Restaurants in Salem

Smoke is the barbecuer master's livelihood, but it's a delicate substance—too much and your meat tastes charred, too little and it's bland. Thankfully, Chris Thompson and Kate Economides have learned to tame the fickle ingredient. They smoke all of their meats on-site at Blackstrap BBQ, monitoring the slow-cooked pieces for hours on end. Their supply of oak wood lends a deliciously burnt tinge to brisket, sausage, chicken, and ribs, which are then rubbed with spices and arranged with down-home sides.

It can be hard to pick your meal, though, as The Boston Globe magazine attests: "Everything on the blackboard is irresistible." A classic single-meat plate comes with two sides and cornbread, but you can also pile sauce-covered bites between sandwich buns, which let you eat with your hands instead of large, unwieldy jai alai scoops. Then there's the Hog—a kielbasa wrapped in bacon, smoked, fried, and put on a roll. Most entrees come with sides, ranging from baked beans and collard greens to sweet-maple mashed potatoes.

Depending on your choice of meat, you get to sample different regional tastes. Ribs get a Memphis-style dry rub, whereas the pulled pork follows North and South Carolina traditions, and the brisket is all Texas. Kate and Chris serve these signature suppers from their Winthrop kitchen, but they also convey them to events through their catering business, Tastyplates.

Cast in dim, incandescent light creeping out of the dining room’s decorative lanterns, Kasbah Restaurant's cushy seats surround tables filled with slow-simmered tagines, fluffy couscous, and tapas plates selected from a menu of Moroccan fare. The chicken tangiers’ apricot-kissed sherry sauce helps it maintain its status as the restaurant’s best seller, but the house specialty is the fried calamari, which arrives dotted with cherry peppers and doused in a secret sauce whose recipe is only known by the kitchen’s chef and the mayor of Casablanca. An expansive drink list showcases the eatery's carefully crafted martinis and homemade sangria, and weekly events invite belly dancers to shimmy to the sounds of a live Middle Eastern band.

At Addis Red Sea, waiters top wicker tables with the spicy meats and vegan staples of Ethiopia. They serve lamb and fish dishes infused with spices such as turmeric, ginger, and rosemary. Vegetarian and vegan dishes of hearty lentils, collard greens, and chickpeas are scooped up with traditional injera bread rather than the spoon-shaped potato chips used in many Western cuisines. The waiters encourage patrons to share morsels with one another while they chat and chew around tables woven with reds, greens, and yellows. Though many of the dishes sizzle with the trademark spiciness of east African cuisine, chefs may amend them to the diner's desire.

The chefs at Bamboo Thai Restaurant developed a menu that gives diners complete control over their gustatory experience, from the level of spiciness to the type of noodles accompanying their dish. Five distinct curries—red, green, yellow, panang, and massaman—pair with the guest's selection of one of nine proteins and one of 10 rice or noodle options, including udon, buckwheat, and vermicelli, resulting in more dinner options than a socialite's rolodex. The noodle selection process crops up again when ordering one of the six meal-in-a-bowl soups, and five pad thai options dare taste buds to pick from vegetables, chicken, shrimp, or a combination of all three, with rice or crispy egg noodles. To complement spicy bites, a lengthy list of Thai, Japanese, and American beers stands next to warm and draft sakes.

A decade ago, Chuck Silverston was walking the streets of Paris when he happened upon a street vendor whipping up crepes. After tasting the quintessential Parisian treat, he returned to the states and promptly opened Paris Creperie. Inside the cozy café, the kitchen churns out crepes brimming with savory ingredients such as brie and apples or sweet fillings such as graham cracker and cinnamon, as well as smoothies and coffee. Nutella is a mainstay on the menu, making its way into dessert crepes as well as into drinks such as hot chocolate and lattes. In the spirit of Chuck’s original street-vendor encounter, Paris Creperie also unleashes its food truck—la Tour Eiffel—among the hungry denizens of Brookline, feeding passersby with breakfast and dinner crepes all day.

In spite of its serene-sounding name, the Sunset Cafe is all about vivacious cuisine that enlivens the palate. Flavorful Portuguese ingredients populate the menu, such as braised goat, Portuguese sausages served over flames, and shrimp simmered in spicy sauce. Chefs poach eggs in tomato-laced garlic broth and drape cantaloupe with sheets of prosciutto, creating flavor profiles even more harmonious than that of a soup made by boiling well-tuned guitars. Diners can subdue spice with sips of wine, beer, cocktails, or Sumol—a fruity Portuguese soda.