UPDATE: See our second visit to Salt + Smoke in November 2014
Since my visit to Nico in April, I was awaiting the time to revisit it in its new form, Salt + Smoke, a new barbecue place for the Loop. Since it was my pick and a beautiful day to stroll the streets, it seemed like the perfect day to try out the updated restaurant. We parked on Washington Ave just west of Melville and strolled by all the other eateries on our way to the bright yellow awnings that welcomed us to Salt + Smoke. At about noon the place was about half full with some patrons sitting outside on the sidewalk. The decor is definitely different than it was as Nico, must more rustic and outdoorsy. We were seated at a table where two of us faced a painting of a pig, and the other two of us faced a painting of a cow. On the table were three sauces in three different containers, a sweet sauce, a spicy vinegar sauce and a mustard sauce. More on the sauces later.
I decided to order one of their "Bestie Combo" plates, selecting the brisket and the ribs along with the beans and the sweet potato chips. My son ordered the double bacon cheeseburger (with fries), my wife selected the pulled pork sandwich (with fries) and my mother-in-law selected the BLT (with chips.) The food arrived in a reasonable amount of time and the serving sizes were pretty generous.
I thought my brisket was a little dry, but I did like the seasoning they rubbed on the outside. The ribs were much more tender and readily fell off the bone. I experimented with the sauces. The sweet one was a bit too sweet, and the spicy one was too runny, and the mustard one lacked much zip. So my solution was to combine them, probably about 60% sweet, 30% mustard and 10% spicy which gave me a combination sauce I liked pretty well. I used it on my brisket, and dipped my ribs in it and also my chips. I thought the chips were okay, but I actually preferred my sons fries dipped in my "combo" sauce over the chips. The beans were pretty good, with quite a bit of bacon in them which gave them a more meaty flavor. One last comment on the sauces is with the bottles. While the bottles for the spicy and mustard sauce were fine, the bottle for the sweet sauce was a mess. It had a wide mouth and a lid which were a pain to use and we had sauce all over the bottle. The plastic squeeze bottles like the ones used at Bandana's might not be as cool looking, but they are a lot more functional.
My son enjoyed his burger but he thought it needed more toppings and perhaps a move flavorful cheese. My wife liked the pulled pork, and liked the sweet sauce on both her pork and her fries. My mother-in-law thought her BLT was good as well and she liked the chips, which were good and salty with BBQ flavoring as well. The service was pretty good and a few different people came by to make sure everything was okay and to refill drinks.
One comment we would add would be on the one restroom ("the loo") which we were seated near in the back of the restaurant. It was large, dark and cavernous with weird textures on the wall and a big sink. The floor seemed damp and sticky and we did not want to know why it was so sticky. It did not give a high sense of cleanliness and my wife mentioned she had to share the toilet with a fly. We were glad we did not have to change a diaper in there!
So that concludes our visit to Salt + Smoke (that used to be Nico and which was Brandt's before them.) Since we visited the Salted Pig in April which had a similar menu, we would definitely rate the food at Salt + Smoke better than the Salted Pig. The meat was more flavorful, the sauces had more options and more flavors and the sides were much better too. The Salted Pig does have better parking and easier access and more elbow room, so it probably is a nicer "environment" but with food that is not as flavorful. We also still like Bandana's which we visit on many occasions, which is very consistently good, but lacks a burger (which my son prefers) and seems a bit "strip mall corporate chain" compared to these more mom and pop places. Still, I always love some barbecue so I will eat it anywhere!
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