Sunday, April 15, 2012

Pigout Palace in Henryetta promises you won't leave hungry

We headed south on the Okmulgee Beeline this weekend to find something to eat and ended up at The Pigout Palace in Henryetta. I drove Steph through Beggs but the place I remembered from a decade ago was long closed so we continued south to Okmulgee.  It was Sunday so most places were closed and we just kept going until we found something that wasn't corporate. Along the way we saw all the lush green rolling hills of Green Country, the new calves and their cow mamas, a few horses that had seen better days and a couple of perfectly good shoes.  Who throws a shoe out?

As we walked up to the door at Pigout Palace we noticed several people leaving with a smile so we were a bit excited by the time we hit the door.  A sign at the front said the building seated 300 pigs or humans and Huck the Pig promised "If you leave here hungry it ain't my fault."  Huck was right and we didn't leave the least bit hungry.

Pigout Palace offers a fairly extensive menu of comfort foods, breakfast all day plus an all you can eat food bar with things like stuffed peppers, pulled pork, fried chicken, many sides and a salad bar. It looked pretty good and seemed like most of the people that came in were asking for the buffet. Since we were looking for BBQ we instead went with the "All The Meats" platter.  Sliced brisket, pulled pork, pork ribs, beef bologna, one side and a house salad.  Steph and I split this mammoth mound of meat and it filled both of our tummies. That said there were some highs and lows to the meal.  I think the best thing on the table were the fresh baked yeast rolls.  They brought out four, after we asked. Two wheat and two white. They were pure heaven. Just a little sweet, soft in the middle and served with plenty of butter.  The pulled pork was really good too.  Not too fatty, not at all chewy and it had a little bark on it though I'm pretty sure all the meats were done in the oven.  They served it with a nice sweet, smoky and slightly spicy sauce that held up to all the different meats.  We ordered cheese fries as an appetizer so that became one of our sides.  The fries themselves were just standard frozen Ore-Ida from a bag but they covered them with real shredded cheeses and real bacon bits. Very tasty.  The onion rings appeared to be homemade. They were fairly thick sliced, well breaded and while they looked overcooked they tasted great. Just the right ratio of breading to the soft onion innards.  The beef bologna was fried up a bit on the flattop before they put it on the plate and had that nice fried bologna taste you would expect.  It wasn't sliced very thick so I suspect it was presliced from the store but I still enjoyed it.  The sliced brisket wasn't dry and definitely fork tender but not stringy. Again, I suspect the meats were roasted in an oven rather than BBQ'd but I still enjoyed the flavors. One thing we didn't like were the ribs. They just weren't very good. Chewy, not much flavor and certainly the low spot of the meal. Those rolls made up for it so all wasn't lost.

We also enjoyed the people watching at Pigout Palace. There were all sorts to be seen from bikers to truck drivers to old couples and even kids. It's fun to see the people out for a drive on a Sunday.  The bikers were from Oklahoma City according to their jackets and I noticed a few towns from southern Oklahoma printed on the sides of a few work trucks so it would seem that people are willing to travel at least a couple hours to get their feed bag on.

In the end we both agreed we enjoyed the experience and were happy with the food and the prices. One thing to keep in mind is everything is closed on Sundays so we couldn't stop at the Mexican imports and ornamental glass store on our way back. It's where you buy those big chunks of blue glass they throw away at the glass plant across the street.  If you've even been to Henryetta you'll know what I'm talking about and if you don't then just remember to find it or ask about it.  You'll want a chunk too!

Pigout Palace on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

  1. Just to correct this post a little.
    All the meats are cooked in an electric smoker, the bologna is as well and not presliced store bought.
    The ribs are hit or miss, really depends on the grocery supplier on if they send the wrong quality of meat or not.
    When you stop by, the burgers and sandwitches are well worth it as well.

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  2. I'll be the judge of that. The only person who has so far come close to actually quieting down my appetite has been my private chef bristol.

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