Nachos served in a trash can, Grilled Cheese stuffed with Brisket, and Tiramisu made with Twinkies. Plus slow smoked barbecue, authentic Portuguese cuisine, and big bowl of Loaded Poutine. When you’re ready to ‘pig’ out, just visit the Cask & Pig.

Located in Dartmouth Mass, the Cask & Pig is big in every way you can imagine. The menu is big, satisfying every palate and pocket. The portions are big, almost falling off the plate. The flavors are big, on every dish coming out of the kitchen. And the dining room is big, always filled with plenty of energy.

Mario Ribeiro – Owner, Cask & Pig: “When you walk through the door, it’s a huge place. We have over 6000 square feet. We have 260 seats, plus another 66 outside. It’s a big open bar dining room space. It’s really an electric vibe going on around here. People are just happy. People are eating great food, having great drinks, great craft beer, a little bit of everything just brings everybody together. And it’s just a really cool atmosphere.”

Mario Ribeiro opened this place a couple years ago, because he wanted to bring big eats to the South Coast, and all of it is made from scratch.

Mario Ribeiro – Owner, Cask & Pig: “We do everything from scratch, we brine our chicken, we smoke all our meats, we cut our meats, sides, all our sauces, hand cut fries, fresh pasta, everything’s made from scratch.”

The guy in charge of all that scratch cooking is Head Chef Richard Sullivan, who oversees an army back in the kitchen.

Richard Sullivan – Head Chef, Cask & Pig: “It’s hectic, but it’s fun. We have a great group of guys. Were like a big group of brothers back there. And we do a really good job of just executing and pushing food out and communicating. And that’s my family right there.”

And a lot of the dishes at Cask & Pig are inspired by family.

Richard Sullivan – Head Chef, Cask & Pig: “It is really comfort food because this is food that not necessarily your mom would make, but it’s food that was inspired by my mom and inspired by some of the guys in the kitchen’s, their parents and where they’ve come from. So it really is kind of home style cooking, just taken up a notch, which is something I love.”

Starters here run the gamut. There’s Loaded Poutine, piling up hand cut fries with mozzarella cheese curds, crumbled linguica, a sunny side up egg, and rich gravy, Deviled Eggs studded with candied bacon and sliced jalapenos, and a new take on Surf and Turf: Scallops and BBQ Brisket.

Mario Ribeiro – Owner, Cask & Pig: “It’s basically North meets South. So you got a southern style barbecue burnt ends, and fresh local scallops, we put them together. It’s just an unbelievable dish that you’re not going to get probably anywhere in the country. It’s my favorite appetizer and I think it’s our guests’ favorite appetizer too.”

If that’s the favorite, this has to be a close second: Trash Can Nachos.

Mario Ribeiro – Owner, Cask & Pig: “We do nachos completely different. We take our nachos and we put them on a sheet pan, we get the cheese on there, the bean salsa, pulled pork, and then we put it all together heat it up and then put it inside a trash can. Okay, so it’s a number 10 can really, we call it the trash can. Top it with our sour cream, and then whatever toppings you want. When you bring the nachos to the table, first of all it’s in a trash can, so people are like ‘what the heck is this?’ So we take the trash can out and you got beautiful nachos everywhere.”

Richard Sullivan – Head Chef, Cask & Pig: “It’s this great display of just chips and cheese melting with all the black bean salsa on top, just exploding down onto your plate.”

Entrees at the Cask & Pig are heavy on comfort food, like Chicken and Waffles with bourbon bacon maple syrup, a fourteen-ounce Tomahawk Pork Chop, with bacon jam, mashed sweet potato, and grilled asparagus, perfectly seared scallops with parmesan risotto, a plate tipping platter of slow smoked barbecue, and the indulgent Brisket Grilled Cheese.

Richard Sullivan – Head Chef, Cask & Pig: “It almost brings you back to childhood where it’s just like, this is a grilled cheese but for an adult.”

Mario Ribeiro – Owner, Cask & Pig: “It’s one of those items, you come in and you want a sandwich, but a sandwich that’s really going to satisfy you, the brisket grilled cheese is the one to go to absolutely.”

Another sandwich that’s sure to satisfy is The GOAT Burger.

Mario Ribeiro – Owner, Cask & Pig: “It’s not actually a goat burger. It’s the greatest of all time burger. So in that burger we got bacon jam. We got pickled onions, smoked cheddar, fried pickles, our house made patty, and it’s on a beautiful potato bun. And we like to double it up and do a double patty and take it to the next level.”

Since the Cask and Pig is located on the South Coast, some Portuguese specialties are a must. Like zesty Shrimp Mozambique over fresh linguine, and the hearty Portuguese Sirloin.

Mario Ribeiro – Owner, Cask & Pig: “Around here, you have to have a Portuguese steak on the menu. So we take a 12 ounce sirloin steak, we pan sear it. We make our housemade Portuguese gravy, we serve it over our handcut fries, sautéed spinach, Portuguese red hot peppers. We got our fried egg, and you got the best steak around.”

You really ought to save room for dessert here, especially for Bread Pudding with caramel sauce, or the snack food/Italian food mashup known as Twinkamisu.

Mario Ribeiro – Owner, Cask & Pig: “Everybody has tiramisu. So we’re like, ‘how can we make a tiramisu a little bit different?’ So hey, everybody loves Twinkies, right? So you take a Twinkie, you bring in some mascarpone cream, some cocoa powder, put it all together, and all of a sudden you get a Twinkiemisu.”

And if you’ve got a whole table to feed, the Ginormous Cookie Sundae is the perfect ending.

Mario Ribeiro – Owner, Cask & Pig: “It is just a huge Cookie Sundae inside a 64 ounce martini glass. When you bring that over the table, the reaction is, ‘Wow, what are we going to do with this?’ So everybody just digs in, and not everybody finishes, but at least they try.”

And you should try the Cask & Pig, because according to Mario, there’s just nothing like it.

Mario Ribeiro – Owner, Cask & Pig: “There’s nowhere else in the area where you can get what you get here at the Cask & Pig. Everything made from scratch, great vibe. Great staff, great food, great craft cocktails, beer, everything.”