The Salt Line
A twelve-seat counter where the menu is whatever came off the boat that morning, written on butcher paper at four in the afternoon.
$$$ Raw barRestaurants worth the drive
We pay for every meal, we never call ahead, and nobody on this page paid to be here. If a listing ever becomes sponsored, it will say so at the top in plain English.
The current list
Six places we would get back in the car for. Prices are what two people spend without wine.
Delta Rooms
Hot tamales, catfish and a jukebox that has not been updated since 1978. The kitchen closes when the cook decides it does.
$ SouthernEmber & Ash
Live-fire cooking taken seriously without the theater. Ask for the brisket end cuts if you get there before seven.
$$ BarbecueMariposa Cocina
Red and green chile ground in-house, blue corn tortillas pressed to order, and a patio worth the wait in September.
$$ New MexicanPier 9 Oyster Co.
Cold Pacific oysters, an unfussy wine list and windows that fog up when the fog rolls in.
$$ SeafoodBirch & Bramble
Vegetable-forward Midwestern cooking from farms inside a forty-mile radius. The root cellar menu in February is the real test.
$$$ Farm to tableHow we decide what makes the list
There is no scoring rubric and no stars. A place gets written up when we would drive back, and the write-up says what it is good at rather than pretending it is good at everything.
We visit at least twice before publishing, always unannounced. We do not accept free meals, hosted trips, or payment for a listing. If a restaurant closes or changes hands, we pull the entry rather than quietly leaving it up.
Think we have missed somewhere? Send it over. Local tips are how most of this list got written.