Home > Orlando Bars & Clubs > Bar Review > Inside: The Ravenous Pig

There’s a new trend lurking around Orlando. What was once simply cool to you has now become cool couture to a fancier set. A simple karaoke night is now a full-blown band extravaganza with CityWalk’s Rising Star, simple laser tag has been given military-realistic weapons and combat scenarios at Hard Knocks, and now the pub scene has turned into a gastronomic experience with The Ravenous Pig at 1234 N. Orange Avenue in Winter Park. Why can’t a gritty pub just be dingy and dark instead of fancy-pants $12 pub burgers and rooty-tooty - ooh, is that Rogue on tap? And Lagunitas? And only $5 across the board? Maybe there is a reason to get gussied up to head to the pub after all.

Décor: The Ravenous Pig, self-described as a gastropub, is definitely less pub and more gastro, with a full three-quarters of the space taken up by wood dining tables and the bar itself being large enough to eat off of. But the brick walls, open ceiling, and yellowish lighting help evoke a pub-like atmosphere - as long as you stay at the bar and ignore the $25 entrees, that is. It’s a pretty safe, somewhat upscale scene, and with the fairly priced brews available it’s also the perfect place to treat your boss to a quality beer. I mean, do you want to take your boss to the scary dives you regularly frequent?

The Bar: The nice thing about the eight taps available at the Pig is that they are constantly rotating, sometimes every week. But the beers are always from American microbreweries, and there are usually a couple local ones on tap. A regular 16-ounce pint of any of them rings in at $5, which would be pretty steep if we’re talking domestic, but when your choices are small batch beers from Brooklyn Brewery and limited seasonals from Lagunitas, and you eye the prices on the food menu ($12 for a burger? It better be made of fresh dinosaur meat) you know you’re getting a pretty good deal. Many wines are also available, starting at around $8 a glass and quickly climbing from there. Most of the wines are only available in bottles, which in many cases would be cheaper than buying a few glasses anyway. Finally there are cocktails on the menu, too, including $10 martinis, $10 Bloody Mary, and a $12 sidecar (made with Courvoisier VS, Grand Marnier, and house-made sour).

Sounds: For a semi-fancy place, the Pig has some pretty cool music playing. Mostly classic rock, but also some modern alternative rock seeps in, occasionally catching your ear and making you bob your head as you discuss your favorite beer styles with the bartender.

Crowd: Lots of business-types from the neighborhood sift in during regular happy hour times (though there are no happy hour specials), and tend to pack the bar. But as the night wears on they disappear, which makes it the perfect time for you to come if you’re a bit yuppie phobic. 

Tip: The Pig has some pretty odd hours, closing at 11 p.m. during the week, midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and closed entirely on Sundays and Mondays, so keep an eye on the clock (and calendar) if you’re thirsty.

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