Salvage BBQ & Smokehouse (facebook, twitter, website) is now open for business. Portland’s newest restaurant is located at 919 Congress Street near the intersection of Congress and Saint John Streets. Salvage is being launched by chef/owner Jay Villani and the Local 188/Sonny’s crew.
Villani also is working on launching Ideal Bakery further up Congress Street near Rite Aid.
Update: For more info on the menu at Salvage see this blog post from The Golden Dish.
Opening night was crowded, but the BBQ was spot on and the bar was great. A longer than normal wait for food is to be expected with a new restaurant. Salvage more than made up for this by having a huge collection of the very best local beers on tap. As expected their cocktails were fantastic. I had a grilled peach infused bourbon cocktail that went with barbecue better than apple pie.
I agree with Golden that this is going to be the most commercially succesful of Jay’s eclectic bunch. For those that remember “Uncle Billy’s” this is the real deal.
Speaking only for the food (we got it to go), this is GOOD BBQ! No wishful thinking, no connection to anyone working/owning the place, no “compared to the other options”, this is delicious, well-executed food. Hope it stays that way because I plan to be back again and again.