PEARISBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – Happiness is in the eye of the beholder; it’s also in the name of a popular restaurant in Pearisburg. Not just popular in town, The Happy Hog is known from Georgia to Maine and I’ll tell you why in this week’s Hometown Eats!
“In the kitchen with my grandparents and was wondering why their food was so much better. They took me in the kitchen and showed me how to start making things and been cooking pretty much ever since,” said The Happy Hog owner Matt Mitchell.
There’s one thing you’ll find in every grandma’s kitchen: love and a passion for whatever is being put on the plate.
“You can taste that, I think so, in the food. You can taste the love,” said regular customer Dottie.
Welcome to The Happy Hog on Main Street in Pearisburg.
“It’s a good place to hang out and have a good meal,” added Mitchell.
Owners Matt and Rose Mitchell opened this joint in 2023 after spending the last decade living and working in Richmond. Matt grew up in Doswell learning the ropes and falling in love with cooking in grandma’s kitchen. Rose grew up in Blacksburg, never imagining she would one day call Pearisburg home.
“No, not even a little bit but I love it now that we’re here,” joked owner Rose Mitchell.
Matt worked in just about every style of restaurant over a twenty-year career, but southern comfort food was always the plan.
“I’m a big believer in doing a few things and doing them really well. We get a ton of people who come in for the burger, especially a lot of our regulars,” said Matt.
“About every time I come I order the smash burger,” said regular customer Ronald.
“Our pot pies are a real high-ticket item and it’s probably one of the more unique ones to us, We even have people call ahead to make sure one gets set aside for them,” said Matt. He added, “I personally really push the shrimp and grits, I think we have one of the bet shrimp and grits in the area.”
“I never knew that people would judge your entire restaurant on your shrimp and grits. They figure if you can nail that you can nail anything,” joked Rose.
“We’re making our own Tasso for that, we’re making our own spice blend, so it all comes together really nicely,” explained Matt.
“I love, love, love the grilled catfish. It’s flavored perfectly and I love the turnip greens and collards,” said Dottie.
“Really good quality food, and everything is made from scratch,” said regular customer Jeff.
As for the barbecue, The Happy Hog doesn’t have a smoker, yet. Matt hopes to get a smoker soon but for now it’s the braised pork, and it’s a hit!
“We’re cooking it low and slow in the oven. We cook it in a pan so it catches all the juice and it sits in its own juices as it cooks and keeps everything super tender. We cook it in with the barbecue sauce on a flat top so the sugars in the sauce carnalize up and you get a nice crispy when that combines with the fat,” explained Matt.
“The food is so good! Try the fries and make sure you get them with ranch. The pulled pork sandwiches are really awesome, and they always do a bunch of specials and they’re just wonderful,” said regular customer and owner of SoulBound Leather Sarah Blakeley.
One of the specials: The Finn and Ray, named after the Mitchell’s son Raymond and his best buddy Finn.
Not only is this The Happy Hog doing good by your stomach, but it’s also doing right by your heart in how they give back to their little community.
“We have built so many relationships with our customers and neighbors. There’s a leather shop down here that makes a lot of merch for us,” said Rose.
“Kind of like family a little bit because we are such a small town and we’re always like what can we do together as merchants as a whole,” added Blakeley.
From the little library and community basket that rotates between different charities in town, to open mic nights every Monday, even a board where you can buy a meal for someone short on cash.
“Put up the ticket showing that it was prepaid and anyone who is hungry or needs a meal can take what is up there,” said Rose.
But one of the most interesting nuggets about this Happy Hog is how word traveled up and down the Appalachian Trail.
Rose said, “We’ve had people from all over Europe, Africa, and Asia that come in because they hear those reviews. Nobody has heard of Pearisburg but he was at the grocery store and someone said, ‘Is this where The Happy Hog is? We’ve go to go!’”
“We’ve been getting hikers coming in taking about they’ve been waiting to get here for hundreds of miles looking for pork rinds or deviled eggs or whatever they’ve been craving,” added Matt.
Whether home is Pearisburg or Paris, France is home, all these little pigs will great you with a smile.
“Getting to go to the grocery store and people greet my son by name like, ‘You’re that friendly little fella from The Happy Hog.’ So it’s cool to see the impact we make,” said Rose.
“Matt loves what he does and you can tell,” said Dottie.
“Being able to see people’s reactions and how much they enjoy everything we’re doing makes it very rewarding,” added Matt.
The Happy Hog, a hometown eat where you’re treated high on the hog!
The Happy Hog is located at 100 S Main St, Pearisburg, VA 24134 and is open seven days a week, 11am to 9pm, with daily happy hour specials from 2pm to 6pm.
They host an open mic night every Monday from 5pm to 8pm.
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