Smoked meats highlight of meal at Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ | Grub Scout

The Grub Spouse and I traveled to Sevier County over the weekend so The Spouse could compete in the Pigeon Forge Half Marathon. We decided to take advantage of our locale and check out an eatery that we might not otherwise go out of our way to try. Our past few positive experiences with downtown Sevierville restaurants led me to Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ, which is on Bruce Street.

We quickly found parking in a free downtown lot and were pleased to find the crowd size inside Trotter’s to be manageable (Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg had both been quite congested with pre-Christmas revelers earlier in the day). For some reason, I had expected this to be a sit-down restaurant, but we entered to discover patrons queued up at the main counter.

The Spouse and I took a few moments to study the menu and cobble together a dining strategy. Starters include pork rinds, pimento cheese, smoked wings, boiled peanuts and pork belly burnt ends. We passed on these, anticipating dessert at the end. Most of the remaining fare is prepared either in sandwich or platter form. The former features the likes of smoked bologna, fried chicken, smoked meatloaf and BLT makings, served on a potato roll. Sandwiches include one side.

Plates come with two sides: A half-chicken, sausage and short ribs are among the smoked-meat selections. The Spouse got the brisket platter ($19) and chose mac and cheese and coleslaw as the two sides. I ordered a half-rack of spare ribs ($17) and got baked beans and potato salad as my side items. Corn on the cob, collard greens, barbecue potato chips and Texas toast round out the side dishes.

I noticed that Trotter’s also had some 20 different beer taps operating (many of the labels were repeats). It’s set up so customers of legal drinking age who wish to imbibe receive a scannable bracelet that allows the user to pour any quantity from any tap. The amounts are logged electronically, and the final tally is paid at meal’s end. After a short delay due to a technological glitch, I wound up pouring myself a pint of an IPA.

While we waited, I took note of our surroundings, an open space with a warehouse feel that emphasized the original, exposed brick walls of the historic building. An abundance of booths and tables seemed capable of handling brisk mealtime patronage.

I was almost finished with my beer when an employee brought our meals out on those paper-lined aluminum trays that seem to be all the rage in food service these days. I formed immediately favorable opinions of the smoked meats. The thinly shaved brisket was bountifully flavorful though not as warm to the touch as one might prefer. The ribs were a more solid contender. The massive half-rack (more than enough for one person of average appetite) boasted lots of fall-off-the-bone meat that benefitted from a palate-pleasing rub combo. We embellished our bites with a variety of house-made sauces.

The sides weren’t quite as solid. The baked beans were tasty enough, but the sauce was on the thin side. The potato salad flavor was decent, but the potatoes were just slightly undercooked for my liking. The slaw tasted slightly sweet, while the macaroni and cheese was a commendably creamy effort.

When I went back to the counter to pay my tab and to order a cup of banana pudding ($7) for me and The Spouse to share for dessert, I was informed that my beer scan had not registered, so they waived the charge altogether. I told them how much I poured, in case they wanted to charge me manually, but they hospitably sent me on my way.

The banana pudding wasn’t too bad, by the way. It was a shareable quantity for two people who had already consumed a bulky dinner, but Trotter’s minimal use of banana slices and emphasis on an abundance of whole vanilla wafers didn’t result in an ingredient ratio that I normally can get behind.

Nevertheless, we took a respectable amount of leftovers home with us, anticipating diving back into our unconsumed portions of smoked meats the following day.

While Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ hit a few slightly off notes, based on our limited sampling of the menu, I’m still happy to recommend it to anyone visiting the Smokies. I’ll take an independently owned eatery that sits off the beaten path over a tourism-driven franchise with little appreciation for food quality any time.

Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ

Food: 4

Service: 3.75

Atmosphere: 3.75

Overall: 3.75

Address: 127 Bruce St., Sevierville

Phone: 865-263-2103

Beer service only

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Sunday

This downtown Sevierville barbecue house serves up tasty portions of smoked meats for the plate and for the bun, with a generous selection of beer taps to boot.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Restaurant review: Smoked meats stand out at Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ