salt life food shack

great service & the food was good. will definitely be back.
wonderful mothers day weekend so far.

first impression - pretty awesome!. i went to salt life food shack for the first time last night. judging from my first impression i will definitely be going back. the overall vibe was very cool, laid back and definitely beachy. i had the backyard beer can chicken - half a chicken with an awesome glaze served with a whole corn. it seemed "different" so i figured i would give it a try. the presentation was clean and the flavors really complimented each other. i really liked the corn served with the husk! for my drink i went with the $2 coronas they have on mondays. the rest of the menu looked pretty good. the prices ranged anywhere from around 6 bucks [hamburgers and such] to around 15$ [high end fish]. service was good, total bill even better! i look forward to going there again.

disappointed... i was excited to finally be around the beaches area and knock this one of my list. however, if it weren't for its prime location, brilliant decor and "saltlife" in it's name, i don't know that this place would be as popular as it currently is. our waitress was a little rude - the fact that she hardly made eye contact or even smiled at us was displeasing.

being surrounded by the beach ambiance, we wanted to stick with ordering seafood entrees. our first bite of the day was into the soggy calamari appetizer we ordered. maybe they were rushing and just made a mistake in cooking the dish correctly? so we had a couple bites, left the rest of it and sipped on our "salty margaritas" and killed the fries while we waited for lunch.

i received my soft shell blt sandwich and all i could taste was the "shack sauce" oozing out of every bite. i ended up just picking apart the sandwich and eating the bacon. also ordered, was the beach boil - my friend never complains about anything and even that to him was a disappointment. how could taking a variety of seafood and throwing it in a "boil" get messed up? seemed like every bite you took was like biting into old bay seasoning can.

i hope this day was just a bad one for them and i'm willing to try it again. even my boss who lives at the beaches always pumps this place up! i won't make it a point to drive out to the beaches just for it, but if we end up with a group of people and that's what they choose, i'll try the non-seafood selections and get me a burger.

salt life should stick to what they do best, apparel.

went here for my birthday back in july with the goal of some seafood and a margarita. 
outdoor seating was full at the time, so we sat at the bar instead. the bartender (i want to say his name was scott) was very welcoming and attentive.
for starters, we got the oysters on the half-shell and some avocado fries, which were fairly tasty and not so filling as to spoil an appetite.
my stomach had been acting up a bit, so i kept it mild with my entrée and got the caliche's poke bowl, which was a very generous size and hit the spot perfectly. fiancé got the beach boil, which was also a hefty helping and he seemed to enjoy quite a bit.
of course, i also got my margarita fix with the elevated patron margarita. fiancé let slip at one point that it was my birthday and the bartender was sweet enough to offer the first drink on the house.
all-in-all, it was a very enjoyable dinner and we will definitely be back.

sat at the bar for lunch. service was great - friendly and quick. grouper sandwich was out of this world. shrimp pasta was delicious. beverages were cold and delicious. definitely will come back.

since this is a franchise, we had seen a few of their other branches, so decided to pop in.
casual, laid back environment. we opted to sit outside where it was cool enough in spite of the baking heat.
the 2 guys started with fresh ceviche which was good, and half dozen oysters. although the oysters were good, they weren't the greatest and we did have better elsewhere.
i had the tuna and palm of heart salad, which the waitress very kindly suggested i upgrade to the higher quality tuna for a marginal additional price. great suggestion. tuna was fresh and full of flavour and made the dish. my friend had the salmon salad and even though i was more than happy with my salad, i did indeed have food envy and vowed to come back and order that the next time we were in town. i would also come back for one of their bowls, which also looked great. portions were great - no skimping on the quality or quantity of seafood for the salads.
prices seemed a bit higher here than some of the other restaurants we had been to.

great food, friendly staff, kid and dog friendly.
had the grouper tacos which i thoroughly enjoyed.
with our group of 6 adults and 3 kids, there was not one complaint, except for full bellies.

the salt life with my friend for lunch yesterday and had a good experience. i usually get the hawaiian shrimp bowl, which i highly recommend, but decided to try their sushi this time. i got the tuna roll, which was fresh tuna with avocado and rice. very good! it's fried, but not heavy at all. my friend got the tuna salad but substituted raw ahu tuna instead of seared. it was beautiful!

always great food and atmosphere. one of my favorite seafood places that with the 25minute drive from home. if you go at lunch there usually is not a wait for a table. dinner you need to be there by 5:30 if you don't want to wait for a seat.

questionable reviews. there are many reviews where a patron has only 1 review but claims this is a great restaurant- questionable at best.


-----26 aug, 2011-----

lame food. did not have the service problem that others had but i can see that it is probably an issue due to the age of the staff. the teenagers in this area are not known for their hard work. the food was pretty much tasteless. the selection was not very impressive. probably a better drinking establishment. reminds me of mellow mushroom down the street, targetting the 20 and early 30 year olds for a party atmosphere so food quality is not important.

shack fries. simply amazing!

island theme, but island food?. being a frequent traveler of hawaii, i saw that this place served "poke." i was actually excited that i found this dish in jax. as i took the first bite i thought it was going to remind me of being back on the island, but no, usually it is a simple dish, but it had too much going on, some kind of marinade, a bit salty and the tuna didn't seem too fresh. at least the tea was good. pretty much just a bar that serves mediocre seafood. ho brah, nothing but haole da kine, shoots!!

a yuppy place. this place has no idea what "salt life" is all about. only 1 waitress may have a clue. i ordered the nachos with shrimp and chorizo. there were maybe 4 shrimp on the nachos and the chorizo was in such small pieces you couldn't get a taste for it. the only good thing i can say is the beer was cold.

oh my goodness...... as soon as we walked in, we knew we chose a great restaurant. the environment was very inviting and the food was fantastic. we visited on a tuesday - the sushi special night. since we are from the north, we were striving for a great fresh seafood place - and we found it. the sushi was excellent - our favorite being the lobster sushi. the lobster boil was huge and satisfactory, however the tuna burger was not something i would order again simply due to taste preference (although the fried avocado slices were tasty!). we would not hesitate to visit again and would recommend to anyone.