Salt + Smoke — Restaurant in Ellisville

Before I share my experience the server Sama was very soft spoken, kind, understanding and patience. My son and I stopped in a little after 1pm. The restaurant was not crowded at all. On our way to our seats the hostess took us to a table that had not yet been cleaned. She apologized and quickly wiped the table down with a paper towel. She didn’t sanitize it with spray or anything. She could have just sat us somewhere else instead of there since there was no crowd. It was just a bad look. I was very excited to try this new location because the location in the loop I frequented many times and every time the taste, quantity and quality of the food did not change even if I ordered to go. I was excited to try the, deviled eggs which was 1 of my favorite items. Well, first strike. My order is in the photos. Brisket came out, it was dry as a potters house. I asked my server if she would eat them and she said, honestly no, it does look rather on the dry side. She offered me a different cut. When she brought the second selection, I think it was even dryer than the first, I could have struck a match off the side of the meat. I responded, maybe I just came at the wrong time. The smoked wings came out looking like they had been roasting in the sun all day and rolled around in toasted cornmeal. I understand they are smoked but blackened? I once again asked my server if it looked appetizing to her and if she would eat it? She said so politely that she hadn’t tried the chicken or know if that’s how it usually looks but she also agreed that it did look sorta on the extra burnt and crispy side. She said they, “flash fry” the wings. So I asked if she could bring someone out who could let me know if this is how the meat is regularly. The ribs when I bit into them had no smoked or bbqed taste. They had not a bit of seasoning. Even though they looked well seasoned with the special rub. I told my son, if you have to pour a bottle of sauce on your food it’s not good. The sides as you can see from the photos were forgettable. Brisket baked bean with a small piece of dry brisket. It reminded me of the little piece of fat you would get in a can of pork and beans. And the tiny specks of meat were no bigger than the meat you would find in between your teeth. The “sweet pepper” potato salad had potential but I only found a few shavings from the side of the, “sweet pepper”. The chef came out and explained how the process works. The wings are smoked, then rubbed and fried. And that’s all fine and dandy but are they fried to a crisp? She mentioned the rub. I can understand that as well, but this is not how this should look or taste. It tasted like charcoal. She offered me a free dessert, I declined because I’m not a sweets fan. I told her, I don’t want anything free and I will pay for the food, I’m just disappointed that I did not get a chance to enjoy this experience. The only thing that was good was the fries and the Alabama ranch sauce. I hope someone else does not receive this...

This restaurant offers some fierce competition for the best in Ellisville! ---The wait is a little long, but the meat and the sides are well worth it. I went here for the first time yesterday, and it was pretty much packed-however, the wait was only 45 minutes, and we were let in very quickly. ---The restaurant itself is decked out with very "BBQ-farm-esque" aesthetic details and a modern-yet-not-industrial style. A very bold interior, especially with the Celtic dance music playing in the bathrooms, which really made me reflect on life. I like it! ---Our waiter was very interesting and unique, as well. All around, we ordered two plates with 4 meats and 4 sides in total. We did not expect, however, the free pastry that comes with each plate! (Well, I did, but no one else did.) Believe you me when I say that this thing is HEAVENLY. Think the warm inner folds of a croissant with like beef-fat-or-something-or-other meaty in there, with the crunch of a pretzel bite - needless to say, I'm a huge fan, and will vouch for this even if my tablemates wouldn't.

Though the sides are equally as good! ---The creamed corn is creamy, and not sweet-a fact which brought much joy to my table for some reason. I like the coriander/i-can't-put-my-finger-on what that flavor is that they put in there, as well. The brisket chili is good, too, (even though I only got it because they were out of "brisket" for the plates when we got there.) ---The potato salad shares this distinction, however the mac and cheese is a force to be reckoned with. Very creamy and cheesy, yet not overbearingly so-very savory, to the point that it really didn't need any salt. Wow! Needless to say, all of the sides were thoroughly enjoyed. ---The meat was a bit more of a contentious issue at our table: I personally loved it all, however, the ribs were labeled "tough" and "too sweet" by my table mates. They were very tough, I will say, though I enjoyed this batch a lot more than most other batches of ribs I've had because of the amazing, crunchful char on their surface. (I'm pretty impartial to ribs, generally, so take my word with a grain of barbeque sauce.) ---The pulled pork and the chicken hit that sweet spot of being moist enough to cause mouths to water, and not being too moist to not be able to have their intricacies ruined with copious amounts of sauce; basically, they're perfect. ---The wings, as well, were excellent, and very tender. With all four sauces provided at the tables, anything unliked can be ameliorated pretty quickly, though I will say I only really liked three of them.

The message behind this extended rant is that you should try the new Salt + Smoke location - even if just for the sides, you oughta risk it for the biscuit, because their popovers are...

I visited on Friday Oct. 17th at 7pm. The hostess was pleasant and even made sure we got a table we liked. Once seated our server came up to us and gave us menus and got our drink order. The server even said she will grab silverware for us; spoiler alert: we never received silverware or napkins even when asked. We got our drinks and placed an order for chicken skins as an appetizer, they came out fast. Once the server came back to take our order: I ordered the brisket but the brisket was out. Not a big deal as it was late in the day but the server never mentioned it to us when we sat down. we would of liked a little heads up that is all. So we said we needed another minute to look over the menu as everyone there wanted brisket. The server did not refill our drinks and was missing for over 25 minutes. We had to track her down. We decided we would place some to-go orders instead since the service was absent. She got our to-go orders and we waited for about 8 minutes for it. We ordered loaded fries and regular fries along with burnt ends toasted ravioli. that's it. when our order came out to us the regular fries were ice cold and the loaded fries were pipping hot. We also got another order for chicken skins we did not order. We had to track down our server again to explain the issue. She apologized and fixed the problem. We asked for refills as its been 40+ minutes and never got refills and our drinks were empty. We got our refills and waited 15 minutes for the fries to be done. We ended up eating our to-go meals at the table while waiting for the fries. When the fries arrived we asked for the bill. We have four people (two couples) so we split the bill. The server handed us a device and walked away. We paid for one half of the bill and didn't know how to access the device for the other half of the bill. We had to track our server down again. When paying for the other half of the bill it said remaining balance was $6. When we asked about that she said she split the check wrong and we had to be charged again. She ended up fully charging us for everything including the extra chicken skins we did not order. We never got a receipt even though we asked for it. I walked around the place and only say 5 tables with people. They were not busy and yet we got service like they were. Never...