Roger That BBQ — Restaurant in Salem

Great ambiance, nice staff, wonderful food. True smoked Texas BBQ! We went in at 4:15 hoping to avoid the dinner rush, I guess everyone had the same idea! The line did move fast despite having only one cashier to process the dozens of orders streaming in. We bought the Pitmaster combo and fried pickles. The pickles are battered deep-fried kosher pickles spears served with ranch for dipping- if you like fried pickles, you'll love these crunchy yummies. With our Pitmaster combo we picked fries, corn, and tater salad as our sides; you receive a measley 1 cup EACH of the corn and tater salad, FYI. The fries were reasonable. The corn is a warm creamy spicy concoction, it was ok, I ate it. The potato salad tastes like a recipe from the 1950's Betty Crocker Cookbook... not bad, nothing new, just fine potato egg salad with a couple sliced olives. NOW... THE MEAT! The red hot sausages seem to be homemade, spicy, a good solid offering. The brisket was a little dry to me but my husband loved it; the smoke ring was perfect and once you dip it in their BBQ sauce it is ideal. The pulled pork is fantastic, very moist and perfectly seasoned with juice! The ribs are hands-down the best ribs you can BUY in Salem. They aren't overcooked, they stay together just enough, they have a great crust, and are honestly awesome. The sauce is exactly what I like, not too thick and with a great vinegar kick. We will return and we hope much success for this...

Full disclosure, we arrived a half hour before they closed so some of my complaints are likely due to being the last customers of the day. First time trying this place and was unfortunately not impressed. Shared a 2 meat and 2 side plate. The brisket was tough/dry and the corn side was also dry and bland. This is likely due to being cooked earlier that day and being kept warm until they closed. The pulled pork was tender, juicy and flavorful but unfortunately all our food besides the beans and cheese curds came out very cold. Didn’t get to try the potato salad or Mac and cheese because they were out, again our fault for being there at the end of the day. I would give this place another try, but get there when they open for hopefully higher quality.

The other issue was the service. Besides the fact all four staff members appeared to be in high school, the young woman who took our order was rather dismissive and not friendly. I understand its the end of the day but unfortunately this was a negative experience. They all appeared to be working hard and there was other people there the same time as us so again, I can sympathize with the attitudes. Overall I wouldn’t say this is the best bbq in Salem, but I would be willing to go back and give the service and food another chance. Maybe this was an off...

First off... Plan ahead!!! Thu & Fri they open at 4, Sat & Sun they open at noon... they close when the food is gone... so depending the on supply and demand of the day, you might get there only to have disappointed tastebuds.

Service: Stellar! Staff is friendly, outgoing and VERY informed about their product.

The Sides: Great selection!

Deep fried pickles: Oh ma Lawd!!! Delish! The perfect combination of tart, fried and the new best friend for your ranch dipping sauce!

Coleslaw: Pretty standard although they do add bits of pineapple (would love to see more!) which gives it a new fresh twist.

Tater salad: Again pretty standard with a twist of olives which is good but not really fitting (in this gal's opinion) for a bbq place.

Fries: Yummy, salty crinkley fries...

Kicked-up Corn: Think Creamed Corn with an attitude! Flavorful with a touch of spicy... Yum!!

The Meats: Ribs were sold out so we did the brisket/chicken combo.

Brisket: Tender, a little on the dry side but not too bad. Flavor was a little disappointing but not horrible all (think upscale pot roast). I was hoping for more smoke flavor.

Chicken: Darn near cooked to perfection! Tender & Juicy with the right amount of smoke and flavor.

So all in all a great little place and in my top 10 of bbq favorites. I can't wait to...