Salem Street Pub

Patty Melt!!! No need to say more! Absolutely delicious!!! This by far one of the best restaurants for a great Patty Melt. In an old building in downtown Apex, gives you a great atmosphere while you dine.

Salem Street Pub is Apex.
SSP is the type of local burger joint that you’ll think about 20 years from now and get all nostalgic. It brings nearly everything you want. First of all, it is located in the heart of Apex’s brick-​clad downtown. Correction, not «in the heart», it *is* the heart. Foot traffic just seems to gravitate toward SSP. And with good reason.
Be prepared for a short wait due to crowds. There are no crowds on Monday, but only because it’s closed. The place is decorated wonderfully and you’ll immediately walk in and say «aaaaaaah». It just feels like home. Not too pubby, too burger-​jointy, too kitchy, too classy, too anything — just right.
Grab a beer. No, grab a *local* craft beer because there are plenty to choose from with a rotation of new ones constantly coming in. If you hate flavor, go ahead and grab a mass market beer, because there are those too.
Their handmade french fries and onion rings are really fantastic. Let me wax poetically about onion rings. They are really difficult to make well, but good ones are great. Most of the time, they are frozen. Not these. Coated deep fried foods are like submarines. If you leave a door open, it’s going to go badly. SSP battens down the hatches with a buttermilk batter that coats beautifully, sealing in the onions nicely. But the batter isn’t so big that you’re eating a giant inner-​tube of fried batter. Perfectly crispy, nicely cooked, no subs full of oil. They also have really great freedom fries. Skin on, thin, crisp, not too oily, not too salty.
Their burgers are good, but not fantastic — so prevents them from getting a fifth star. Presentation is wonderful and they are marvelously consistent. The set-​style burgers are $ 10, but if you want to customize your burger, it’s going to cost more. However, these burgers are consistently blasted beyond well-​done with all the fat/​flavor rendered out of the patty. And they don’t ask you how you want your burger done. You get them done their way. So, be prepared for them to be a bit dry and flavor coming more from condiments/​toppings than meat.
Service also keeps them from getting a fifth star. I really empathize with owners Jenny and Jared Duckart, owners since late-​2008, as the place is not very big. It is small enough that if you went with more staff, it would really hurt profitability. But current staffing means that when it gets really busy, staff gets slammed, things get forgotten, and staff run-​walk everywhere. Table service is cheerful but so frenetic that it’s not very relaxing. How do you make up for that? Typically, the owners/​managers chip in during busy hours. I got partly served by what appeared to be the owner/​manager. She asked how my meal was. I started telling her and noticed that her eyes went dead, she started trying to pull away to the next table, and clearly wasn’t interested at all in what my answer was. So I just shut up and let her go. I’m going to assume that she too felt the pressure of so many customers — but it was awkward to have the manager walk away mid-​sentence. I guess it’s the downside of them doing a generally good job.
Look, I enjoyed myself and can see how the Apexi love this place as a beloved comfortable local burger/​beer place. For better burgers, I still prefer Bad Daddy.

I absolutely love this local restaurant. The service is great, the food is very yummy and the ambience is comfortable for the entire family. They have full bar including local beers. The menu is full of great sandwiches and burgers. The wings are very good here, in fact my family thinks the best in apex. I would recommend everyone to try this at least once. You will probably have to wait bc it is fairly small inside BUT so worth it. Enjoy!

great burgers! i’ve not had the PB&honey burger named, «My wife said it wouldn’t sell» a couple of times… and i’m never surprised how much i like it. I’m always torn between that burger and the egg over my hammy… a fried egg on a burger always hits the spot. i’d just prefer it with tradition BACON as opposed to the canadian kind. The usual fare otherwise. Love the location, down town Apex… casual and comfortable

One of the best burgers I’ve had in a longgg time! I’ve been here twice and both experiences were top notch in terms of food and service. I was lucky enough get a seat outside on a bright and sunny day, which totally added to our experience!
It gets a little busy in the afternoons, but both times the wait was no longer than 15 minutes.
The place is pretty kid friendly for lunch… not sure what the nighttime scene is like, but would love to check it out at some point, sans kid of course :)
For apps, we ordered the wings (buffalo and lemon pepper is the way to go!). I had the spicy burger and it was one of the most mouthwateringly flavorful and scrumptious things I’ve eaten in a long time, a MUST TRY! My hubby ordered the patty melt and loved it as well!
Seems like you can’t really go wrong with anything you order from here. Definitely becoming a regular :)

Patty melt was good. Service was good. French fries were ok. Definitely coming back to try the midnight drinks.

Love the Salem Street Pub, the food and management. Had lunch there yesterday and ran into a first — nasty waitress… I was really surprised. Food was still great. Wish she had told me her name as I would say something to the manager… started with a very long wait to take drink order, followed by not bringing my daughters coke fro another 10 minutes, never bringing me the water I asked for to having another server ask if we were ready for our check and our waitress dropping the bill and my credit card without even a thanks for coming… just an abrubt throw it on the table and walk away.
Not going to stop me from going there though but I’ll request another server if she is still there… maybe she’ll reconsider and find a new career! not fair to the owners of this establishment who do a great job!

Little bit of a wait to get in on a Friday night, but worth it. My friends who are local love this spot and I can see why. Fantastic pub food. The burgers are all a choice of burger, chicken breast, or black bean patty, so that was a nice surprise. The fries were good and the beer selection was great. My crew enjoyed appetizers and devoured them while waiting for our main foods to arrive. Service was great. Prices were fair. I’d go back next time I’m in Apex.

This is pretty fun atmosphere. We accidently came on trivia night so we had to wait a little while to get a table. However the burgers were good and service was fine. I’d come back! :)

A solid 4 star rating per the Ogre, really great place, creative menu, awesome food and cold drinks. I recommend the Sunny Over My Hammy Burger, it was the first burger I have tried with ham and egg on it, and it rocked. The wife had a Chef Salad that had a ton of great ingredients and we both had the seasonal Pumkin Ale that was «woot woot» good.
They had TV’s for watching sports and they are smack dab in the middle of downtown Apex where it was fun just walking around and seeing what’s what, pop on in and give them a try.

Well we have found a new favorite spot in Downtown Apex! The staff was super courteous and inviting. On top of feeling as welcome as family on our first visit here, the burgers were fabulous! The Sunny Over My Hammy burger has to be the best kept secret burger in town! The Amazing fries and large draft beer selection and full bar, serving moonshine, will certainly have something to offer anyone’s taste!
We’ll be back soon!

We love this little place. They give you a basket of chalk so the kids can draw on the table and entertain themselves. This last visit we had the nachos and fries. Both are delicious. Pumpkin beer was really good.

Mediocre, only cook medium well and well done burgers, what a waste to serve gray meat.
Good beer or I’d give 2 stars

Tried this place yesterday with the family. The menu isn’t super extensive. It’s mostly sandwiches and burgers. I’ve been wanting to try the burgers here based on the reviews. My wife tried one called «My Wife Said It Would Never Sell.» This is your standard burger with a twist. It’s also smothered with peanut butter and honey. I wasn’t a fan but my wife really liked it. I went with the All American. It’s you general cheeseburger with all the fixens. It was good and had a nice flame broiled taste. The kids got the usual grilled cheese and hot dog. I’m not sure if they really liked their meals or just knew they would get ice cream if they ate everything but they both finished everything. The service was great and I can see us hitting this place rather often.

The Midnight Moonshine cocktails are tasty. Not a bad craft beer selection, along with a full bar.
Just the best burgers. We got the Carolina, with chili, Swiss, bacon and slaw; and of course the All American.
Busy spot, but great folks. Families and all types, casual and right in Downtown Historic Apex.

Solid solid burger. Great beer choices on tap and a very family feel pub (if there was a demographic for this?). A great feel and everyone seems happy to be here.
Had the Patty Melt and will easily come back and order the same. The couple next to me are regulars and got the wings and a black bean burger with jalapeños and cheese (no bun). Looked fan-​fracking-​tactic.
I will return! Great place.

Salem Street Pub — Average frozen pub food
Positive comments:
Wife Said it Wouldn’t Sell burger was pretty good.
The side salad was simple, delicious.
Server and greeter were very nice.
Cool vibe.
Reasons why we probably won’t be back:
Processed cheese on the bacon cheese fries.
Frozen fish and chips.
Frozen chicken strips.
Frozen onion rings.
The SSP fries are just frozen fries, nothing special.
The chicken ranch wrap was more like a chicken bacon burrito; ingredients didn’t taste fresh.
Although the My Wife Said it Wouldn’t Sell burger was good, it is only a bacon cheeseburger with added honey and peanut butter, so nothing requiring unique culinary talent.
We were sitting in the back by the register and noticed that our waitress entered our order about 15 minutes after we placed it.
And, there was one fly and several gnats over our table.
Recommendations:
Stop buying freezer food and start making things from scratch.
Other than that, great place!

A solid local place in old downtown Apex! We come here very frequently and love it. Decent selection of craft beers and friendly staff. Seems like they keep some solid go-​to beers and have a rotating tap or two for some interesting ones like Sweet Baby Jesus Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter right now.
I call myself a foodie and pride myself on my adventurousness (if that’s a word!) of trying something unique\crazy anywhere I go. I’ve tried that here too but I’ve been here enough to narrow down the entire menu to 3 things I always get — in this order:
1. Patty Melt
2. Sliders
3. My Wife Said It Wouldn’t Sell
All are incredible. The first two are self explanatory but the last — My Wife Said It Wouldn’t Sell? It’s a delicious burger with bacon, cheese, honey and PEANUT BUTTER! Sounds weird but it’s worth a try at least!
Overall, I love this place and we come all the time. Can’t have a better recommendation than that!

Found this delightful place from a map we got from the historic Chamber of Commerce building as we walked in town. The waitstaff was great and accommodated our seating request. The food was delicious. We substituted chicken for the beef on the Alpine Swiss and mushroom burger. We were checked on regularly for refills and satisfaction with our meals. Definitely would return for a meal. Loved the Appalachian State upset in the Big House poster.
M&M Lansing MI

Just a quick update. SSP is still amazing. I’ve had the patty melt which is delicious. Since the renovation, the French fries are not the same and I am hopeful they bring back the hand cut fries. The new ones aren’t as good.
Still a fan, still highly recommend.