Post-Dispatch file photo
The Wood Shack
The barbecue-restaurant menu is so formulaic — this many meats, that many sides — I sometimes wonder if there are barbecue police lurking around, ready to ticket the first deviation. The Wood Shack doesn’t call itself a barbecue restaurant, which explains the barbecue police’s absence. Over the past couple of years, though, under the guise of his small Soulard sandwich shop, chef Chris Delgado has been serving some of the most interesting and delicious smoked meats in town, like hickory- and mulberry-smoked prime rib (the Soulard Primer) and hickory-smoked chuck roast (the 1862). Definitely don’t tell the barbecue police the Wood Shack serves wraps as well as traditional sandwiches.
Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
Last year's ranking: Rest of the Best
Opened: 2017