Unlike most bars uptown, The Pigskin totes its food just as much as its nightlife. The drink specials are only part of the deal, the grill makes a variety of foods to go along with its football theme. Recently renovated, Pigskin offers an all new menu with better-than-average bar foods — barbecue ribs and fish among them. Pigskin’s main specialty is barbecue, though it has a large choice of other bar food. The backbone of its menu, of course, are a variety of burgers.
The quality of my meal was deserving of its cost, a cut above the food other bars in town offer.
- Barbecue Ribs: Pigskin’s ribs are made southern barbecue style — that is slow cooked and accented with a very tangy sauce. I can’t say enough about how perfectly cooked these ribs were. They were fall-off-the-bone tender and absolutely delicious. The sauce was very convincingly southern. Good color, and good taste.
- Brisket Sandwich: All good things, thick chopped brisket topped with that tangy, tangy sauce. You just want simple food sometimes, and this is it.
- Caesar wrap: I like the wrap for its heavy Caesar dressing, though the chicken is a bit bland.
- Fries: The fries and cole slaw were a little less impressive. With run-of-the-mill Cajun spices they were nothing special. They were portioned extremely well though.
- Wings: Boneless chunks that are slightly crispy, though the sauce is a bit spicier by default. You’ll like it if you like things hot.
- Black Widow cocktail: The signature drink at this bar has just about everything you could want in a drink: Rum, gin, vodka, razzmatazz, blue curacao, sour mix, sprite soda and cranberry.
The grill has a number of other options, mostly bar food, just like most of the other bars along the street. The Pigskin’s take on each of these is also a cut above — they’re smokier, spicier and altogether taste a lot more like a real restaurant and a lot less like a place where food is being made during the day because the bartenders don’t have anything else to do. The Pigskin definitely delivers.
Service at Pigskin is good, and I am surprised at how quickly they picked up my order, and delivered it to me. Not the fastest in the world but at the same time, the Pigskin team seems to be able to manage a crowd of almost any size. I’ve never felt disappointed by the amount of time it took me to get my order.
With such a spacious new environment, The Pigskin has really had a chance to let its atmosphere stand out — you can watch a game, play pool or get a drink while you wait for your meal, which is a big plus because it seems to take a little longer here. The bartenders and cooks are friendly, too. It was a genuinely satisfying experience and I’m glad I discovered those ribs. I’ll be back to Pigskin some time soon.
Suggestions
- Some Athens bars offer menus almost as an afterthought — The Pigskin is not one of them. If you’re looking for higher-quality bar food, come here.
- If you haven’t been to The Pigskin recently, give the new, remodeled version a try. It features an all-new menu.
- The barbecue menu is unique and very strong. If you’re longing for some southern tang, this is a good place to go for it.
Another Food Critic 
I might be willing to try pigskin again after this post but the first several times around weren’t anything special so I don’t know…..however, if you want the best of the best bar food in Athens, definitely go to Luckys! They have the BEST pizza, subs, fries ANYWHERE!
I had a similar experience, the ribs were fantastic. My date had the chicken tenders and it turns out they are really different from tenders I’ve seen elsewhere. It almost seemed like they were hand-battered. The breading was really thick and tasted fresh.