Enjoy Connecticut-Style BBQ At The One-Eyed Pig Bar & Restaurant

Aromas of apple and hickory smoke mixed with hints of bacon and pork now scent the air at 71 South Main Street.

Since the One-Eyed Pig Bar and Restaurant’s kitchen opened in past months, diners have enjoyed sandwiches and platters filled most often with chicken, pork, or ribs flavored with a dry rub then placed inside a smoker for hours. Side dishes of baked macaroni and cheese, baked beans, smashed potato salad, homemade coleslaw, fresh-cut One-Eyed Pig (OEP) fries, sweet potato fries, and more top the laminated menus found at each table or private booth inside a renovated dining room and bar area.

Changes inside include a separate dining room where families or large groups often push tables together and order appetizers of chicken wings or pork tornadoes: pulled pork mixed with slaw and a dash of hot sauce, then rolled in a wrap and sliced. Dip each piece in bleu cheese dressing, or not!

“We are really promoting the family atmosphere,” said partner Jay Daly, who spent the winter planning the kitchen and menu. A Johnson & Wales University College of Culinary Arts graduate and chef, Mr Daly walks through the bar and restaurant each morning, making sure the large paper table cloths — a perfect match for the buckets of crayons — are in place and ready for the afternoon and evening guests.

Choosing a quiet booth, he reached for a menu. Thinking of the weeks ahead, he said, “I am featuring the smoked ribs and wackadoo.” The dish is a pulled pork barbecue hash that sizzles for several minutes on the grill.

He also noted the Happy Trough, the hash stacked with OEP fries, slaw, then topped with a crisp fried egg and touch of hot sauce. Diners will also be surprised with the simple, satisfying flavors of melted cheddar over a grilled burger and side of fries. Sauces including a vinegar-based mop sauce, Cluckin’ sauce, which is a balance of sweet, tangy flavors and a hint of heat, and homemade barbecue are also at each table.

Since stepping away from years in the food industry, most recently at a corporate level, Mr Daly explained his approach for introducing Connecticut-style barbecue to Newtown. “We are taking our time,” he said. He and bar owner William Piccirillo had visited barbecue restaurants and bars throughout the Northeast, sampling and comparing menus and cuisine. As the new kitchen’s installation progressed, they determined a taste that would work, he said. “We didn’t want to replicate Memphis or Carolina barbecue … we chose our own style.” Since leaving his 17-year career in the food industry, he is taking careful steps to bring a successful menu and dining to the One-Eyed Pig. “We are not rushing this,” he said.

The partners are looking to broaden the crowd of regular patrons that stop in, either for a cocktail or lunch or dinner. Recently, coaches take up a dining room table, order appetizers and dinner to fuel them through a session of planning football plays for the season. Parents bring their children in often on weekends for fries and chicken nuggets. Teams stop by for a pitcher of domestic brew and wings. Football and baseball fans crowd the large screen televisions and bar, with their beer set side-by-side with an order of sweet potato fries and a cheeseburger.

“I always knew I wanted my own restaurant and kitchen,” Mr Daly said. As timing would have it, “this place was ready for food.” Soon after Mr Piccirillo had expanded the bar with its pool tables, jukebox, and schedule of live music on Saturday nights, Mr Daly soon followed with the food.

“We are transforming what was,” he said, rather than closing, then reopening as something else. The transitions are not finished, he said.

With the kitchen came other additions, including an open mic night. Local musicians are welcome to join an open jam on Thursday evenings. “We reach out to the local community, to blues, rock, other talent. It’s something I have always wanted to do.” Mr Daly has worked in the food business all over the Northeast, and helped to open a restaurant in 1994 in Katmandu, Nepal, where he built the only wood-burning pizza oven in the Katmandu Valley.

More decorative touches to enhance the interior atmosphere are coming, said Mr Daly. He is planning for NFL Sundays where visitors can see five games at once on the large screen, high definition televisions, while enjoying beer specials. A Sunday buffet and Monday night menu specials are also new. Take $2 off an order of wings on Mondays and sample a free half-time buffet. Take $2 off pitchers of beer and treat yourself to $4 roast beef sandwiches and au jus during NFL Sunday specials.

Check in with the One-Eyed Pig on Facebook.com for a catering menu, and upcoming events. Contact the Vroom Service Now for takeout delivery service; call 203-270-3663.

Due to the establishment’s license, a parent or guardian must accompany guests under 21 years old.

One-Eyed Pig Bar and Restaurant, 71 South Main Street is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 am to 1 am, and Friday and Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm. The kitchen is open from 11:30 am to 9 pm Sunday through Thursday, and from 11:30 am to 10 pm on Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 203-270-039.