Pig & A Jelly Jar

The wife had a couple of hours off of work today so we met for lunch at one of SLC's newest joints - Pig and a Jelly Jar.  PAAJJ opened up its doors a couple of days ago as the second venture from the folks who brought you Meditrina.  I like Meditrina, and I adore pork, so I thought this had to be a homerun.  Things that I did not get to try today, but that really appeal to me and should be noted are 1) they have chicken and waffles on the breakfast menu and 2) they do a Sunday Supper - $20 three course meal, family style, on Sunday evenings.

We arrived at 2:10 and chose a table.  The decor is puerco nouveau - lots of pig art and really cool open ceiling design.  Nothing super special but it felt pretty cool.

We were invited to order at 2:30, which seemed a bit like a long wait given the mostly empty restaurant.  There was one server on the floor while we were there, and she was stretched pretty thin even with only a few tables.  Given the newness of the restaurant (and likely the POS system, kitchen  staff, etc.) I am inclined to say I wouldn't judge anyone on today's speed of service.

They were not yet offering the daily specials (Friday was hand battered fish and chips - which we had decided on until we were told that they weren't actually available).  So we ordered and food came out in a reasonable time.  I went for the Pig Burger - 1/3 pound of beef, bacon onion jam, bleu cheese and romaine.  The bacon onion jam was somewhere between a gravy and a bacon-based chutney. I wish I could say this burger was as good as it sounded, but it feel short.  I wasn't asked about temperature and the burger came well done, and the bun was dry as can be.  The fries that accompanied the burger were fantastic, however.

The wife went for the chicken apricot rosemary grinder with brie, caramelized onion and lemon aioli.  This sausage was super heavy on curry flavor and was interesting for a couple of bites, but the same dry bread used for a bun and the overpowering curry flavor in the house-made sausage got old quickly.  Same great fries came on the side.

The verdict?  We didn't like Pig and a Jelly Jar.  Given that our lunch was zero for two, I don't know if I'll opt to try out their admittedly tempting breakfast menu or if I'll stick with some of the tried and true options for breakfast, but I definitely won't be back for lunch.