Salt Cellar Restaurant

I went to the Salt Cellar last night and had a fabulous meal. I go there at least six times a year and everytime I mention having gone, someone tells me ""I love that place, I haven't been there in a long time"". Well I love it too, just wish I could go more often. It is so nice to know a place you love is going to be there year after year and doesn't make drastic weird changes to the menu. Just really good fish! The lobster is to die for, the shrimp remo is out of this world and be sure to save room for dessert because it is sooooo good. Great service and a really fun bar. I think I will go back for happy hour real soon. Pros: Truly fresh seafood in the desert Cons: usually can't just walk right in, need reservation more

I was really excited to visit this restaurant after researching the internet and reading the reviews. Guess I should have read all of them. My boyfriend and I like to dine at different romantic Valley restaurants. The waitress was very pleasant and we didn't have to wait long for our food but...my stuffed lobster was overcooked, tuff and stuffed with way too many Ritz cracker crumbs...YUCK! I will never order the stuffed lobster again. I should have gone with my original decision to order the crab cakes. Maybe next time. Oh yeah, the room we sat in was very romantic but the temperature was 20 degrees below. Take a jacket. P.S. I'm NEVER cold! Pros: Romantic & good service Cons: Overpriced & overcooked food more

I'd like to start by saying that my husband and I are frequent diners at The Salt Cellar for a reason. The ambience is one-of-a-kind because the entire restaurant is underground. It feels very secluded and dark, which makes for a quiet, romantic evening. The service is top-notch and and we love that our crab legs and lobster are cracked and split by our server tableside. Our favorites to order are the King Crab legs, Dungeness crab, and the stuffed lobster. We've never ordered anything but seafood because it's too good not to get! Don't worry, anything that you choose on the menu will be top-notch so don't hesitate to be adventurous! Happy eating! more

The menu is pricey, so the best time to go is happy hour and the service in the bar is great. The bartenders are friendly and quick. My favorite dish is the shrimp san remo as an appetizer it is so good order this with the bread. When you go there on a hot day a bucket of steamers and the two dollar beers are the best way to beat the heat....yum! :) Pros: happy hour is definetly happy hour Cons: dining is pricey but you should experience at least once more

I had been at the Salt Cellar 2 years ago and recently went again. I had lobster both times. Both lobsters were tuff. For the price, it is not worth it. The setting is very interesting and the service was okay. My partner had the swordfish, which was very good. Just don't have high expectatons for the high- priced lobster more

I have been to this restaraunt approximately 4 times and have never been disappointed. We are from Cape Cod, and we know our seafood. Yes, it is a bit pricey, however, it is true seafood, not ""farm raised"" as much of the ""seafood"" in Arizona is. Yes, the staff may be a little slow, or maybe even a bit rude, but the Pros outweigh the Cons for sure. Pros: Excellent Seafood Cons: Not very friendly staff more

The hostess was indeed rude. I suggest a reservation. A couple showed up on a Sat night without one and was practically tossed on their ear. The food was good but severly over priced. The tables were too close together. It was an experience, but not the greatest. Pros: not many Cons: staff, cost more

I could not agree more with the comments about the staff. The hostess is rude and unwelcoming. The wait staff is not much better. But the food is great, and I'll keep going back! more

My fiance and I absolutley love this restaruant and frequent it often. Although there is one complaint I see over and over again and I have to agree: RUDE WAITSTAFF! Pros: Food, atmosphere Cons: Rude waitstaff more

I realize that this place is an ""Institution"" in Scottsdale, but give me a break. I don't know if we were there on an off night, but our party of 4 (with reservations) was seated in a dark corner of a dark room. Our server disappeared on a regular basis, and I actually had to ask a hostess to find our server for us. Now for the food. My wife ordered the Scallops. They were so over cooked, she had to use her knife to cut them! SCALLOPS PEOPLE! It's a seafood basic! Don't over cook the scallops! The rest of us had the lobster. It was dry and flavorless. We had to ask for refills several times. I really do not understand why this place keeps winning awards. Who's voting?? Not me, and I will NEVER return! Pros: I had a nice Bloody Mary from the bar. Cons: Everything else! more

Service was good, and we were in a large party (12). The ambiance was wonderful. The quality of the food was superb. The preparation was the weakest part of the experience, as some food was undercooked. The presentation was fabulous. It was a unique experience and definitely worth repeating. more

I love the Salt Cellar! I go there every time I visit Arizona. In a city like Scottsdale where a new restaurant opens and another shuts down every minute, each one trying to out-do the other, it's nice to step down into a bit of Valley tradition. And not only do they have the best King Crab legs I've ever tasted (and they open them for you) but they also have old-school menu items that a lot of other restaurants don't seem to appreciate anymore. I don't want my shrimp dipped in sesame-kumquat reduction with a crystalized avocado wrapped in a pinapple-bacon scarf!!! I just want good quality and the Salt Cellar delivers! I salivate just thinking about the Manhattan clam chowder, San Remo shrimp, and perfect martinis, also minus the chai-flavored liquor and umbrellas. Call me old-fashioned (even though I'm under 30) but I like a classy joint with good folks, timeless charm, and great food. This place is really something special. Pros: unique, CRAB LEGS Cons: parking more

As a new arrival in Arizona, living all my life on the New England seashore, I was more than blown away by the quality of the seafood at the Salt Cellar. I would put this place up against the best New England has to offer! more

The people who wrote those good things about the Salt Cellar must work there and are trying to keep the restaurant open. Busy or not, bad customer service is not acceptable and bad customer service is what we got tonight. Yes, they must be doing something right to keep the place packed. Maybe there all family members trying to help keep the place open. The receptionist was rude, the hostess who took us to the table must have issues and I hope our waiters surgery goes well becuase that stick up his butt must be deep. And then, they want a tip. Our table of 8 all agreed on one thing, NEVER AGAIN will we eat at the Salt Cellar. Pros: Not here Cons: plenty of them more

I also was there on 8/26/06 and found the exact opposite of that other review to be true about our dinner. First of all, there were 6 of us and the hostess gave us a nice round table that fit us perfectly. We all ordered various types of shellfish and the staff all pitched in and helped our server to take it out of the shell for us. We were so impressed by that alone. We found the service to be very professional. The Salt Cellar seemed to be extremely busy on this night which only goes to show that they are doing something right. They sure did everything right during my experience there. Pros: service Cons: parking more

Ahhh the Salt Cellar, where shall I begin? What a great little place to spend a romantic evening, share with friends, or entertain out of town guests. The Salt Cellar has wonderful food, the quality of which is outstanding. I have dined at the Salt Cellar several times in the past two years that I have lived in the valley. The lobster and King crab are decadent and always a safe bet to ensure a satisfying dining experience. Not only is the food great but the service is exemplary. Hostesses are friendly upon arrival and do their best to get you seated in a timely manner even though the restaurant is usually brimming over with people waiting to eat the best seafood in town. Servers and cocktail waitresses are helpful, making sure that no glass is ever empty. The servers treated us like we were family and did anything it took to make us happy. They genuinely enjoyed our company and made it a point to make us feel welcome anytime. The bottom line is I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who has been missing out. Be sure to make a reservation and if you do have to wait a little bit when you come in, relax, have a drink at the bar, and get to know those charming bartenders. Be sure to start thinking about dessert early on so you can save room, if not, order a dessert anyway and take it to go. Believe me, you will not reget it- snicker's bar cheesecake brings you closer to heaven. The Salt Cellar has been around since 1971 and I'm sure that the way business is done and their guests are taken care of, they will be around for a hundred more years! Bravo! Pros: Food, Service Cons: Parking can be a problem on a busy night more

I have dined here several times over the last couple months and have really enjoyed the food, atmosphere and hospitality. This unique little hideaway never lets me down. more

My husband and I had been looking forward to taking our family to your restaurant for a long time. Oh my God, what a major disappointment. A nice Sunday dinner with my family turned into an evening of tears, frustration and a overpriced under cooked meal for 6. more

My wife and I have never experienced the lack of customer service or lack of concern for a poorly cooked meals as we did last night at the Salt Cellar. The service staff were rude and very inconsiderate. The food, not only was the wrong food brought to our table but when we advised the waiter it was not ours, he very rudely stated that it must be because it has your number on it. When the right food did come back, it was not cooked properly and we sent it back. They brought out the food for a third time and it looked as though they just over cooked what we sent back. The result was dry lobster and overdone steak. Since the meal was sent back twice, we occupied the table longer then we were supposed to I guess because when we were finished our meal we were never offered after dinner drinks, coffee or desert but we were asked if we would be dining much longer as they needed to turn the table. That was the clincher for me. We will never go back to this place again. Pros: There are other places to eat Cons: We choose this place to eat more

Our evening here was a disaster. The service was awful, the food was not prepared to our liking and when we sent the food back to be redone, we were given such attitiude. \r What we thought would be a romantic evening turned into a dining nightmare. Cons: It's a nightmare more