salt cellar

my husband & i were in town for a wedding and heard tons of great reviews., including 2 couples we met on the way in. thefoodon it's own would rank, at best, 2 on a scale of 10. first let me say, we have no problem dropping money on dinner. the scallops had good flavor but the dish was poorly executed. the shrimp was good, but the cocktail sauce was too hot (the intensity was in line with a quality hot wing, not shrimp). the wellington was ok, but the sauce sat long enough to have a film on it and ruin the puff pastry. as for the baked stuffed lobster, not only was it over cooked to the point of mush, but the ritz cracker stuffing, was suspiciously similar in taste to a quasi gingerbread / cornbread stuffing and there were no scallops in it, as promised in the description. it was the most poorly executed baked lobster ever. when the waiter was notified, we were offered dessert, really? cause that makes up for a $45 dinner that would have been better prepared by hellen keller. the server was incompetent , at best. i have had vastly superior meals at red lobster for less than half the cost. on a bright note, the wine was good and not outlandish in cost.

don’t hesitate! we read the reviews and were skeptical but happy we disregarded them.foodwas fantastic and the service was spot on. go and enjoy!!!

i have been here several times and love it! there waitstaff is always on point, the drinks are amazing! thefoodis old school and lacking spice that makes clients brag... but i continue to go regularly because it's honest and good, unpretentious but still soul-warming meals in every dish

my grandparents came into town from florida and wanted to go to dinner. their absolute favoritefoodis seafood and being that they live in a place where great seafood is available everywhere, i wanted to take them someplace that would not disappoint. anytime i have ever asked anyone where to get good seafood at in arizona, the answer has always been the salt cellar.

i want to start off by saying the service staff in every aspect was stellar. we showed up with one more person than we had anticipated and the hostesses were quick to make the last minute accommodation. the ladies in your bar were so sweet, and our server was amazing.

in regards to the food, my sister and i ordered oysters on the half shell, which were the best we have ever had. my mom got the crab stuffed shrimp and really enjoyed it. my sister and i also split the crab legs and filet. unfortunately, this is where things take a different direction. crab legs were great, but the medium filet was not seasoned at all and was chewy. my fifteen year old son got the filet and shrimp. he liked the shrimp, but said the steak was not good, and he usually likes, and will pretty much eat everything with no complaints. my grandfather's fish was overcooked, and my grandmother's fried shrimp was soggy. we had cold veggies on our plates that tasted like they were warm at one time, but had sat out for quite awhile.

let me just say, money is not the issue here. our bill was 317 dollars after tip, for an average of about 53 dollars per person. totally reasonable for a great meal. when it comes to amazing food, service and atmosphere i would pay double that. i do realize this is a seafood restaurant, however for the amount of money that is being charged i would expect to leave feeling that everything was amazing. i originally thought about going to the keg which is similarly priced. i have ordered different steak and seafood dishes there many times and each time said to my husband, "oh my god. i loved every part of that dinner!" however, i wanted to take my grandparents to a local restaurant and not a chain restaurant that they could go to anytime in florida. after hearing the great things about this restaurant, i decided to take a chance and go here instead. i was honestly so surprisingly disappointed and to be frank, embarrassed that i suggested it. it was just, eh. everyone left saying "it was ok, but not great." my mom and sister who also live here said it was totally not what they had expected.

i did not want to tell the server about this in front of my whole family when he asked how everything was, not to mention we were in a hurry and could not have had our dinners remade at that time had they offered. so i decided to return home and email the manager. in her response she just proceeded to tell me that the issue is theirfoodsupplier and not the preparation. she made absolutely no attempts to regain our service. i would have given this restaurant at least three stars but after receiving her reply bumped it down to a 1.

2nd time around. it had been a while since we visited the salt cellar. on this occasion, we had a reservation at 5pm and arrived early for the happy hour.

we were the excited first ones in, we were greeted kindly and made our way downstairs to the bar. ordered a couple drinks and appetizers, the oysters and shrimp cocktail. the small bar was filling up quickly! we got our appetizers (our preference is small oysters, these are huge and only option), they were good? just wish there was more of a selection. second appetizer, shrimp cocktail. the cocktail sauce was the best thing of the night! they were good, but one wasn't cleaned properly and another had a strange black mark on it. i'll add the lemon had a bad mark on the peel. just unappealing. we didn't complain, the bartender was great, maybe a little overwhelmed at how busy it was. so...$60 later, we're off to dinner.

off to our table, be warned those with claustrophobia, this dining room is small! very attentive waiter, we ordered our meals, enjoyed the bland salads. the bread is great! we ordered the stuffed lobster and filet with crab leg. lobster not impressive, filet is a 1/4 inch thick with no seasoning whatsoever, crab leg good. broccoli cold, with something that i thought was hollondaise, but it was a weird, white, cold something stuck to it. our favorite things were the rice and baked potato. so, dinner was around $150 with a cheap bottle of wine.

our opinion, no, we won't be back here again. the staff is great! the nostalgia is there, thefoodjust isn't. i'm not sure if they cater to a crowd who doesn't like taste in their food? and if the owners believe in quality or just have plain pride in thefoodserved? we'll go to king fish or flemings instead.

excellent. first visit and it was outstanding!! very quiet different experience. not a sports bar. i had the blackened halibut. my wife had the stuffed shrimp. timing from the server was perfect.foodwas outstanding. can only hope the next visit will be that good.

we had dinner there last week. as always it was awesome. started out with the crab cakes and steamers. i had steak and lobster and my boyfriend had crab legs which the server cracked open for us. we have always had a great time dining here and thefoodhas always been great. the servers are always very friendly. this is definitely one of our favorite places to go for special occasions.

i have dined at the salt cellar about 30 times. four of us went to dinner and had a couple entrees, dinner, and dessert. the service,foor, and drinks were all amazing. have the yako tuna, halibut with lemon caper butter or crab legs. all wonderfully prepared. all of the servers are nice and professional, the atmosphere is romantic, and thefoodawesome. keep up the great work salt cellar and we will keep coming back.

salt cellar. party of 4 sat. dec. 1st. wine glasses are small & not filled. vodka. on ice ordered with olives - no olives. main dish - 2 halibut - overcooked 1 ahi tuna sent back 3 times & finally credited - 1 ahi tuna excellent - the vagetables & rice were served cold.opinionfoodis not a priority - ticket bar items essential !!
the bill could not be defined or checked - subtotals include tax ? asked chuck the server & replied old software system - owner rich replied he believes in "green" - use less paper - the tab had 2 sheets ? could not correlate the bill to include scottsdale sales tax .
chuck the server was excellent .
as an arizona resident, entertaining company from nyc who desired good seafood, find this substandard & not worth a return visit.

not worth it.. my husband and i went there for our anniversary. it was our first time there and we had heard good things from friends. the server was wonderful but thefoodwas not! i got the king crab and my husband got the 3 lb. lobster. when we got out dinner, the lobster was clearly over-cooked (white shell instead of bright red). we tried it anyway... mistake. it was chewy and definitely over done. also, bother dinners was cold! when the server checked on us we told her of the issues and she was going to see what she could do. she came back telling us the manager/owner was not willing to do anything. unacceptable customer service on behalf of the restaurant!

overrated and overcrowed. after hearing about this place for years, we tried it out awhile back. the place was overcrowded, with people standing elbow to elbow, and there was hardly room to walk between the tables. the first bite my wife took had apparently been stuck to the bottom of the pan or something, because it was burned to a crisp. it was just that one bite, but it was horrible and sure did start things off on the wrong foot. the server was rushing around in a hurry and it was tough to get a refill. the overall impression we got from the staff was that they were so busy and we were so lucky to be there that they just didn't have time to do things better. thefoodoverall was good, but it wasn't any better than the seafood market restaurant in mesa, which is half the price and more relaxed.

i took business clients to this restuarant and was deeply disappointed. thefoodwas just not good - even the bread was such a 'doorstep' that would not be cut. the service was so bad, even when one of my guests mentioned that he was just there and had the same waiter.

the dinner that saved a bad day.. we had a great dinner on a friday night at 7:30. we started off with an oyster shooter that was fresh and delicious. we then shared 3 appetizers. the maryland soft shelled crabs were very lightly breaded, served piping hot, and cooked perfectly. the steamed clams were next. nicely salty and correctly cooked. we also tried the escargot and mushroom caps. the garlic butter sauce was great and went equally well with the steamed clams.

the salad course was competent. the salad isn't really all that special, but they do serve roquefort dressing, which was very nice.

we were in the mood for steak as well as seafood, so we ordered the petite fillet and fried shrimp. the steak was ordered rare, and it was perfect. it was accompanied by some great bread, and, for a nice change, a baked potato that wasn't the size of a babies head. i wish more restaurants returned to reasonably sized portions instead of the waist expanding, super sized, plates offoodthat require you to take home leftovers. there were steamed vegetables and they were nicely prepared as well. they were actually cooked instead of just being "warmed". for dessert, we shared a chocolate lava cake. wow. extremely dark chocolate sauce, and a very nice hint of raspberries rounded out the flavors. in this class of restaurant, the coffee should be very good, and i wasn't disappointed. overall, after a crappy start to an evening (see my review of lucille's) this more than made up for it.

overrated for many years. the salt cellar is a huge disappointment and perhaps even a bigger waste of money. i've tried the place several times with friends and family. the service is attentive, but thefoodis just bad. the last visit i had a piece of halibut, which must've come from at least a 600 lb. fish (which, with halibut is bad...the smaller the fish, generally, the better the eating) was overcooked and dry. my partner's salmon in pastry was no better: bland, pink and rubbery. thefoodwas served after a salad with ice crystals in it (a new trend?). very very disappointing.