San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Pig Sandwich a taste of S.A. history
Stand’s sign, dining room as beloved as the menu
The legendary Pig Stand on Broadway by the Pearl is the last of its kind, the only remaining outpost of the legendary chain that started in Dallas in 1921 and invented the drive-thru.
The San Antonio shop opened in the 1930s, and the interior is rich with its history, with black-and-white checkered floors, music you select and play from the booths, and pigs. Pigs here. Pigs there. Pigs everywhere, from the iconic neon pig sign to porcine figurines and cookie jars.
The pigs reference the restaurant’s name, of course, but also its iconic pig sandwich, made famous as the must-have sandwich of Aurora Greenway, the character Larry McMurtry created in his novel “Terms of Endearment” and who Shirley MacLaine made famous with her Oscar-winning portrayal in the 1983 tear-jerker of the same name.
“The Evening Star,” McMurtry’s sequel novel to “Terms of Endearment,” features a Houston Pig Stand and Greenway mowing down several Pig Sandwiches. The film adaptation of “Evening Star” stars MacLaine and Jack Nicholson in scenes filmed at the long-since-closed Houston Pig Stand.
Owner Mary Ann Hill has worked at the S.A. Pig Stand since 1967 and her love of the property is so profound, she knows her customers on a firstname basis. Several employees have worked there for decades.
There are eight other sandwiches
beyond the famous pig, and they vary widely from fried fish to chicken and chickenfried steak. All come with crispy fries or fried okra, corn, vegetable of the day or coleslaw and the bread varies from standard white toast to toasted store-bought hamburger buns. That’s all fairly basic, but the pig’s the thing.
In the last few years, Midtown has grown around the Pig Stand, dwarfing it with big buildings and some of San Antonio’s best restaurants and their big reputations. Still, the Pig Stand stands, a testament to the enduring appeal of nostalgia and barbecue pork.
Best sandwich: The pig
sandwich ($8.59) has been on the menu since 1921. Slices of tender, well-seasoned roasted pork with a sweet barbecue sauce and a pickle relish served
on a plain hamburger bun. That Aurora knows her stuff. I could eat this again today, and you should, too, for a true taste of San Antonio history.
This sandwich is so iconic, it has its own neon sign inside the restaurant. Hill has said that many offers have been made by customers to acquire it, and she considers it her retirement fund.
Other sandwiches: The chicken-fried steak sandwich ($9.89) is another winner. Overhanging the hamburger bun, the tender meat was encased in especially crunchy breading with a peppery bite, topped with lettuce, pickles and tomatoes. Note that the sandwich
doesn’t come with a side of gravy, so make sure to ask for it.
The perfect companion was a side order of onion rings (a $1 upgrade from fries) that came with a thick and shaggy crunchy breading oozing buttery flavor.
Oddly, the Pig Stand is also known for its fish and chips, and they put that fried cod in a sandwich ($8.99). Served piping hot with housemade tartar sauce on toast with lettuce, pickles and tomatoes, the four lightly breaded cod fillets were well seasoned and crunchy without being greasy.
The ham sandwich ($8.99) failed to deliver on the promise of the pig. Served hot or cold, I ordered it hot and it came with thinly sliced ham that was so salty, the melted cheddar and buttery toast couldn’t compete. It’s one of the few sandwiches with the side option of soup, but they sold out of the broccoli and cheese soup before I could get a taste.
The club sandwich ($9.99) came off as more of a BLT with mayo. While the bacon was crispy and there was plenty of it, there wasn’t much ham or cheese.
At the Pig Stand, it’s pig all the way.