Porky's BBQ Bankside

Fantastic food and atmosphere. Friendly service and manager very charming. Will definitely be coming back

+1

Serving the best popcorn chicken I've ever come across, this Memphis inspired dining experience is go big or go home. Friendly staff and huge value-for-money style plates left an impressionable experience on a 5'2" woman (trying to keep up). Whilst the bbq half chicken, baked beans and chips were seasoned perfectly, the atmosphere and industrial aesthetic of drinking and dining, made Porkie's Bankside an inviting and refreshing place to escape the weekend sun.

£8 Lunch time menu is worth perusing before ordering pulled pork or ribs Porkys are famous for. Rib meat sandwich is superb and has all the flavour of ribs without the mess.

+1

For a Tuesday is was quite quiet, but that did not stop the 8 of us having a good fun time. The food was great, and also the staff were friendly to talk to and responsive. It's well worth checking out!

Great food and great beer, tucked into a quiet little side street you might have passed hundreds of times. I certainly had. Superficially (very) similar to another well- known pig-logoed American pulled-pork-purveying restaurant chain, Porky's leans slightly more towards the bar end, with great beers and pitchers etc. available. Menu selection is very meat-heavy, but that's what you come to a place like this for. Also shows sport on the screens dotted around the bar. Not really my personal preference, but was accompanying friends who wanted to watch football ('soccer' in this case, not American) whilst enjoying beer and ribs. I certainly couldn't argue with the latter two and it was a great place to combine the three.

Our work team had a wonderful lunch down at Porky’s Bankside today. We were invited back after a negative experience previously and this time the whole place felt a class above. Steve, the new manager has the venue running like a well-oiled machine and together with the staff has made a venue that’s perfect for large groups and small tables alike. The atmosphere at Porky’s is extremely relaxed and the staff appeared to really be enjoying their work. They had all of our requests covered despite us being a table of 12 and were forthcoming with recommendations as well as anticipating our requests. There was water on the table upon our arrival and the manager Steve greeted us personally, helping to assure we kicked off lunch on a positive note. Our drinks orders were taken right away and the waiting staff were inquisitive and interested in what we ordered, providing suggestions and tasting notes. A range of starters were ordered for us at the table and this was a nice touch as it meant that everyone could get eating at once. The amount of starters we had made the main course a challenge! Between courses the waiting staff were helpful and efficient in clearing the table and kept refreshing water jugs which is something that doesn’t happen often enough in most restaurants. Mains consisted of burgers and ribs and the size doesn't compromise the quality. This is comfort food of the best kind and would be equally appealing in winter or on scorching day like today. All in all it was a very relaxing afternoon, the restaurant was busy but never felt chaotic, the music was great but never loud and food came out quickly and steaming hot. Simple touches like lots of sauce, napkins and a genuine concern for our experience made our time at Porky’s pass by in a flash. The only disappointment is having to go back to work for the afternoon. We will definitely be back and will be sure to recommend to other teams in our building. Thanks Porky’s, you guys nailed it! Ps. Great beer! Want to come back and drink the rest of the selection!

+3

We love Porky’s! 🐖 A really chilled informal bar/restaurant with a fun vibe. The food was great. I had the BBQ lunch platter and some catfish bites. Their lunch menu is a main, a side and a glass of wine/lager for only £10. Can’t complain! They’re SUPER dog friendly - to the point where our dog got a water bowl and some pulled pork. Thanks to Nico for making us feel so comfortable.

Great taste burgers. American style restaurant. You can play beer pong or just take a food like steak or hamburger. And the most famous american music of all The time is playing there!

Absolutely amazing food.....the burgers were on another level & beer pong was a great way to finish the night. Would definitely visit again

Went there for lunch. The food was delicious, the staff were welcoming and fast. Can definately recommend.

Excellent food, quick service. A little loud but worth it! Basically what Bill Wyman's Sticky Fingers used to be.

Great place, lots of space with friendly staff. Tables available to play beer-pong etc. So great place for a birthday drinks/get together. Food is delicious with really great burgers - recommend the pork burnt ends. But as the meat is the main attraction don't bother with getting the salad - its fine but doesn’t compare to the rest of the food. Nice drinks but the bottles of Prosecco are a little pricey of you miss happy hour.

When arriving at the venue all the staff are incredibly welcoming and relaxed and take you through everything the place has to offer. After filling up on delicious house smoked BBQ food we signed up for a couple rounds of beer pong, probably the best addition to any meal you could have. The table service is exceptional bringing everything we needed to for our meal and beer pong games straight to us with no fuss. Will definitely be going again!

Great place to meet & eat. My husband and I had a delicious meal, gigantic tasty burger, super sides and ribs platter with pulled pork and brilliant beans. Lovely citrusy beer and very reasonably Priced cocktails. The guys and girls waiting tables were knowledgeable, helpful and fun. The atmosphere was very upbeat and happy. The background music is loud but you can still have a conversation. I had a fantastic time here and look forward to returning in March, next time we are in London. Keep up the good work. Definitely recommended for a great American Diner experience.

Had a wonderful lunch today with my family. Service was super, food was great, corn bread was AMAZING! They made accommodations for my child with allergies and even gave us a great dinner recommendation for later in the day. Overall great experience would highly recommend. Thanks guys for the T-shirt too!!

Fantastic experience would always recommend for a medium to large group. Amazing BBQ food and service, to the point where the manager sourced us some local coffee from a vendor so we could keep the vibes coming!! Brilliant beer pong experience too!!

Delish food and drink. The chicken wings were very tasty and the burger melted in my mouth. Nico was fantastic. His service and friendliness was above and beyond the normal. Very professional chap. Also, the dogs lived the place too!

Very nice food, especially chips, but a bit expensive, especially for the location. Staff are nice and good atmosphere. Worth stopping for lunch if you're passing by.

The food was very tasty indeed. The staff seemed really friendly and efficient. We enjoyed the "beer pong" games as well.

Went in for a Groupon deal, mac and cheese was out of this world amazing so so good, a little disappointing though was the porkys burger seemed really bland and lacking in flavor which was a shame

Great staff and decent food, ribs were a little over cooked but everything came out warm and fresh.

Delicious burger and chips. Fairly small selection of burgers and fried chicken, but excellently done and good value for money. Very friendly service too!

Really nice food, decent portions but not the biggest. Beers fairly expensive (even by London pub standards). Enjoyed a lovely piece of steak after EGX Rezzed though :-)

We've been to the Camden branch a number of times but this was our first visit to Bankside. Staff were really accommodating but unfortunately seated us by a table that arrived for a birthday - about 20 people and us two were in amongst them as they all arrived, loud and excited, which was understandable, but made us feel crowded and that we needed to leave quickly. But their fault but bad planning on the seating front. Food and drink was great (but the burnt ends should've been more burnt!)

When you are far from home it’s great to find a place that has the style of food you love. The food was pretty decent and honestly made me feel more at home as an American. The wait staff was fantastic. The music was good, but if you wanted to be authentic to Texas and also Cowboys, country is the music you should play. I just feel like people go to restaurants for more than just the food but for the atmosphere too. It should be said though, if it didn’t come out of a pit it isn’t BBQ. If it wasn’t slow cooked in a smoker, it isn’t BBQ. Putting BBQ sauce on items does not make it BBQ. Also, if you are going to claim the ‘American’ style you got to serve American style drinks with plenty of ice. Location is not exactly practical unless you are going and coming from work. I can imagine someone driving into the city just for BBQ.

We arrived to a bustling lively environment and was seated quickly. There were 8 of us and the servers were attentive and paid attention to dietary changes within the orders. The food arrived hot and tasty. I especially liked the buffalo wings and the BBQ beans. The rib croquettes were a bit disappointing due to a lack of rib meat but everything else from the burgers to the steak was great. Beer pong was fun and a great way to end our evening.

+6

Katie, our server was fantastic. She knew the menu well, was helpful and attentive. She helped make our evening a memorable one. The food was good but our chips were served cold. This was quickly rectified though. The kids loved it and we would definitely go back.

The food was great. Big portions of BBQ meat, ribs, burgers, coleslaw, chips and sauce. It was a Sunday afternoon so the place was relatively quiet. Our first waitress was okay but a big shout out for the manager who entertained our kids, brought them badges and made sure they had a great time.

I ate here last week whilst visiting London. The food was absolutely fantastic and came very quickly. The staff were friendly and the price not bad considering the location. The chicken burger is amazing. I highly recommend the bacon and cheese croquettes as well.

Was recommended by some friends that have been when they had a more full menu with ribs and such. (Apparently COVID changed the menu a bit due to availability) For what was there, however, was great. The burgers were really good. Bit expensive total after drinks compared to some other nights out in London. But overall good. Service could have been a slight bit quicker but they were still very nice to us so we appreciate that.

The atmosphere in this restaurant is great, unfortunately though the service was not great. It was very slow and rushed. I had cajan catfish, it was one fillet that came with a sweet potato rosti, unfortunately the rosti was very undercooked. I wouldn't shout about this restaurant, its not the best bbq about.

If there was a half star, I’d award it and give this restaurant a 3.5. It’s much better than your bbq chain restaurants, but not the most amazing food and dining experience. The ribs were ok -nice and tender, generous portion, and decent bbq sauce. Could have done with some more sauce as it was a bit dry at times. Sweet potato fries were not all cooked but good otherwise. Service was a bit up and down. In one instance, I took a knife from another table and the waitress ran to correct the now short cutlery supply showing she was ever so attentive, but then we waited forever for the bill and then two different people came to collect our payment because they clearly were not paying attention.

Lacks any atmosphere. The girl forgot our drinks. I make better pulled pork at home. Disappointing but reasonably priced.

Went for a work lunch. Had half baby back ribs with fries and extra pulled pork which tasted really nice. Good atmosphere. Service was a little slow and chaotic when it came to payment. We were somehow charged 2 extra meals meaning that we had to come back after work to receive a refund on those. Would recommend with smaller groups or larger groups if you pre plan what everyone is having to make the payment process easier.

Lovely staff and good food. It is described as a dimer style restaurant but in reality its more of a sports bar. We were expecting a quieter meal but got screaming rugby fans. If you like that then it's great. It just wasn't what it seemed to be according to online advertising.

Friendly staff. Ribs, cooked well but not much flavour, needed drenching in bbq sauce to have any taste to them. Fries are excellent, chicken was okay but slightly dry and average. All in all nothing about this place strikes me as better than average, and all the food needs more seasoning. What they’re trying to do with beer pong etc is a good idea I think however.

Pretty place. Love the beer pong idea & the new rules. Enjoyed that part a lot. What I didn’t like was I got told the beer jug was for £18 & I got charged £25. I ordered the pulled pork with corn bread but I never received the corn bread. We got some extra sides served which we thought were on the house cause the manager was being very friendly. Later I was charged for them. I refused to pay & the answer I got was “but you ate it” I quickly realised the kitchen was closing & the manager said he was short staffed which caused all this issues. Anyways this made the experience, not so good. Don’t think I will be returning anytime soon

Served one burger with a stale hard bun, sent back, had to wait too long for replacement. No concessions from staff or any real attempt to 'make it right. Disappointed.

Visited on a Wednesday night with a table booked. Was quite busy but got seated quickly. The food was pretty good. Not the best BBQ but the dry rub ribs were great. Failed to bring out some of the items we ordered and struggled to get anyone's attention as the staff was so busy. Asked to take them off the bill but no apology etc. Shame

My mates and I came here the other week booked in for 7pm. Arrived 6:45. Ordered and food arrived 8pm. One of my mates didn't have his food at all so we had to wait for a re-make. We told the manager we loved the food and service but the wait was too long, so we're not going to pay the service charge. Then the manager did the following: - When my mate's card didn't go through first time (sometimes happens) he said "What's the matter, no money mate??". - He pointed at the receipt and said "See look 35 minutes 35 minutes this say 35 minutes!!" The only fact that matters is we walked in at 6:40 and got food at 8. Food could've taken 35, more likely that it wasn't entered for a bit or a server forgot, no problems these things happen. Instead he gets in our faces about it? What you say is "no problem, sorry, thanks come again" that's all we wanted not comp or anything just a "sorry your food was late" would've made this a 4-5 star review. - The manager accused us of being rude towards wait staff. We're never rude to wait staff, when the management here is clearly the only issue we had. I've worked in customer service before, it's london, it's busy and thankless work in this heat as well. The waitress agreed that we had been polite. - When we attempted to tip the waitress to thank her, the manager TOOK THE TIP OUT OF HER HANDS AND PUT IT INTO HIS OWN POCKET!! This crossed a line for us and yes we got loud (not physical, i want to make this very clear) in disbelief (because honestly who does that??!) we gave the waitress another tip (the waitresses were really amazing through this whole thing!). These are not the actions of a manager who understands customer service. It speaks VOLUMES that as we left the security guard was saying this happens often enough that he's used to it. EDIT: As you can see from the managers response, he has a bit of a raging temper. A few other reviews on here also point this out. I honestly feel so sorry for the wait and kitchen staff that have to work around this guy.