First photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.; add'l photos sponsored by restaurant
The Wood Shack
Can you do anything truly new with a barbecue joint? Can you do anything truly new with a sandwich shop? The Wood Shack answers yes to both questions. Chef Chris Delgado is exploring smoke as a flavor in sandwiches — though not in the traditional sense of piling pulled pork on a bun. For the Soulard Primer, he smokes prime rib over mulberry and hickory and then garnishes the meat with bone-marrow aioli, blue-cheese cream, arugula and charred onions. Chuck roast smoked over hickory for 18 hours is the focal point of the 1862 sandwich. When pulled pork does appear it does so with bacon and cherry- and hickory-smoked ham (Three Little Pigs).
Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday)
Last year's ranking: New this year
Opened: 2017
Must order: Soulard Primer prime-rib sandwich ($13)