Thinking about pork engages all five of your senses: There’s the sound you hear when sizzling bacon cooks in a frying pan. The way a juicy pork chop tastes when it has been cooked just right. How a crispy piece of bacon feels when you first pick it up. The wonderful aroma of ham wafting in the air around the holidays and, of course, there’s the iconic visual image of a breakfast plate replete with eggs and strips of luscious bacon.
It’s almost hard to imagine that so many scrumptious bits come from the same critter.
Homer Simpson: Are you saying you’re never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa Simpson: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.
There’s a wonderful, magical place in Salt Lake City, Utah that knows how to cook up all things pig perfectly. Pig & A Jelly Jar is a modern diner specializing in southern style comfort food. All day long you can feast on breakfast and lunch items like ham hash and pork belly BLTs.
Pig & A Jelly Jar takes pork matters so seriously it even has a dedicated Pig Menu. The creole pork belly Benedict is sheer hog heaven. Pig & A Jelly Jar takes braised and shredded local pork belly and marries it with a side of baked beans and kale that are topped with a tomato creole sauce. As if that wasn’t enough food, the foundation of the meal is two fluffy biscuits and a side of breakfast potatoes.
All of the pig specialties from Pig & A Jelly Jar are served with a generous helping of breakfast potatoes cooked alongside roasted red peppers, jalapeños, onions, paprika, rosemary and a dash of salt and pepper. Pig & A Jelly Jar’s pork belly is amazing, but the flavors you get from those spicy potatoes combined with the beans and creole sauce will knock your socks off.
Since we’re gluttons we also order the fried chicken and biscuits. Like the creole pork belly Benedict, it also comes with two perfect buttermilk biscuits as well as fried chicken, whole grain mustard sauce, house made chow-chow and those delicious breakfast potatoes.
Inquiring minds might want to know what this chow-chow is all about. First things first, it has nothing to do with fluffy lion looking dogs.
Pig & A Jelly Jar’s chow-chow tastes a bit like what I imagine kimchi on vacation in southern states might taste like. It has many of the same ingredients as kimchi, but its made with onions instead of cabbage.
In addition to the fresh, from scratch menu Pig & A Jelly Jar serves up, you can also bring home chow-chow, tomato jalapeño, pineapple lemon rosemary, strawberry coconut and even their blueberry lavender jams and sauces home with you. Liz Butcher and the crew at Butcher’s Bunches over in Logan, Utah helps bottle Pig & A Jelly Jar’s jams.
Besides the fact that the food is lip licking good, Pig & A Jelly Jar just has a plain awesome atmosphere and happy staff that are eager to assist you even when the place is slammed.
In nice weather it’s tough to beat the outdoor patio crafted out of everything from saw blades to old bicycle parts. Whether you’re a Salt Lake City native or just cruising along I-80 on your way to Denver or San Francisco, Pig & A Jelly Jar is definitely worthy of a pit stop. You may fall into a food coma after Pig & A Jelly Jar’s bbq pork sandwich and a side of its fried green tomatoes, but perhaps that just the excuse you need to stay and explore SLC for one more day.
Pig & A Jelly Jar
401 East 900 South
Salt Lake City, Utah 8411
*There is another location in Ogden, Utah.
Hours: Monday Through Wednesday 7:30am to 3:30pm, Thursday Through Sunday 7:30am to 9:00pm
Phone: (385) 202-7366
Email: thepig@pigandajellyjar.com
Pricing (All in USD): Pig Specialties $10.00 to $12.50, Staples $6.00 to $10.00, Three Egg Scrambles $8.00 to $9.00, Burgers and Sandwiches $8.50 to $12.50, Salads $4.00 to $12.00, Counter Bites $5.00 to $7.00, Desserts $4.00 to $5.00, Beer $2.00 to $8.00, Cocktails $4.50, Wine by the Glass $5.00, Bubbly/Fizzy Stuff $4.00
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