SWINE DINING BBQ
Hoppen Hierarchy:★★
District: Central Omaha; Bellevue
BBQ
Perfect For: Lunch; Casual Dining; Takeout
Standout Dishes: Burnt Ends
Swine Dining basically represents straight-down-the-middle barbecue in my book.
It’s nowhere near Nebraska’s upper echelon of Tired Texan BBQ and Smokin Barrel, and I wouldn’t put it with Porky Butts BBQ, either. But if you’re in the area and just need serviceable barbecue, Swine Dining is a fine choice.
I really don’t mean that as a back-handed compliment. Swine Dining is by no means bad. Omaha has been introduced to higher level ‘que in recent years, and I want to set fair expectations.
And it’s clear that the public favors Swine Dining—the restaurant, which still has its original building in Bellevue, added a second location in Omaha off 120th and Dodge in 2018.
The menu is kind of odd: outside of ribs and chicken, the meat is only available on sandwiches. The restaurant does have specials such as burnt ends, smoked turkey, and BBQ tacos, but I believe barbecue joints should sell meat by the pound and allow customers to order what they really want.
There are also two family meals (the Pig Pen and the Barn Yard) for those dining with a larger group.
The highlight is the Burnt Ends. The meat is perfectly fatty and tender, not falling apart but easy to bite into.
And the flavor was on point. The smoke and crust permeated each bite. It’s not a perfect burnt end by any means, but this is a pretty good version.
The Ribs hold up just fine. The meat pulls nicely off the bone; not too soft where it fell off (a common misstep), but not so chewy that it distracted from the taste. The ribs were very meaty and had a decent smoke ring.
My complaint is that they are originally served with sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love barbecue sauce. But great ‘que can sing on its own without sauce; the rub and the cooking technique do the talking. I prefer that restaurants serve meat naked and allow the customers to sauce as preferred. Swine Dining doesn’t offer that courtesy, but the ribs were still solid.
The Pulled Pork is shredded and has decent flavor, though it needs some sauce to wake it up.
The Brisket is a miss. Though it has a hint of a smoke ring, it’s dry and lacks much flavor. There’s no bark to be found, and it’s just screaming for any semblance of juiciness. It’s not worth ordering in my opinion.
The sides are acceptable but nothing special. The Smoked Beans don’t contain any meat (an underrated bonus that upper-tier joints include), though there are chunks of jalapeno, which add some heat to the sweet.
The Fries are actually quite tasty, thick chunks of potato that are tremendous when dipped into one of the sauces. The consistency of the Cornbread is tremendous, as the muffins held together quite well. But the taste was very forgettable, even when paired with honey.
Again, none of this is to say that Swine Dining is bad barbecue. If you need a good lunch spot or a place to meet up with friends, it gets the job done just fine. But those who have elevated their palates for ‘que at Omaha’s better joints (not to mention the real stars in KC or Texas) will leave a bit wanting.