Comments on: Sea Salt in Salt Lake City

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 01:28:37 +0000

I have eaten at Sea Salt multiple times. The food is always decent and the customer service is always sub-par but never to the point where I felt I needed to leave a review. This last time was different. On 10/2/2013 we had a reservation for a group of 14. They seated us on time and everything went fairly smoothly. They were slow, we waited over 20 minutes for our first (and only) round of drinks, however they were also busy and we were a large group so that alone wasn’t a big deal. We did wait longer than ideal for our main meal and some of the dishes appeared to have been ready for a while, but still the dishes overall were decent. Again, this wasn’t a big deal as we were a large group and they were very busy. I had the “Malfatti” al Pomodoro ($14.95). It wasn’t what I expected. It was supposed to be ricotta and spinach gnocchi, but it was more like balls of ricotta. You couldn’t even pick it up whole as it was basically just a loose cheese ball. I didn’t particularly like it, but I don’t think the dish itself was bad, just not something I enjoyed. After setting my plate down they didn’t ask if we needed anything, they just left. I had someone on the other end of the table ask for some bread as they were still being served (large group) and I couldn’t hail my server. After 10 minutes my bread still had not come and no one had come back to check on us. Finally a wait staff came to fill my water so I asked him for some bread. Another 10-15 minutes go by. I ended up asking a total of FIVE people for bread. By the time I finally got it everyone was done with their meals and were starting on dessert. I expressed my dismay to one of our servers and she said she would check with the manager about getting it comped. When the manager (Anthony) came over, he didn’t introduce himself but just asked the table how things were. Once we realized he was the manager I told him that I was not happy that I was eating a cold plate of food because I had to wait 40 minutes to get some bread. He offered to heat it up, and I politely declined as everyone was pretty much done eating at that point. I did tell him that I didn’t feel like I should have to pay for a meal that I didn’t get to eat hot and with the rest of my group; he responded by saying that unless something was wrong with it then he wouldn’t comp me. Why even come over and ask how things were when you knew what the problem was in the first place and you had no intentions of trying to make the customer happy? To add insult to injury I later found out that the owner (Eric de Bonis) was there the entire time and knew what was going on. Our bill was over $700 and the manager couldn’t comp a $14.95 meal that I didn’t start eating until everyone was finished because of their poor service. We really liked this place. In fact, just a few weeks earlier we had a friend in town that owns a few restaurants in NYC and we decided to bring him to Sea Salt. We won’t be going there again, we won’t be having our large get-together’s there anymore and we definitely won’t be recommending this restaurant to anyone anymore. The only redeeming thing about Sea Salt and our experience last night was Brooke. She was a great server and would make a much better manager than Anthony, the current and incompetent manager. After reading other reviews on Sea Salt it seems that poor customer service and bad servers is a common theme. Go figure.

By: Sea Salt | SLC Foodie

Sea Salt | SLC Foodie — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:42:21 +0000

[…] Salt Lake City’s Best Italian Food Restaurant called me in for a second visit to Sea Salt. My first dining experience at Sea Salt was when they first opened and although I did enjoy it, I found it to be a bit pricey so I […]

By: Mikael

Mikael — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 19:00:53 +0000

I’m seriously surprised this place has so many bad reviews. I’ve only been once, but we had a great server and everything we tried (went with my aunt) was absolutely delightful. Tried pizza, orechiette pasta, and a couple other things. I’m a sucker for authentic Italian cuisine and this restaurant fit the bill quite well. The prices are a little high, but we loved it so much we didn’t care.

By: Becky

Becky — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:26:51 +0000

Kalyn, I really enjoyed the pizza we had there but at the prices they charge, I probably won’t be back often. If you find something you like there you’ll have to let me know!

By: foodblogfinds

foodblogfinds — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:07:57 +0000

Beautiful photos! I’m surprised to hear that it’s owned by the owner of Paris Bistro. I tried it once and was not really impressed (but I didn’t know about the family recipe items; would try those next time.)

By: Becky at VintageMixer

Becky at VintageMixer — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:06:11 +0000

GFV, I am so glad you had a good experience. I have been hearing such mixed reviews on this place that it was good to hear something positive.

By: GFV

GFV — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:49:32 +0000

On the night we went it was so busy we had to eat at the bar, which from the sound of the other comments was a plus. The bartender/server, Daniel was efficient and friendly, kept our drinks coming, and gave us several E.T.A.'s for food as it did take slightly longer than usual, but overall it was a positive experience.

By: Barbara Bakes

Barbara Bakes — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 17:34:26 +0000

Sounds like a wonderful way to spend an afternoon with a good friend. If I go back I'll have to give the Nona Maria items a try.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 22:50:20 +0000

we tried sea salt with high hopes (not being from here we really appreciate the local food scene, since we moved here have not eaten at a chain rest.). service was what did us in, we left before trying any food. waited 30min to get drinks ordered and another 30min to get them delivered. hope they get the service stuff ironed out, maybe we'll try again.

By: Becky at VintageMixer

Becky at VintageMixer — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:23:00 +0000

Bonnie,I have heard many bad things so I was kind of surprised that we had a good experience. It is definitely a place that I would warn people before trying it out. Thanks for your comment!Becky