Renton's New 3 Pigs Bbq Has Found Its Way Home

Restaurant review

3 Pigs BBQ, Payless Shopping Center, 719 Rainier Ave. S., Renton, 271-6036. Open lunch and dinner M-F 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (Closed Sun.) Wheelchair accessible. Reservations unnecessary. Smoking area. No alcohol. Take-out and catering available.

Once upon a time there were three little restaurants called "3 Pigs BBQ," - the oldest in Burien, the middle one in Bellevue, and the youngest in Renton - all jointly owned and operated with the same wonderful, simple and inexpensive menu. But as they grew up, they changed over time and now all three have gone their own way.

If you're seeking a happy ending, just mosey on down to the Renton 3 Pigs, where part-owner Dennis Nomura smokes his beef, pork, chicken, ham and turkey (ribs or chopped and sliced) for 15 hours over a mesquite wood grill. The result is tender, juicy and delicious with just the right amount of heat. As the crowds of Boeing workers who fill the tiny store-front restaurant for the daily $5.35 lunch special (sandwiches, beans, potato salad and a medium drink) will attest, Nomura's four-year-old 3 Pigs obviously is just right.

The establishment doesn't have much in the way of decor - nondescript, cushioned wooden booths and tables, fluorescent lighting and what looks like dead silk plants mixed in with the spare but eclectic wall decorations meant to suggest a Texan atmosphere. If you don't mind ordering from a counter, the food is

fast, hot and plentiful.

The sandwiches come in three sizes (piglet, diplet and Texas, $2.60-$3.90) served on either a Gai's hamburger bun or French dip roll and smothered in sauce. Don't waste any time with the mild or medium varieties; the hot sauce is well-nigh perfect, leaving your lips pleasantly tingling without burning your mouth.

All dinners ($5.75-$8.95) include Texas-sized toast or corn bread and a choice of two side orders (beans, corn on the cob, cole slaw, potato salad). Try the sliced beef brisket ($5.75), five ounces of tender meat chunks, or the four delicious pork spareribs ($7.95) that practically fall off the bone. The mesquite quarter-chicken ($4.50) is moist and tender, like the sliced ham ($5.95), but a friend found the sliced turkey breast so bland "it could have been anything."

The side dishes range from good to average, and can be washed down with all-you-can-drink iced tea.

A moderately spicy Wolfsbreath Chili ($1.95-$2.95) comes with medium-to-large chunks of hamburger and beans, and a flavorful Brunswick Stew (same prices) combines almost everything in the kitchen, with added corn, tomatoes and lima beans.

Our barbecue beans were delicious, swimming in a medium hot sauce, and the tiny plastic cup of homemade potato salad was good, too, but my wife found the corn bread almost too sweet, like a corn cupcake.

The thick, lightly sauced and tangy cole slaw was good enough to win praise from someone who never likes cole slaw. Some of our corn on the cob was rubbery and overcooked, but my piece was well-buttered and good. The sides can be ordered in pints and quarts, and the meat is available in half- and whole-pound servings.

For truly gargantuan or multiple appetites, check out the combination baskets ranging from $13.95-$64.95.