Sugarfire Smoke House Takeaway. Sugarfire's supposed supremacy in St. Louis barbecue proved somewhat speculative during my recent visit. Many people love Sugarfie, but know I'm more of a Salt + Smoke guy. I give the overall food grade a 7.9 / 10.
With that caveat, I got the pulled pork, a personal benchmark for BBQ, and it didn't measure up to the cross-town revival in my book. It lacked the smokiness and butteriness I've come to expect. The bright spots for me were the outstandingly creamy mac & cheese and my son's cheeseburger that overshadowed the main barbecue event.
Service was swift with a fun presentation of parchment on a tray, but she double-charged us for a couple of items and wouldn't credit it back. Parking in a dedicated lot.
Sugarfire Menu
Sugarfire Smoke House Experience Summary
Everyone whos anyone in the St. Louis BBQ scene has been to Sugarfire. With several locations around the city and county, it's a mainstay.
That said, I hadn't been in a couple of years prior to my most recent visit. I've been a die-hard Salt + Smoke guy since they first opened.
So when my dad came to town, he wanted to give it a shot.
We went in on a typical weekend night to a small line and several other families having a dinner out. We followed the line along the back and ordered from the "buffet."
My go to compare at BBQ is always the pulled pork. After living in North Carolina for 7 years, it becomes a gold-standard benchmark. Although, as a bit of foreshadowing, I was told by several friends that the brisket is the best at Sugarfire.
After getting everything ordered and paid, we sat down until our food was ready. However, that's went things went south.
When our number was called, I went back up to get it and noticed several extra sides. The cashier charged us for some extras we didn't want, but she said I ordered them and wouldn't refund it.
Ok, lame, but at least it was time to eat.
Sitting down, looking at a tray of delicious pig parts, I had high hopes. But my batch was a bit dry and lacked a deep smokiness.
Don't get me wrong, it was still good, but it wasn't AMAZING, bring my dad in from out of town good.
But you know what was? My sons' hamburgers. Those were damn good, as was the Mac & Cheese.
So, if I go back, I'll get the brisket.
The Food At Sugarfire Smoke House
Going into a little more detail on the pulled pork, I went in expecting fatty, buttery, smoky goodness. The pulled pork I had was on the dry side, lacking a core smoky flavor. It was almost like it wasn't pulled apart enough.
Even the assorted sauces on the table didn't help the meat do its thing. Everything just kind of fell flat instead of deep on the flavor profile.
To be fair, I'm being fairly picky here. I really like Salt + Smoke, so you can use that as a baseline for comparison if it helps. Sugarfire's pulled pork just didn't measure up, IMO.
My favorite part of the meal was the mac & cheese. It had an excellent cheese-to-pasta ratio with a very creamy cheddar on the outside. I would mark that down as one of the better mac & cheeses I've had in the area.
It's not one of those light and crispy ones. It's a much smoother and creamier mac & cheese.
The next best thing was the hamburger. I got a taste of my kid's cheeseburger, and that was actually way better than the pulled pork. The smokiness really came through in the burger meat, which was impressive, considering it was a kids' burger with few toppings.
My wife also got a cheeseburger and really liked it. That being said, it's hard for me to justify spending $15 for a hamburger. For me, a burger at that price needs to be SIGNIFICANTLY better than a Big Mac, and I just don't see the value.
The best part of the baked beans was the celery, which is not what you want to hear. It provided a nice crunch, but the sauce was nothing special.
The french fries were ho-hum. Good, not great, lacking a crunchy crust. They were restaurant quality, so a seven out of ten, but not something you'd go out of your way for.
The coleslaw wasn't particularly interesting; it was mayonnaise-based and lacked any notable flavors. I could see it being good on top of a sandwich, but eating it straight wasn't the best.
The cornbread was dry and wasn't very good.
Which about sums up my experience with the food. Everything but the hamburger had a muted flavor profile for me. When I'm getting BBQ, I want those rich smoky flavors to hit me in the face.
Sugarfire Smoke House Atmosphere And Miscellaneous
The service was fine.
After you enter, follow the wall around to the back to order in line. It's kind of a buffet style, one at a time.
They should try to figure out how to take more than one order at a time because one of the people ahead of us was pretty slow and stopped everyone behind them. But enough on my queue theory pet peeve.
You walk down the buffet and tell them what you want, and then they serve it up on a tray with a piece of parchment on top. I actually really enjoyed the presentation. It felt like eating off a camp tray.
They also overcharged us, and we were charged for two extra sides that we didn't order, which was frustrating. They gave us an extra cornbread and an extra mac & cheese.
Parking At Sugarfire Smoke House
Parking is dedicated, a lot. We went to the one that's in Olivette. There are several locations in the area now, so parking will vary accordingly.
Sugarfire Receipt
