Salt + Smoke — Restaurant in University City

No denying, salt is a seasoning element that enhances food. Smoke could be used to the same effect, as well. However, this restaurant should change their name to "Dryness + Salt + Blandness + Sauces + Cost + Smoke" (that's in order of worst offender to least).

I entered a busy enough dining room for Thursday lunch and picked the "trashed ribs" as appetizer. Then, I settled on a 2-choice plate: prime brisket (burnt ends offered), smoked wings, beef fat fries, brisket chilli, and bacon/cheddar popover.

Per the aforementioned name change suggestion, I'll address each issue.

Most serious first: "dryness." Everything was agonizingly dry. I couldn't eat the popover by itself, instead utilizing one of their BBQ sauces to dip and help get it down. The fries were same, sadly lacking any hint of tasty beef fat. Chicken wings appeared dry and wilted. However, those brisket pieces were most insulting—dry, stale, tough, and shriveled. Perhaps, a miniature artificial sun had vaporized moisture from everything. I know exactly the type: old BBQ meats embraced by a heat lamp.

Next offender: "saltiness." The trashed ribs, brisket, wings, and fries suffered because salt transcended all other flavorings. However, a bit less overpowering on the ribs, because they were drowned in sauce (I'd enjoy the crispy quality on those bones). A fact: five hours afterward, I was still crying out for big gulps of water.

Oddly, a couple of items were ghastly "bland": the chilli and popover. More surprising on the chilli than the bread; I missed that strong tang of cooked tomatoes. It seemed as though the kitchen had completely forgotten to season both.

I wasn't sure why they created four separate "sauces." The mustard-based one could stand in its own, but the others could be combined to make one robust condiment, instead of singularly spicy, tangy, or sweet.

This meal was "pricey." The ribs were portioned well. However, I received four small brisket pieces, which were about half compared to many other BBQ joints. A few wings sized about two index fingers together. I was going to get a draft beer, but two uninspiring choices of $7, a few more at $8, then one or two at $9, turned me off. All were strictly locals (no popular national options on tap), then why so expensive? Surely, it wasn't the logistics. Possibly, they needed extra money to cover the hip looking restaurant decore.

"Smoke"? What smokiness? I couldn't sense on the wings. Instead, I ate wings that appeared well-cooked and darkened, but pink inside.

Before sampling barbecue in the city, I did an online search for "best BBQ St. Louis." Salt + Smoke showed on a few lists. I picked it, along with three others. Those other three all met expectations.

However, this particular BBQ meal tasted commercialized, conveyor-belt formulaic, and oven-maded (think Applebee's). If good looks and pretenses are sought, come here; if quality food is sought,...

Here on vacation out for family dinner AND it was Very Obvious that we came across the wrong side of the tracks. Tori's Attitude was Very Rude obviously aggravated that we arrived busting other tables in the dining area of a empty diner..... Then She told us that she would bust our table next. Mind you we were the only ones in the dining area at that time, sure other families came afterwards. But when we got there No other families or customers were waiting and she cleaned all the other tables first. Then she very rude and abruptly said you all should have called ahead. But we did call ahead and they told us that there was No Wait. Then she said I wasn't expecting 14 people and just very rude about it. So we let that go, but then she no longer waited on us. But every time she came out of the kitchen cleaning and setting Empty tables. She literally looked at our table, turned her nose up, rolled her eyes and frowned at us. Then Sam came out which was our New Waiter and I do want to thank him for tolerating us........ But it was very obvious that yes we were not welcomed. ALL of the other people that came in AFTER us, The waiters not only stood at their tables and conversated and came back out and continued to check on them and had family conversations. Just like you know hospitality should be, Yet that same quality of service that we should have received. No we didn't get Glad to see you or welcoming us thank you for stopping in, our even were are you all from, because obviously you didn't get the memo. NO we never received that type of hospitality. My 1 year infant grandchild started vomiting. They looked at her vomiting, turn their nose, walked away to the back and had the whole entire staff come out Look at us point at us and begin to talk about us. So I took my grandbaby outside to finish and cleaned her up. I went up and asked them for a mop to mop the floor because they didn't offer anything to help us clean it up? We literally had to ask them for towels and paper towels to clean up. So needless we didn't eat there. We took all of our food put it in to-go boxes because it was Very obvious then. You would think by 2024 you wouldn't have to deal with that anymore, but somethings will never change. Our family bill came to $400 So we prayed over our food at the table. Paid a 20% grutility and tip, we took all of our food And left their facility ate in our cars, Never to return again. I would not recommend This establishment for anyone that does not look the part. If I could give it less than a...

I preface this with the fact that I'm a Virginia native, where we do our version of barbecue, and where BBQ rarely includes a dry rub. A friend wanted to try out the new Salt & Smoke location on Hampton for dinner. I knew that Salt & Smoke had won this year's RFT Mac and Cheese throwdown, so I figured why not? We were seated inside on a not-too-busy weeknight. The smell of smoke was overpowering. There were empty tables, so turnaround should not have been an issue. As our waiter was busy, the host took our drink order. A few minutes later, our waiter appeared, answered some questions, then took our food orders. Another several minutes passed, and someone from the kitchen appeared at our table and served our food. We still had not received our drinks. Those arrived a couple of minutes later. When I go out to eat, I like a cocktail, some time to unwind, have conversation, etc. before eating. The start of the meal was just off-putting. The meat on the ribs was dry and tasteless, encased in an overpowering layer of dry rub with enough salt in it to drop a large Holstein. The waiter had told me that the cole slaw had a vinegar sauce, but what was served me hadn't passed near a bottle of any type of vinegar in the kitchen or on its way to the table. It was bland. I asked the waiter for a to-go box for my ribs, had him remove the tasteless cole slaw, and ordered a plate of pulled pork to help salvage my dinner. I used a little of their sweet mustard BBQ sauce on the meat. The pork was too smoky for my taste, but otherwise was cooked well, and was both juicy and tasty. My visit to Salt & Smoke was not a successful outing. My cocktail with Knob Creek and a mixer was good. Later, I ordered a piece of pecan pie which was quite delicious. So, not a total loss... Salt & Smoke refers to itself as being a hip, relaxed Texas-style BBQ joint, AND as being excited to bring "our St. Louis-style BBQ to you." The dry rub reminds me of some places I've eaten at in Central Texas. I can't favorably compare Salt & Smoke to any of them. I'd eat the pulled pork again, but won't...