Photo by David Carson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Adam's Smokehouse
You know by now that two of the defining features of the St. Louis barbecue boom are long lines to order and crowded dining rooms. That’s especially true at Adam’s Smokehouse, which Pappy’s Smokehouse veterans Mike Ireland and Frank Vinciguerra opened in 2013. Even a modest queue reaches the front door of this small Clifton Heights restaurant, and if you’re dining alone or with one other person, an employee will kindly ask you to share your table with another diner or two. The cozy arrangements are worth it, though, for Adam’s signature dish, the smoked salami. With nothing more than a dab of the tart-hot cranberry-cayenne barbecue sauce, the salami (pork with some beef) makes for one of the best sandwiches in town — nothing but the essentials and itself essential.
Opened: 2013
Must order: Smoked-salami sandwich (regular $9.50, large $10.50)