Salvage Yard Bar and Grill — Restaurant in St. Louis

Drove past the other day and got curious. We saw that they had really good reviews so we decided to stop in. We showed up at around 7:45, and the hostess greeted us in a very friendly manner and let us know that we wouldn’t be able to get deep dish pizzas after another 10 minutes and recommended that we order them as soon as our server takes the drinks if we wanted to get one in. That was no problem, so we did exactly that. Our server didn’t let us know that so thank goodness that we knew that ahead of time. I ordered a jalapeño strawberry margarita, it was super gross and tasted like old margarita mix.. I didn’t complain or point this out. Our server wasn’t rude, but wasn’t particularly friendly- no smiles no extra effort of customer service, but overall the customer service was OK. We got our food and had been eating for a while, our server checked in to ask if everything was OK and we said yes. A couple minutes later he brought over the check and said are you guys ready for this? I said actually no, do you guys have dessert? He said yeah… Then pulled out his phone and looked down and said, but actually our kitchen is closed. Our kitchen closes 30 minutes before close… What was particularly strange was that it was 8:27 hours are posted as closing at nine, so this is pretty nit picky, But if you’re going to specifically tell me that your kitchen 30 minutes before closing, Then you should probably say that 30 minutes before closing. What’s extra strange about this? Is that on the table? They have a photo of a cheesecake which I’ve included in the review, I’m pretty sure that you don’t need the kitchen to make me a piece of cheesecake that’s sitting in your fridge… But OK. They were clearing out, and around 815. The hostess asked our server if the light was switched off to indicate that they are closed. I’m definitely not a fan of going into a restaurant at the last minute, but turning the sign off early seems a bit odd, especially for a small business. They were pretty much clearing out and cleaning up early, felt like they were rushing us out, and even though our server prematurely brought over our receipt, the hostess kept peeking around the corner from the kitchen and checking our table. It definitely felt like they were rushing us out even though it’s 833 as I sit here writing this review waiting for the server to come take my card so that we can just leave because it’s seriously uncomfortable. It’s odd, forgetting the receipt so prematurely we had to wait eight minutes for him to come back to get the card and then he cleared the table before taking payment. We get it you’ve made it more than clear that you’re in a hurry to leave. We are trying to leave so please let us do so. The food was really good, we got the St. Louis original deluxe and the garlic cheese bread. Both were tasty, but given our experience, we will never ever come back here and can’t personally...

My husband and I visited The Salvage Yard, as he's been salivating over posts of their 'Best Of Both' or BOB Pizzas recently (think Chicago style deep dish crust with St. Louis style provel cheese blend. We started with buffalo chicken wings while our pizza was in the oven. Let me just say they were better reheated in the air fryer today than fresh yesterday. Solid 3 on the wings and a suggestion to skip them if you go in.

Our pizza, on the other hand, lived up to the hype. We ordered the St Louis Original Deluxe, subbing tomatoes for mushrooms because I'm picky. The crust was perfect. Toppings were probably better suited for a thin crust pizza, with sauce, crumbled sausage, green pepper, onion, and bacon, topped with mozzarella and provel cheeses. Unfortunately, ours was missing the bacon, and we insisted a replacement wasn't needed; but bacon would have made it better. 🥓 It also reheated beautifully.

Loved: The perfectly cooked crust, flavorful crumbled sausage, ooey gooey cheese blend, and the service.

Disliked: In my opinion, the BOB was too saucy. I prefer a classic chunky tomato sauce on my deep dish, and I should have known I'd be disappointed by that. However, my husband and I disagreed on this point, so I know it's a matter of preference.

To end on a high note: Our server, Taylor, was certainly earning her pay, taking care of the entire dining room alone. She was polite, helpful, and incredibly apologetic about the bacon missing on the pizza. She insisted on remaking it, but we couldn't eat anymore. Then, to make up for their error, they gave us the passport discount without stamping our passport. Good service can eclipse weak food.

Their unique table-button system allows you to page your server, but we didn't even have to think about using it, be side she was on top of everything we needed. Even if the pizza sucked, which it didn't, we'd come back because the service was...

Excited to give this place a second chance because the first one was NOT IT.

We showed up on a Sunday afternoon (7/16/23) and were one of three tables and a bar customer or two. Our drink order was taken fifteen minutes after seating. We ordered an appetizer sampler; by the time we got it (thirty minutes after ordering), the appetizers were tasty-- but warm at best.

It was another twenty minutes after finishing our appetizers that our food showed up. One burger-- thank god they killed that cow again because it definitely wasn't dead enough the first time. One deep dish pizza-- actually, really good. Not Gino's East, but who would expect that in St. Louis? It was a refreshing taste of Chicago here in town.

I think my biggest beef was that the server could be heard loudly reminiscing with a guest at the bar as his customer loudly shared largely personal details of skin conditions across the echoey chamber of the restaurant that is this location and, meanwhile, drinks went unfilled, a table near us hadn't even ordered yet... When the conversation died, suddenly our server would appear, ready to remedy the situation. This would be a theme throughout our visit, to the point where we opted to close out our check quickly so we wouldn't be stuck here waiting another 20-30 minutes with nothing to do.

As someone who has spent many years serving, I understand being in the weeds and falling behind. I do not understand being ungodly slow and letting your tables sit underserved. I could not get out of this restaurant fast enough.

That said, the pizza was DELICIOUS. I look forward to righting my wrong and ordering the correct menu item (not a fan of dry burnt burgers, thank you)- and hopefully attending at a time when the server feels inspired to pull literally anything above the...