The Pig and Pearl

Great place for happy hour and snacks at the bar! Other than that, I have not been impressed when I sat at a table and actually ordered from their main menu.

Well where do I start? The drinks were good. Everything that my wife and I attempted to order on the menu was not available, sheesh. No flour tortillas, no mussels, no short ribs, no chicken and dumplings etc. the wait staff was very nice tho. Probably will give this place one more chance once they get their life together during this menu change or whatever you want to call it. Someone in the upper staff must be on vacation. No Bueno.

We went for a Father’s Day brunch, and the food was good but not great. The best thing we had was the cheese grits. We each had the pork scramble and while it was good, it wasn’t special, something I could easily make at home. Our oldest had the chicken and waffles, and he liked it. Our youngest had the pancakes, and they were huge. He liked them. The husband and I each had a Bloody Mary, which was fine. The smell here takes some getting used to. I guess they have a cigar bar next door, and the smell irritated my nose, but I’ve got a very sensitive nose.

What a great find! First time visit at the casual warehouse-​style bar/​restaurant with low-​key vibe. excellent micro-​brew beer selection on tap. Margaritas were tasty and fresh home-​made! We sampled several dishes — wasabi deviled eggs, rocket tots and some oysters –all delicious (photo is half eaten order of the deviled eggs!) Shrimp and grits with collards was very good but not your typical southern style so be prepared– more creole with tomatoes and chorizo sauce with shrimp. it was still tasty and the collards were very good. The burgers were HUGE and well-​cooked with a nice tang to the fried green tomatoes. Friendly and attentive service. We will definitely be back — we all wish we’d tried the bacon appetizer. it was nice that the cigar section was in a completely different closed off part on the other side of the bar — seemed like a completely separate restaurant. Off the beaten path from VCU so more locals and we really enjoyed it!

We came here because we were starving after Legend kept us for an hour and a half without food on father’s day.
We came here just wanting to get some food; but the Pig and Pearl was wonderful. We had bacon prepared in multiple styles, shrimp and grits, and Buffalo wings. All was delicious thank God for Pig and Pearl.

If you like bacon and beer then this is your place. They actually have a smoking room on one side so if you’re looking to light up a cigar or a cigarette watch sports drink beer and eat bacon you found it. The bathroom is always clean as is the entire restaurant.

I just had lunch here as an out-​of-​towner from Baltimore. The Pulled Pork sandwich was amazing and accompanied by some nice coleslaw and homemade chips. Last week I had the «Wasabi Deviled Eggs» as an app. The food here is great!
Also, a great selection of Whiskey/​Cigars!

Oh the dissapointments I’ve felt at Pig & Pearl. Upon walking in, my boyfriend and I were confussed on how seating worked since there were no hosts or visible waiters. Someone from the bar yelled, «pop a squat anywhere» we chuckled and walked over to an open booth next to the window.
We ordered: BBQ chicken salad, wedge salad with fried oysters and a spinach-​artichoke dip with pita cuts.
To be quite frank, my salad was so bland and their oysters (that they seem to have a ton of!) were dark grey, dry and severely under seasoned! Such pitty. As for the Spinach & Arti dip, the pita bread tasted pretty good! Thank goodness, that was the only redeeming aspect of this entire dinner! The dip was bland and overly cheesy that didn’t work with the spinach at all… so don’t order it and save you $ 9.
Our servers were medicore. They worked the floor and the bar so we couldn’t really expect much.
Before I forget, their kitchen takes a while, I mean… A WHILE to cook your meal (s). We waited 45 minutes just to recieve our food (or shall I repeat, a salad!)
Don’t think I’ll return, ever.

Tried to go to Comfort in Richmond but parking was not to be had. Ended up stumbling on this place.
Appetizers section was huge and looked delicious. Almost ended up with appetizers instead of a main course.
Got 2 Wasabi deviled eggs and 2 Buffalo deviled eggs. Both delicious. Also got a house bacon sampler. All were very good!
Had bone in pork chop with mashed sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts. Perfectly cooked and was delicious.
Eclectic selection of beers. Prices were moderate. Will be back when in Richmond again!

I wish I would have had a chance to eat here but did stop in for a drink. The bartender (kyle?) was super friendly and made an awesome gin & tonic. The atmosphere and staff (Will) were welcoming and I could have stayed forever. I will be sure to eat here next time I am in town based on the other reviews !

We went to brunch (group of 3) and I wasn’t impressed. The service was the worst part. I don’t know if they weren’t ready at opening or what, but everything was slow. In the waitress defense, it looked like she was the only one, but simple things like making sure waters were full or coffee getting topped off just didn’t happen. Food took an hour from ordering to get to the table. Once the food came it was decent. I will say the chicken and waffles was ok, the waffle is really thin so the other Unilocal pictures wasn’t what we got. Then when we paid the waitress didn’t give me full change (used cash) which was annoying because it took that long to pay, I wasn’t going to argue or wait for change.

There’s something trendy that I really like about this place; the atmosphere is a bit more upscale but still casual. And the food is good and really… clean? Like, this is not greasy-​spoon food even though the menu includes burgers and fries. I think they do a great job of including a variety of choices, without compromising on the taste. I’ve been here for dinner and brunch and both are super good. Highly recommend the apple cinnamon stuffed french toast.
The one thing I don’t like about this place though is the smoking. I know they have a lounge next door and that will be the appeal for a lot of people but for me, the smell of smoke mixing with food is tough to handle. If you can get outdoor seating or don’t mind the smell, then I’d recommend this place!

The Pig and Pearl was our latest mid-​week date night destination, we had a nice time. Cool bar atmosphere and solid amount of TVs. We hit up a booth near the windows in the front to get some natural light. There are lots of great sounding apps on the menu, and the Rocket Tots were awesome, the bomb! I could eat a bathtub full of those bad boys. My pork belly tacos were good, they would have been better if that were a little bigger. My girlfriend’s pulled pork sandwich was much larger, packed with meat. If your a fan of vinegar based BBQ, then you will be a fan of this spot. Also, lots of beer at a fair price.

A solid place overall-​got a pretty good selection of beer on draft and their brunch menu isn’t bad. The portions for food are lacking and not sure if or when the kitchen staff changed-​but the chicken and waffles were incredibly disappointing the 2^nd time around. Flimsy little eggo-​like waffle with small pieces of what seemed to be chicken tenders on top.
However-​redeeming factors about Pig & Pearl — relatively cheap mimosa pitchers and the never disappointing rocket tots. Honestly when I come here for brunch, this is all I get. Rocket tots taste even better during happy hour when they’re half off! Really, I’m not sure what it is about the rocket tots, but I could eat them anytime of the day and so far they’ve been better than anything else I’ve tried on the menu.

After not having been here for a while, I returned here for a Valentine’s Day dinner. I placed reservations two weeks beforehand and expected it to be quite full when we arrived, so imagine my surprise when we got here and there was… almost no one. One table with three guests, not a soul besides. Couldn’t quite figure that out, maybe their regular clientele had other plans?
Anyway, the food this time was still excellent and the service was good. The lighting was unfortunately poor, and the pace of our meal seemed a bit off, though the beyond-​excellent burger and my date’ mac and cheese made it worth the trip. While I may have parted ways with the political group (good riddance), I have no plans on parting ways with this awesome place!
Overall: 4.0 stars
— — — — -
Pros:
— AMAZING food, lots of options and you can’t go wrong.
— Good service.
— Huge bar with lots of options.
Cons:
— Parking is a major pain, and they have no dedicated parking lot.
— Lighting seemed very poor for some reason. That coupled with the lack of other customers made for an unusual dining experience (still good, though).

My review is for the cigar bar only. Absolutely superb place to have a drink and a cigar. The bartenders are friendly, cordial, accommodating, intuitive, and welcoming in a relaxing atmosphere, that, although you’d be sitting at a bar stool or at a table and chairs, feels like sitting at home in your living room.
They have an excellent, but small selection of cigars, including shockoe valley. The drinks are fairly priced, with a good selection of whiskey and other libation that should satisfy any thirst. I cannot express enough how much I enjoy this establishment where pretension is as nonexistent as over pricing and bad attitude.

Bartenders were super sexy! I got the Bruisers buffalo chicken sandwich and it was delicious! I added some ranch and it made it unbelievable.
This place has 24 craft beers on tap and as a beer lover, it’s perfection. Ask the bartenders for samples.

Sadly we planned a family meal at this restaurant (traveled from Washington DC to meet family). After confirmations from the restaurant on the menu, we traveled to the place to eat lunch. Great part is that they accept reservations.
Food took a while to be served (over 45 minutes). The items we confirmwd with officials were not available during lunch. Some of our brunch items were overcooked (i.e., eggs).
Wait staff was very friendly and professional. Prices are very affordable. But given we we didn’t receive the menu items confirmed by restaurant officials (via email and phone), we were not really satisfied.
Hope others received a better food experience.

My experience with The Pig and Pearl is limited to an extended Happy Hour, but I had a wonderful time. They have an amazing selection of beers on tap. I was not overwhelmingly impressed with the wine selection for the happy hour, but had no problem switching to beer. The appetizers are great. I recommend the Rocket Tots or Wasabi Deviled Eggs, or if you’re an oyster fan, try something off the menu. They have a huge selection.
The bar staff was friendly and attentive. Besides a slightly nicer wine for happy hour, I would like to have seen a small cocktail menu with a few specialties. Overall the bar was clean, open, and very nice. I plan to return to try dinner and brunch.

I only had a beer here so my review may be a little biased.
DRINKS
— Awesome beer selections. Richmond is home to a bunch of breweries and the pig and pearl definitely takes advantage. Most of the beers were from the area with some special ones from out of state.
–Prices were great. Most beers fell between $ 4 — $ 6 with some special ones being a little more expensive
ATMOSPHERE
— very classy feel.
— Lots of windows and high ceilings — giving the bar a very open feel.
–The bartender was really friendly, offered us different samples and helped us pick our beers.