EVERETT — Pigs can fly after all, at least when it comes to the Flying Pig restaurant in downtown Everett.
It is having its third reincarnation, this time under the watchful eye of a new general manager who added lunch and brunch hours and new menu items.
The new formula seems to be working for the restaurant’s third life. The 80 restaurant seats are quickly filling up for the new expanded hours on most days, said Melease Small, the new general manager, who took over in August.
The original Flying Pig, known as the Flying Pig Food and Beverage Co. on Colby Avenue, was a popular downtown restaurant and pub for nearly 15 years. It closed in 2011 after the owners encountered financial problems.
Flying Pig 2.0 reopened on 1414 Hewitt Ave. in November 2021 in a historic turn-of-the-century building.
Many of the restaurant’s classic dishes came back, like the Mango-Bango Pulled Pork Sandwich, featuring slow-roasted pulled pork topped with a fresh mango and peach salsa, and the Pig Pie Flatbread.
The meat-heavy pig pie dish is topped with Canadian bacon, bacon bits, pepperoni and sausage.
Small took over in August, expanding hours for the restaurant that opened as late as 3 p.m. on some days while adding new dishes.
The restaurant now opens at 10 a.m. for brunch on Saturday and Sunday, and at 11 a.m. during the week. It is also open seven days a week, with it no longer closed on Tuesday.
Brunch has its own menu, while lunch and dinner have new dishes.
“For brunch, we do sweet and savory so that you can have everything from Belgian waffles, french toast, a parfait, chicken and waffles, even a breakfast burger,” she said.
For lunch, Small said new dishes include the Ham Solo, which actually does not include ham but Canadian bacon and golden pineapple over melted mozzarella and garlic red sauce.
“I tried to be creative with the names of food items,” said Small, noting that she wanted the menu to have a wow factor with customers.
Other new choices include a classic turkey club sandwich, The Clubhouse, a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, Cheesesteak Royale, and New England clam chowder.
“Each bite has a different taste,” Small said of the clam chowder with its variety of vegetables and seafood.
She said she got the recipe from her friend Pat, a retired restaurant owner, after begging him for 27 years.
Small has worked at a variety of Everett restaurants as a manager, bartender, and waitress over her long career. She said she jumped at the new opportunity at the Flying Pig after being introduced to restaurant owners Robert Hamre and Lance Miller in June.
“This is such a classic Everett restaurant,” she said, noting that the opportunity to make tweaks to the venue has been exciting.
Hamre said he has been excited about the changes that Small has been making. He said the restaurant has seen several different managers in its more than four years in business.
“Melease has been our anchor,” he said. “She’s really holding things together.”
Hamre said the restaurant is a tribute to the original Flying Pig restaurant because it was such a popular Everett institution.
Though he and Miller were not connected to the original restaurant, Hamre said they had retained one of the original owners in 2021 as a consultant for about a year to help with the concept and to continue some classic food items.
Hamre said he sees the Flying Pig as part of the downtown Everett revitalization that is seeing more people live downtown and new businesses open.
“My partner and I thought it would be a smart gamble,” he said of opening the eatery. ”We feel downtown is moving in the right direction.”
He talked at a restaurant table with an original, whimsical painting behind him of a pig in a military aviator’s suit with other pigs flying aeroplanes.
He said it’s part of the theming, designed to create a fun atmosphere and a nod to Everett’s role in aviation and the military.
The restaurant’s interior is also full of history with its tin ceilings and brick walls.
“This is what Everett establishments looked like at the turn of the century,” he said.
Other restaurant owners have tried to succeed in the ground-floor spot at Hewitt Avenue but failed. Before the Flying Pig opening, three eateries filled the space in a span of 10 years.
The last to fold was Abbott’s in June 2020, then considered one of the priciest restaurants in Snohomish County.
But what made 1414 Hewitt famous was chef Gordon Ramsey. He filmed an episode of his then-television show, Kitchen Nightmares, back in December 2012 in a restaurant called the Prohibition Grille.
Ramsey slammed the food and the gyrating belly dancers in a television episode.
Seven months later, Ramsey came back to visit with chef-owner Rishi Brown and her newly renamed Prohibition Gastropub. He highlighted the new menu and improved eats he came up with in his original episode.
Ramsey’s redo didn’t help Brown for long. Her establishment was replaced in 2016 by Grille & Saloon, which focused on steaks and whiskeys. It also featured a drag-show brunch on Sundays.
Less than a year later, the restaurant closed its doors to be replaced by Abbott’s.
Hamre said he is confident the Flying Pig will have a long life under the watchful eye of Small.
He won’t have to worry about being late on rent.
In addition to operating the restaurant, he and Miller have also bought the building at 1414 Hewitt Ave.
Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com
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