Follow the “BBQ Here” signs to visit this understated neighborhood spot in West Salem, just a short drive from the wineries in the Eola-Amity Hills. Owner Roger Schneider started smoking meats as a hobby, but now the barbecue business is so popular people literally line up for it, a phenomenon otherwise nearly unheard of in Salem. Schneider’s brisket has an impressively rosy smoke ring and bark the color of pitch, which, along with the other meats, can be had by the pound or in tacos or sandwiches such as a pulled pork Cubano. Though not strictly a barbecue staple, a cult favorite is Roger That’s take on the smash burger. Labeled Wimpy Burgers, they drip with processed cheese (in a good way), they’re only $2 each, and people sometimes order them in double digits.  

Compared to the Mexican culinary pockets throughout California, the sight of a trompo, a vertical spit that supports a hulking tower of pork for tacos al pastor, is a rarity. Those craving the real deal should get to Spanglish, a Lancaster food cart that serves sopes, huaraches, and tacos piled high with shaved pieces of marinated pork. The juices from the pineapple at the top of the spit trickle down through the meat, adding a nice, sweet acidity that also keeps the final product tender.

Salem is home to so many excellent Mexican places, it feels unfair to single out just one. Want tacos stuffed with crisp, juicy meat? Prepare to line-up for weekends-only El Ta’comelon. Are you a salsa fiend? Try Tacos El Pelon’s excellent ones. Craving birria de res like mom’s? Go eat at Rancho Miramar. At Diego and Itzel Sagastume’s El Ranchero Market, a grocery and attached cafe, you can get a little bit of everything: taco Tuesday deals, homey bowls of pozole, trendy quesabirria, and family meal deals on mesquite grilled chicken, plus tortillas and house-made chorizo for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Tucked into an industrial pocket in West Salem you’ll find Xicha, a Latinx brewery and colorful bar space with garage doors for walls and picnic tables aplenty. The brewery’s beers tend towards the light and easy drinking; Playa Pilsner, mango pale ale, and a guava sour, a Deschutes collaboration, pour from the taps, along with seasonal specials. Chef and co-owner Ricardo Antúnez’s polished menu is ideal for snacking: Order a spread of guava chipotle barbecued spareribs; chorizo and cheese croquetas; empanadas stuffed with jackfruit tinga; and tacos of grilled cod, beef barbacoa, or crispy pork belly to share among a table for four. While beer might be the focus, the bar’s seasonal fruit margaritas are a wonderful way to start an evening. 

Three Louisiana transplants opened Noble Wave in 2019, an aqua pool of a retro-futuristic restaurant, now a brewpub, in downtown Salem. It became an instant favorite for Cajun flavors—catfish (or cauliflower) po’ boys, fried chicken beignet sliders, gumbo-smothered Louisiana poutine, and maple butter chicken and bread pudding waffles at Sunday brunch. The Hot Bird sandwich, the restaurant’s take on Nashville hot chicken, has inspired the most loyalty: Crystal hot sauce-drenched fried chicken lands on a sweet bun with pickles and coleslaw. The weekday-only, in-house burger pop-up, Bit Byte Burger, is worth trying, as well. 

Something about Taproot feels like a ‘90s coffee shop in a great way. Artsy and bohemian, its menu of barrel-aged cocktails and all-day cafe snacks are approachable but creative. Regulars especially love small plates including crispy Brussels sprouts with blue cheese and balsamic vinegar and davocados, beer-battered avocado wedges served with chipotle ranch. Big salads, easy-to like-sandwiches, and hippie-style grain bowls make this a menu welcoming to one and all.

Downtown Salem’s first food hall, Fork Forty houses a cluster of independently owned businesses — similar to Pine Street Market — and there’s not a dud in the bunch. Chubby Panda Bao House focuses on eclectic bao, fried rice bowls, and double-fried chicken wings crackling with five spice. La Lucciola pulls some of Salem’s best Neapolitan pizza from a flickering brick oven. Uncle Troy’s BBQ owner Troy Campbell serves among the best sides and sandwiches in town, in addition to slabs of smoked meat (fun fact: Campbell is the brother of the founder of Portland-based Felton and Mary’s barbecue sauce and uses the same family recipes). Need to scratch a Wiz Bang Bar itch? Visit Slick Licks for scratch-made soft serve ice cream, including multiple vegan options. Limited outdoor seating, plus tables in the onsite bar, the Best Goose, allow for on premises dining. 

The massive Salem location of Kkoki Korean BBQ — which also has outposts in Portland on SE Powell and in Eugene, plus a third in Beaverton under different ownership —  purports to be the largest restaurant for Korean barbecue statewide. Tabletop ventilation snakes through the restaurant, formerly a location of the Rock Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits, a regional rock-and-roll-themed pizza chain. As a result, Kkoki Salem’s interior is a delightfully disjointed cultural mishmash of rock and roll iconography and celebrations of Korean culture. Crossed guitar motifs alongside screens streaming K-pop music videos. The menu is a massive missal of Korea’s greatest hits. Multiple tiers of all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue take center stage, but there’s also jeon, japchae, several types of soft tofu stew, and bulgogi fries.

Salem residents have long loved brunch destination Word of Mouth, a quirky spot tucked into a historic house, but they didn’t realize how intensely they loved it until, at the start of the pandemic, the restaurant closed its doors for 16 months. Owners Steve and Becky Mucha have now reopened, and locals will never again take for granted the cluttered, grand-millennial chic dining room with its bric-a-brac. Count on cinnamon roll pancakes the size of your face; planks of creme brulee french toast; big, beautiful biscuits swimming in gravy, and toasted burritos roughly the dimensions of a newborn. Pro tip: the ever-present waitlist at Word of Mouth tends to especially swell on Sunday morning, as area church services wind up. Check the restaurant’s waitlist online; sometimes parties of two can skirt the list by sitting at the small bar. 

The Yard, on the far east side of the city, is the newer of Salem’s two main food cart pods. It’s anchored by a massive indoor space with a bar, coffee counter, indoor restrooms, and loads of communal seating. In the pre-pandemic times, the space hosted live music and trivia from a small stage area. Carts line either side of the space and, on nice days, the massive garage-style windows roll up. Go for pupusas at La Champita, Hawaiian plate lunch from Get Seom Aloha, drippy cheesesteaks at Eddy’s Phillys, or chubby manti and hand-stretched noodles from Uzbek food cart Farzona Uzbek.

Marissa Luciano started her Filipino restaurant as a food truck offering chicken and pork adobo, stir-fried pancit noodles, and halo-halo. Despite opening a restaurant at the start of the pandemic, able to serve only take-out for months, Manila Fiesta has found a groove. With a bigger kitchen now at her disposal, Luciano’s menu of home cooking from the Philippines knows no bounds. She regularly offers sisig, a tasty pile of seasoned and diced pork and chicken liver; peanut-based kare kare; crispy pata, deep fried pork knuckle; and dinuguan, the rich Filipino stew thickened with pork blood. Check social media for her daily specials and call ahead to reserve. 

Before Eem started serving smoked meats and Thai curries in North Portland, Big Blue Thai Barbecue was selling smoky grilled pork, fiery green papaya salad, and fragrant jasmine rice out of a food truck an hour south. Permanently stationed in a parking lot along SE Commercial Street, owners Kanyanat Puthdee and Ray Johnson cook pork and Thai sausage to order on a Japanese binchotan charcoal grill on the truck’s open-air back “porch.” While grilled meats anchor most of the plates, the cart also offers two excellent curries: one peanut-based, and the other a fragrant bowl of green curry with sweet longans. Order to-go or eat at one of Big Blue’s picnic tables, which Johnson had custom built to sit level on the sloping pavement. 

On the far southwest side of Salem — pretty close to Enchanted Forest, TBH — is Beehive Station, Salem’s original destination for food truck eats. Though there are tent-covered seating areas and propane heaters, Beehive is largely outdoors (think: firepit and festival vibes). Try the soft pretzels at Peace Love Pretzels, piroshki and pelmeni at Authentic Russian Taste, The Easy Otter’s waffle iron-pressed paninis, Baja Fish’s tacos, or the Hungry Gnomad’s Iowa-style pork cutlet sandwiches. A bar cart pours Oregon beers and hard ciders from nearby farm-cidery Bauman’s.