Salt & Brick - Calgary — Restaurant in Calgary

We dined here Friday June 28 @730. Seated in the semi private room with a 10 top.

Terrible and unorganized

First issue was being seated for 20 minutes without any greeting or drink orders being taken. The waiter had to be flagged down to order a drink. He asked if we wanted to wait for our last 2 diners before ordering drinks. I understand waiting for food orders but not waiting to have a drink. When the drinks were dropped off, people’s orders were mixed up and they got incorrect drinks from what they ordered.

Second issue. 2 couples had ordered the “Catch Them All”. Both platters were delivered at the exact same time. One couple was given chopsticks to eat with, as well as an explanation of the 5 different fish on the platter. The other couple simply had their platter placed down and the server walked away. Both platters delivered by the same person. The other couple had to flag the server down to get proper utensils and an explanation of what they were going to eat.

Third issue. Another couple had a dish dropped off, and the person who dropped it off said it was the duck breast. It was actually in fact the tri tip steak which another couple had ordered. We only found this out when another server had come out saying who got the duck breast, and proceeded to drop off the duck. There was confusion amongst the table as the couple who had already eaten what they thought was duck breast. The person who dropped off the food said they would look into this as neither couple had gotten the food they wanted. When the server came back, he wasn’t aware of the mistake and we had to inform him of what had happened. 5 minutes after informing this couple that their steak had been refired, he and asked the couple if they are finished eating and started to clear their plates.

The eventual re fire on the steak took another 45 minutes be cooked. This steak was originally ordered medium, but when the steak was dropped off, the server said here is the medium rare steak you ordered.

The server then offered to comp the steak for the couple who had ordered the duck breast, but did not offer this to the couple who actually ordered the steak and not received anything at all.

Fourth issue. The birthday girl had ordered a dessert. She had saw a picture of this dessert on Salt and Bricks Instagram and showed our server this picture. I don’t recall the name but it was essentially an orange chocolate cake. We instead were delivered the “Raisin the Bar”. After she had tasted the dessert, she realized this was not what she had ordered. The server said that oh it’s a different plating today, it just looks different. Until the birthday girl pointed out the raisins that were very evident. The server apologized, but then he instructed her to just finish the dessert that you have and he will look into bringing the other one out. 10 minutes later, the server comes out and says can I drop off the bills.

The pacing of the meal was terrible. Certain people got their food before others, and there was no cohesiveness with everyone getting courses together.

After 3.5 hours, many complaints, refires, and waiting around, not a single manager stopped in to check to see if they could make the experience better, or even check in at all. There was a lack of care shown by management, and a lack of training or care shown by wait staff. Our servers name was Adrian. He was full of excuses as to what had gone on throughout the night.

Food was very average. Some ok dishes, some not good dishes. Definitely no stand out dishes.

I hope management follows up on this review, unlike the lack of follow up in person at the restaurant.

Overall one of my worst dining experiences I’ve had anywhere. I do not recommend this place unless management shows some care, and there is proper menu and hospitality...

I had pretty high expectations visiting Salt and Brick but was simply disappointed walking out, based on the following reasons:

Service was slow, took awhile to get waters refilled. Drinks sat empty for probably 15 minutes before someone came by and asked if we wanted something else. Also, extremely confused by why there wasn’t an option to choose between seating on Opentable… beware that there is lounge-like seating where the table is extremely low and then normal seating. There should be a differentiation when booking as I would have thought twice about booking otherwise. Literally had to sit the entire night crouched over. There were also two 4-tops beside us (there were 4 of us), taunting us all night while remaining empty. We inquired on moving over but was quickly dismissed and told there was a reservation. Note that this reservation came almost 2 hours later. I am BAFFLED to say the least that all these western-owned restaurants have the audacity to upcharge prices on certain foods that you can get a comparable upscale restaurant for way less. Specifically, the sashimi was ~$31-$32/dish for 5 slices. Yes, they are fresh and “flown” in the same day. Is it worth that price point though when there are local Japanese restaurants that also fly in their fish same day and excel in their cuisine for a fraction of the price? Examples include Azito sushi in Cochrane, Ari sushi, Zushi, just to name a few - all of these have impeccable fresh fish offered at much more affordable prices. I see this often at western restaurants and it’s disappointing to see. Note we did try the ‘catch it all’ for all 4 kinds of variety for $110 but still way overpriced. We also tried the bison, duck breast, scallops and stripe shrimp toast. Toast was so good and I have only good things to say! Bison was also delicious and the star dish of the night. Scallops were dry and over cooked, but likely due to sitting under the heat lamp for an extended period of time (server told us the plate was extremely hot). Not worth $42 dollars. Duck breast was dry and bland. Our server also ordered us an additional dish on our behalf (the ragu), assuming that we had wanted it after overhearing it in our conversation (someone in our group was just confirming that we didn’t order that dish). So safe to say we were pretty surprised when it showed up at our table. Our server was a bit reluctant to take it away, saying that she overheard us say it but she never confirmed our order. She eventually took it away and off our bill, but a pretty amateur mistake in my opinion. Drinks were good but not revolutionary. I guess standard when compared to other restaurants.

Not sure if we...

A Disappointing Experience - Not Worth the Hype

We recently dined at this restaurant with high expectations, given its reputation and our previous positive experiences at their Kelowna location. Unfortunately, the visit turned out to be a major disappointment, particularly concerning a poorly prepared steak and the unexpected charges that followed.

Upon arrival, we were excited to try almost every item on the menu, ordering drinks and food for our party of nine. Among these items was a medium rare steak, which we eagerly anticipated. However, when the steak arrived, it was far from what we ordered. It was cooked with just a touch of pink, not even remotely resembling the vibrant red we expected from a medium rare steak. At best, it was medium-cooked. Being born and raised Calgarians, we know our Alberta beef, and this was one of the worst steaks we've encountered.

We returned 90% of the steak to the kitchen, thinking it was overcooked,tough and dry. To our surprise and dismay, the restaurant decided to charge us for half of the steak stating that half of us were happy with the steak. They never mentioned this policy to us. Had we known we’d be charged for it, we would have taken it home to feed the dog.

The manager explained that their steaks are sous vide to an internal temperature of 52 degrees, which is supposed to ensure the perfect doneness. However, it seemed they must have overcooked it during the searing process. It was truly disappointing that something as basic as cooking a steak to order could be so mishandled.

The $125 charge for the steak, plus the 20% automatic gratuity on top, felt like a slap in the face. We didn’t mind the gratuity itself, as it’s understandable for larger parties, but paying that extra on a poorly executed dish was frustrating. The server was great and we even left her an extra tip on top of the 20%.

As for the rest of the menu, it left much to be desired. The only highlight was the Brussels sprouts, which were good enough for us to order seconds. However, the scallops were a complete rip-off, offering only three small pieces that were not worth the price.

Overall, our experience was disappointing, especially since some of our group had previously enjoyed dining at the Kelowna location. Everyone left thoroughly dissatisfied with the quality of the food and the unexpected charges. Calgary has many great dining options, and sadly, this place does not measure up. We won’t be returning, and we’d advise others to explore the better options available...