Texas-made Smokers, a Steady Shipment of Oak, and Something the Pitmaster Calls “Meat Candy”—Inside Smoke on the Water, Salisbury’s New Craft Barbecue Destination
Pulling up to Smoke on the Water, a new craft BBQ restaurant in Salisbury from the team behind Peabody’s Big Pig Barbecue Catering, you immediately notice the crave-worthy aroma from the post oak smoke emanating from the restaurant’s smokehouse.
“I was immersed in BBQ my whole life growing up in Texas. I moved here five years ago, and I worked at a high volume barbecue place down in Texas and kind of learned all the tricks of the trade,”
“I was immersed in BBQ my whole life growing up in Texas. I moved here five years ago, and I worked at a high volume barbecue place down in Texas and kind of learned all the tricks of the trade,” explains Newberry. “I brought some of the specials that we did down there and some of the techniques that I learned down there up here.” The inspiration is Central Texas market-style BBQ, but Newberry explains that their focus is craft BBQ—a scratch-made menu with hand-mixed rubs, small-batch sauces, craft-recipe sides, and low-and-slow meats.
Brisket, turkey, sausage, and ribs with scratch-made sides and a Harbor Creamery cup.
Ribs get a spritz midsmoke in the post oak smokehouse.
After checking out the chalkboard for daily specials, diners are cheerfully guided along a market line, choosing their sides, which come in three sizes— single, pint, and quart. Next is a team hand-cutting an array of smoked meats that can be ordered by the pound, bone, slice, link, or rack. Round it out with their moist cornbread served with house-made honey butter—a must-have. The condiment bar includes unlimited slices of cucumbers, jalapeños, and red onions—all pickled. We chose to eat in the sun porch dining room, a comfortable sunny space with large overhead fans and string lights (there is a main dining room and outdoor patio). Servers circulate, ensuring you have everything you need and taking bar orders from a menu including craft cocktails, wine, and an extensive beer and hard cider list. Their namesake cocktail, the Smoke on the Water, is served with a silver disc on top of the glass that is lifted tableside to release the smoke—the brisket-fatwashed bourbon smoked with a Texas post oak finish is decadent. A Sweet Tea Collins served with Maine blueberry gin is refreshing and fruity.
We feasted on a sampler platter of meats and sides. The metal platter of meats included the unanimous group favorite, the Dino Beef Rib, a showstopping oversized beef rib with a spectacular pepper-forward crust. The pork belly burnt ends, which they refer to as “meat candy,” are unctuous and sticky sweet with a perfect tender chew. From scratch Cheddar Jalapeño and House sausages are juicy. The platter was rounded out with St. Louis Pork Ribs, Smoked Turkey, and Prime Beef Brisket. Top your meat (or even your sides) with one of the three scratch BBQ sauces—a traditional House, Sweet & Tangy, and Heat. The brown sugar and molasses sauces are well balanced and flavorful.
Pitmaster Chris Newberry with a sampler platter of hand-cut meats.
The namesake Smoke on the Water, built on brisket-fatwashed bourbon.
All the sides are scratch-made, and it shows in the buttery richness of the cream corn, the salty and smoky potato salad packed with bacon pieces, and the sweet and tangy cole slaw studded with kale. A cucumber salad, collard greens, and mac and cheese are other choices. Save room for dessert (it won’t be easy) so you can try the homemade banana pudding layered with fresh bananas, crunchy Nilla Wafers, and light whipped cream. Smoke on the Water is partnering with Newburyport’s Harbor Creamery to offer ice cream in both dine-in cups and to-go pints.
Our after-dinner stop was the smokehouse for a pit tour with Newberry—he offers them daily. There are two massive purple MM2000 pits with rotating racks that can each fit 70 to 80 briskets or up to 124 pork butts, plus two 1,000-gallon Bison offset smokers. All four smokers were made in Texas and are powered solely by post oak firewood shipped up from Texas. We left feeling well fed and well taken care of by the customer-focused hospitality—a constant throughout our visit. Smoke on the Water has ambitious expansion plans, starting with a much larger location in the Peabody/Lynnfield area next year.
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