Popular Portland, Maine, BBQ Joint Has Excitingly Reopened Following Temporary Closure

Light the fires and start trimming the meat, one of Portland’s most popular BBQ restaurants is reopening. Ladies and gentlemen, Salvage BBQ is back.

After shutting down for winter at the end of 2023 due to financial constraints, the Texas-style BBQ joint is planning to reopen. This is great news for a town that can always use more delicious smoked meats and tasty beverages.

That would be one of Salvage’s custom-made smokers that the restaurant uses to make the perfect ribs, brisket, pulled pork, chicken, sausage, and other delicacies that are sure to give you the meat sweats. In fact, the owner Jay Villani made the smokers himself, which is quite the labor of love. Yes, Villani is not just an incredible chef, but also quite handy with fabrication work.

Salvage has been quite the hit since opening over a decade ago. The smokehouse not only specializes in mouth-watering smoked meats, but also incredible sides, like mac-and-cheese, hush puppies, greens, chili, and much more. Plus, Salvage has an exceptional bar, with tons of local and regional craft beer and cocktails.

The reopening of Salvage is also a boon for the neighborhood that is home to Maine Medical Center, Hadlock Field, and the Portland Expo. It’s certainly a solid pregame option, especially considering how family-friendly it is.

It will be interesting to see if there are any major changes to menu or atmosphere. I would assume not much, considering how popular and delicious it was before the temporary closure. Why mess with a good thing?

Congrats to Villani and the crew over at Salvage. It’s great to see one of Portland’s favorite joints back in business. I look forward to stuffing my face there, just like when I did on national television.

Love those ribs.