birthday Cake, and you can choose either an old fashioned cone, a waffle cone or a milkshake with any of those flavors.

Horner is free to try new things on the menu, they aren’t a ‘corporate affair’, it’s just she and her staff that make the decisions, with a lot of help from their loyal customers.  Pig-N-Out was established in 1995, with a very basic ‘BBQ’ menu. “It’s a small community--everybody has supported us, our customers are great!” And those customers are the ones who make the decisions on whether or not something new stays on the menu.

Chicken, Pork Chops, Rib-eye Sandwiches: all marinated and hand-cut by Tim Burns, her manager.  “Our staff is great, they go above and beyond to make sure our customers are happy!” While the staff likes everything on the menu, Tammy Homer’s favorite is the Hamburger steak with baked potatoes.  “I really like that!”

We really liked the BBQ.  The meat has a really good taste, and we loved the ‘pig tail’ potatoes. The ribs were really good, as was the Chicken Monterey - basically, everything we tried was really good.  Come to Halls - it’s downtown, around the corner from Arnold’s Drugs!

Call in orders are welcome, and it’s a great place to pick up a couple of pounds of BBQ for the weekend.  Everything is cooked fresh to order, when you order it.

Pig-N-Out BBQ

225 Front St, Halls, TN 38040

Open Tues - Sat 11am - 8pm

Closed on Sunday and Monday

Call in an order to (731) 836-5353