Salt + Smoke — Restaurant in Saint Charles

EDIT: We went back for another meal with friends,, and the food was really good. I changed my rating from 3 to 4 start because of the food. The service was lacking, though. Granted, it was busy, but our server seemed either inexperienced or distracted all night long.

Original review: My wife and I went to Salt + Smoke tonight for dinner, anticipating some awesome barbecue. We ordered the hush puppy appetizer with maple butter, I got the pulled chicken plate with pit beans and potato salad and she got the ribs with slaw and sweet potato fries.

The appetizer of hush puppies were good; light and airy with a taste reminicent of funnel cake or pancake.

Now for dinner... as you can see from my pictures, my plating was appropriate, but for her rib dinner they used a plate entirely too small for all the food. After asking for another plate, she was able to eat.

The ribs are covered in a thick coating of pepper so be aware if you do not like pepper much. The chips were not crispy and the slaw was only dressed with oil, no vinegar that we could taste. The large item on both plates is a bacon and cheddar topped popover. She said that the popover was good. I'd never eaten one before and thought the inside was doughy.

The pulled chicken was moist and reasonably tasty, the sweet pepper potato salad was decent, although without much sweet pepper and the pit beans were in a watery sauce that poured out of the cup they were served in, and topped with pulled pork that looked and tasted like it spent too much time in a slow cooker.

All in all, it was below average to average food. Our meal cost somewhere near $40 total. We were hungry so we ate. It should also be noted that they were smack dab in the middle of their dinner rush, and the place was packed. When asked by our server ( who was really good, btw) how dinner was, we were honest and told him what I've said here. He asked if we'd like a manager and we declined saying that it was good enough, we ate it and were full, so all was good, but we probably would not be back. He took my card for payment.

Here is why I gave them 3 stars: he came back and said he went ahead and told his manager and the manager said that since we weren't totally happy, that we would not be paying for our meal. That says a lot to me about a business, so I told him that because they were that kind, we will be going back to give them a second chance. I'm looking forward to that meal. Thanks, Salt + Smoke St. Charles... I appreciate your caring about...

Interesting Place in Historic Area We were on a trip from Illinois to Florida with a stop over in the St. Louis area and needed to get bbq. We checked various review sites and decided on this one. We went there after sunset and sadly we didn’t see much of the old buildings or décor that line the cobblestone Main St. It is a hot spot for locals and was quite busy for a Wednesday night. Most of the shops were closed, but Salt and Smoke was open and bustling. They have a great patio for outdoor dining, or just to share some time over drinks. We sat inside as it was just a little too cool outside for us. You can tell it’s an old place with newer updates. The Bar Menu is fairly expansive that includes a good selection of draft beers and house special cocktails. This is the place to visit if you want to try whiskeys and bourbons. I suspect there’s at least 200 to choose from. I started with a Urban Chestnut O Katz Marzen Lager and chased that with a Old Bakery Citrus Wheat. Both on tap at $8.00 per pint. As I think back now, we should have tried the Fried Chicken Skins on the Appetizer Menu. They are a fairly new foodie item and we have yet to try them. As it was late, we wanted to try a few things, but not eat a large meal, so we selected the Bestie Combo 2 ($20.99). We opted for brisket and ribs as our two meats along with Beef Fat Fries and the Green Bean and Tomato Salad as our sides. It also comes with a Bacon and Cheddar Popover. It was only a short wait until our meal came out. We wasted no time getting into the fries. It’s true, fries fried in beef fat are excellent. They taste great. The Bean and Tomato Salad is cold and was tossed in a vinaigrette. A light, fresh taste. As for the meats, our server said this would be plenty for the two of us to share. Not for us - three St. Louis pork ribs and two chunks of brisket. While smoked and seasoned well, there wasn’t enough of either to try bites with the different bbq sauces they have on the table. I found my finger to work well for trying their sauces and one sauce was better than the next. The popover was killer. I wish we could have ordered a basket of them. Order heavier on the meats if there’s a couple of you and do an appetizer to have a...

My husband and I stopped by the Main Street St. Charles location of Salt + Smoke for our 5th marriage anniversary on 10/2.

Wow!

First, the food. My husband and I both ordered the brisket sandwich. He chose the beef fat fries as his side and I chose the pit beans with bacon (pictured). The presentation was splendid and the actual food was even better! The smoke ring on the brisket was bright and apparent. Yet the meat was incredibly tender, tore extremely easily, and had an AMAZING flavor profile! The tobacco onions were crispy but hadn't lost any of their flavor. The burnt ends mayo was a thick spread that complemented the meat while also standing alone as a smoky spread with little mayo flavor (a great thing for my husband who doesn't like mayo)! My husband's beef fat fries had FRESH crushed garlic and herbs on them (a little too much garlic, but it was easy to simply wipe some of it away). My pit beans were smoky and full of flavor! We also both ordered the sweet BBQ sauce. While sweet, the sauce also had an ever so slight kick to it. It also complemented the meat extremely well while being a great standalone dipping sauce!

Next, the establishment. My husband and I were attracted by the people waiting, the socially distanced outdoor seating, and the fire pits. While we were waiting to ask how long the wait would be we observed a sign on a table that explained all of the precautions Salt + Smoke were implementing to maintain a safe environment for their employees and customers. We were extremely impressed and decided the wait would be worth it! When it was our turn to put our names down on the waiting list (the wait only ended up being about 5 minutes) we were met with a professional host who obliged our preference to wait to eat outside (seating for two was available immediately inside but we stated that we preferred the outdoor seating). Our waitress was professional and kind, obliged our questions, and maintained her distance while still being personable.

Overall, we would eat here over and over just to try new things! Salt + Smoke...