Hog Father's Old Fashioned BBQ - State College, PA

Hog Father's Old Fashioned BBQ
1669 N. Atherton St.
State College, PA

http://hogfathersbbq.com/

Hog Father's barbecue started in 2005 by Frank Puskarich, his wife, Kathleen and their partner, Chef Josf Karst from Germany.  They started sampling their creations with the friends, mailmen and UPS drivers before heading on the road.  Soon they birthed a restaurant in Little Washington, PA. Now a decade or more later, they have 3 locations. 2 outside Pittsburgh and one in State College, PA.

The near Pittsburgh locations have a drive thru.  The State College location is part of a beer/wine store.

For starters, they offer Fajita Chicken Quesadillas, Smokehouse Chili, BBQ Pork Nachos, Chili Cheese Fries and more.  For salads, sandwiches and wraps there are a Southern Fried Chicken Salad, Hog Father's Brisket Salad, Old Fashioned BBQ Sandwich (beef brisket, BBQ ranch dressing, lettuce and grilled tomatoes), The Gourmet Smokehouse Bacon Burger, Hog Father's Spicy Italian Sausage, Brisket or Chicken Fijita Wraps and the Big BBQ Wrap (hand pulled beef or pork, cheddar cheese and creamy coleslaw wrapped in a grilled flour tortilla. 

For entrees, Hog Father's St. Louis Style Ribs or Baby Back Ribs. BBQ Roasted Chicken, Southern Fried Chicken Dinner, Chicken Monterey (BBQ chicken breast with applewood smoked bacon, melted pepper jack cheese, garlic mashed potatoes and BBQ beans. They have a 1/2 rack of ribs and southern fried chicken combo, BBQ Fish and Chips, Hog Father's Filet Medallions (14 ozs), Hand-Carved Smoky BBQ Beef Brisket Dinner (brisket, garlic mashed potatoes, baked beans, pico de gallo and a roll).  There's the BBQ Backyard Deal (Texas hot link sausage, St. Louis style ribs, fried chicken, baked beans and cole slaw). Then there is the Bacon Wrapped BBQ Shrimp caramelized with Hog Father's BBQ sauce.

They have a large offering of sides.  Cole slaw, baked beans, fries, sweet potato fries, cornbread, fried onion basket, garlic mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, potato salad and green beans.

I had the BBQ Backyard Deal. The Texas hot link sausage were that in name only.  This is just a rebranded Italian sausage (you can even see the onions and peppers lying as a support bed to it's Italian heritage.  The Baby Back Ribs were perfectly fine but nothing but average.  However, the surprise meat on the plate was the fried chicken.  I cannot emphasize how juice and flavorful this boneless chicken breast was.  Every bite melted in my mouth.  The beans were average and the coleslaw was forgettable.

The culture of BBQ and all of it's heritage comes from the south. When that gets transplanted to other regions, the creators have a choice...you stay true to the originating culture or to adopt it to your local tastes.  The Pusharich's clearly decided to adopt to their own local culture.  Just look at the Italian Sausage / Texas Hot Link and the BBQ Sandwich with BBQ Ranch dressing, lettuce and grill tomatoes.  While that seems to be successful enough in Pennsylvania to warrant 3 different locations (and I applaud them for it), this is not standout barbecue and wouldn't hold water down south.