You walk in, they tell you to order at the counter, hand you a number, and for a split second you…read morethink "oh, this is gonna be a glorified Chipotle situation." Reader. It is not. It is a Trojan horse for one of the best burgers in St. Louis (my wife says I'm being dramatic for calling it THE best; I say I am not NOT going back for another). We enjoyed everything we order: the pork belly burnt ends and cashew chicken wings, and a coffee & cardamom old fashioned that sounds like a personality disorder but tastes like a vibe, smoky, a touch sweet, and very drinkable year-round. The Sam Elliott burger, BBQ sauce, bacon, crunchy onions, brioche, is named for a man who has never disappointed anyone, and neither does the sandwich. And the meatloaf is NOT your grandma's brick: tender, charred at the edges, laid over silky mashed potatoes with broccolini, perhaps closer to a chop steak than a loaf in the best possible way. Vibe is farm-chic: old church pews, repurposed interior doors, a proper bar up front, plus a patio and rooftop for when the weather cooperates. Fun fact -- it's named after the blue duck Billy Madison paints in elementary school, which is a fantastic piece of trivia and tells you absolutely nothing accurate about the actual restaurant. 4.7 Stars. Picking Nits: the counter-order setup is efficient, but it sets expectations in the wrong direction for the first 90 seconds, you brace for fast-casual and instead get something considerably more ambitious. Food comes out fast once you've ordered, which is great if you're hungry and slightly jarring if you wanted a slow, lingering dinner. And the Billy Madison naming is charming trivia but entirely misleading as a vibe preview, no complaints about the actual restaurant, just the branding expectations it sets. If The Blue Duck were a character: Ron Swanson. Hear me out. If Ron ate here, he'd be suspicious of the entire experience until his first bite of protein -- the counter ordering, the repurposed doors, a burger named after a fellow mustachioed American, all of it registering as potentially too clever. Then the Sam Elliott hits his plate, he takes one bite, and the skepticism dissolves into the quiet respect of a man who has found his people. Looks rustic. Has strong feelings about meat. Secretly sophisticated -- plays saxophone in a jazz club under a fake name, builds his own furniture, would 100% approve of the farm-chic decor once the protein has spoken. Presents as simple. Isn't.

I've been here many times and sadly I can say twice I had decent food and service…read more Saturday, March 14th we had awful food and the service wasn't any better.

I love Barbecue, which means when I travel around the country I eat a lot of over/under smoked,…read moresteamed, liquid-smoke-soaked, and just plain mediocre 'Cue. This place is the real deal. Pork hit the right temp, has great flavor, and was pulled well. Ribs have great bark and just the right amount of chew. Great choice of bread for the sandwiches. Really appreciate that they have both types of slaw. Service was delightful. Great back patio. Five stars all day long.

Food was lovely. Wait staff was good. We met the owner when was very helpful for us making our…read moreselections. The ambiance was of a bbq place. No frills. We had a very small table for two and unfortunately, the table had difficulty holding our food, drink and silverware as it was pretty cramped. A larger table would have been helpful. The Cesar salad with smoked chicken was great, but I wish the dressing were a little thinner, as it was hard to spread on the salad. If I order this again, I will see if they can toss the salad with the dressing in the kitchen. I recommend this place.

Absolutely amazing food, and the best damn ribs I've ever had! Everyone was super friendly and the…read moreservice was very quick. Wish I lived closer so I could come back more!

We had the pulled pork sandwich and the burnt ends, along with pit beans. Both were very flavorful…read more, nicely smoked and tender. The sauces are good but really not needed. Ribs were sold out but we got a pound of brisket to go. Everyone there is very friendly and welcoming. Definitely a standout BBQ place, highly recommend.

Food is the best chicken in St. Louis! Service is excellent and very relaxed atmosphere! Love…read morecoming here!

Eat there once a month, And always chicken is spicy & "HOT". Sides are tasty. Service is friendly…read more(Virginia) Highly recommend.

First time here, and I really enjoyed it.We got "The SPB" pizza. The crust looks thick, but it was…read morelight and crisp. The sauce had a really fresh, slightly sweet flavor. The pork sausage was seasoned well and ground up so that it spread well in every bite. The pepperoncini and bacon filled out the flavor. It was really tasty. I got the Tamno Pivo beer to drink. It was a dark lager. It had a nice strong flavor, but not as strong as an Ale. We'll definitely be back. The staff helpful and patient, and the food came out surprisingly fast. It is a fun location and will be a great place to hang out in the nice weather.

First time here and we were impressed. We loved the pizza! The crust was just perfect, thicker on…read morethe outside but nice and crispy on the inside. They have a really nice patio that you can sit on to have your pizza and a craft beer and it is dog friendly. They also have a drive-through if you don't even wanna get out of your car and pick up your pizza. Lots of good beers that they make themselves to choose from. We will definitely be back!

As a restaurant, not too bad. As a BBQ place, there are others much better locally…read more Despite the smoker in front of the door, smoked chicken and brisket had no discernible smoke ring or smoky taste. The chicken could have been roasted, and the brisket was inconsistent with some tender pieces next to extremely tough, overcooked pieces. Sides also varied. A side of creamy coleslaw started fine, but ended with a heavy mayonnaise taste by the bottom of the container. The stand outside was crispy, fried okra. Service was attentive and pricing was fair. Smoking Barrels has a comfortable, cozy dining room with outside seating available for those rare, comfortable St. Louis days

My husband and I decided to give Smoking Barrels BBQ a try despite seeing the mixed reviews -- and…read morehonestly, I get why opinions are all over the place. A real chef or BBQ enthusiast can tell the difference. We ordered 2 lbs of rib tips, two boxes of pulled pork mixed with brisket, fried okra, and potato casserole. I'll start with the positives: the okra was fried perfectly -- nice and crisp -- and the potato casserole truly made me smile. It tasted exactly like the one my mother makes for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, so that was a sweet surprise. However, the rest of the experience was just average at best. The rib tips had a good flavor but were extremely dry, and they didn't seem grilled at all -- more like they were baked, just as other reviews mentioned prior. Long time customer's can also tell the difference because people mentioned the brisket and chicken being baked also .. hence why the food is greasy and dry. It's obvious. The pulled pork mixed with brisket honestly tasted like the Jack Daniel's microwaveable pulled pork from the grocery store -- not something I expect when paying restaurant prices. Potion size for the potato casserole was small. As for the garlic bread, it was just okay -- not memorable. Tastes nothing like garlic. Overall, it was an underwhelming experience. I wanted to love it, but there are too many better BBQ spots in St. Louis to roll the dice again here.

Brisket toasted ravioli were perfect! Lightly breaded with generous portions of brisket. The…read morehomemade marinara is so tasty. We split an Italian chopped salad and it was plenty for the two of us. Spring mix was fresh, toppings of meat and olives were delicious. The rib eye and mashed potatoes were cooked perfectly to order and it was a good quality cut of meat. The grilled salmon with chili sauce was lovely. Honestly it was so good, it would have been amazing without the chili sauce! We finished with the port wine chocolate cake. Rich and delicious. Overall, the food quality to cost was very very good. High quality food for less than many other restaurants. Well done!

Very friendly staff. Service was excellent. The patio was a nice area to relax & enjoy a long…read moredinner with friends. The food was tasty. We loved the appetizers. Pastas were good & we had a favorite- the bucatini. The tomato sauce was delicious. We ordered for happy hour. Wine flight was $12. What an amazing deal. And the waitress brought the 2 of us flights with 8 different wines. Was a great way to try so many.

We have never been disappointed by food or service. Top notch all around with easy going vibes.read more

I am so sad it took us so long to visit this place. Over the last week, we have been 3x! We mostly…read moreorder online and pick-up but we have really loved meeting Aaron the owner and he has been so warm and helpful each time we've stopped in. We have tried their brisket, pulled pork, fried and smoked chicken wings, fried okra, Mac n cheese, potato salad and green beans. I am truly obsessed with their fried chicken wings! My partner loved them and their brisket and pulled pork. The sides are solid but the real star is the meat. Although we have not dined in, the restaurant is spacious, clean and well decorated. Check out their Instagram for their specials. They will sellout so it's best to plan ahead.

Salt + Smoke is one of my go-to places to get BBQ for both dine-in and takeout. The parking lot on…read moreHampton makes it even more appealing because it makes parking a bit easier. The last time I was there we went for an earlier dinner and it was a little weird because they were sold out of most meats, which was unfortunate, but luckily we were still able to get some good meals! The brisket is tender, the meals come with A LOT, the sides are delicious (fries and kale salad are always a winner for me). And a meal even comes with a giant popover.

Salt and Smoke has the food for the mood…read more Solid bbq. I ordered the pulled pork, wings, and brisket. Sauces were on point. Lots of seating upstairs, downstairs, inside and outside. Quick service even with lots of people around. Great food with great vibes. What more can I say. And they have a parking lot.

I want to like this place. The healthy food industry needs more restaurants like this. But I cannot…read moreget over the food. There is a line between simple and bland, and unfortunately revel borders the line of bland. And before you say "some people don't want all the seasonings or salt" there are alternatives that are salt free and can still make your food taste good. We spent almost 40 dollars on two small bowls and two small sides. The Brussels sprouts were roasted without anything, so they were just soggy Brussels sprouts. Along with the sweet potato side that again, could've benefited from a sprinkle of cinnamon or salt free seasoning. My bowl was good, it was brown rice, mojo chicken, steamed carrots and cilantro lime dressing on the side. The other bowl we got was chicken, steamed broccoli, brown rice with a mustard bbq type sauce. It needed teriyaki which wasn't an option. The other reason I gave this one star is the people took the order through the drive through, but when I got to the window not one word was exchanged regardless of my greeting. They asked for a tip on the credit card reader too. Got our food from the window without any words at all. She didn't tell me my total ; she didn't greet or say goodbye, didn't say thank you or anything. It was off putting.

How have I not tried Revel sooner? I am seriously obsessed. I was looking for a quick and…read moreconvenient lunch before grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon, and I'd been hearing such good things about Revel that I decided it was finally time to check it out. They provide such a delicious selection of nutritious meals that are very reasonably priced. I ate my meal at a table inside, but it's super cool that they also have a drive-thru if you're on the go. The inside was clean, bright, and welcoming. Everything on their menu sounded so yummy, so I had a hard time deciding what to try. I ended up ordering a small BYO bowl at the front counter. It comes with your choice of 1 base, 1 veggie, 1 protein, and 1 sauce. I got mine with brown rice, sweet potato, grilled chicken, fresh herbs, and cilantro lime sauce. I sat down at a table, and my food was brought out to me shortly after. I was immediately blown away by my bowl's flavors. Their house-made cilantro lime sauce was INCREDIBLE. In fact, my partner tried some of mine and loved it so much that he asked the employee if he could have some for his burrito. I also tried the Hang 10, one of their raw cold pressed juices. It includes watermelon, pineapple, lime, and ginger juice blend. While the juice was very cold and refreshing, I probably wouldn't pay $8 again for it. Glad I tried it, though! I am SO ready for my next visit. I left feeling nourished and fulfilled. Highly recommend!