Salty's Tavern — Restaurant in Wellington

Came across this funky bar/diner while looking for a COVID friendly/ outdoor seated place for a drink and bite to eat. Clearly imaginatively constructed around an old “Airstream” caravan (now indoors) this place has a relaxed 60s style beach bar ambiance with super-attentive staff, a range of (home produced?) beers and large-portion excellently constructed bar food. We had a BB smash burger and the fish fillet burger. The BB stands for beef brisket, generously filling the bun with cheese, pickle and delicious BBQ and mustard sauces. For me this was one of the tastiest burgers I’ve had for years. The beef was tender with a “burnt ends” texture and taste. The pickles were, I imagine, home made - well soused slices of gherkin with fresh dill. The bun was nothing to write home about, but it was large enough to house its ample filling! My partner had the fish fillet and was suitably impressed by this large portioned burger that bore no relationship to the other “filet o fish” that you get in that burger chain that shall not be named in the same breath as Saltys. The beer I chose was an IPA “ Full Fervour”, not as full or as hoppy as I would normally like, but refreshing on a hot summer day.

A real PLUS for this place was the quality of the sound system, and the choices of non-mainstream music. They have live music here too!

Definitely a great find and future destination when next travelling...

Quite an expensive and disappointing experience over all..

Starting with customer service, the waitress was inattentive, unamused and got our order wrong. She forgot our smoked olives so they never came out. Luckily we didn't get charged for them anyway.

My partner ordered his meal vegan and when the waitress brought out our meals she said to him said "oh I hope you didn't want yours dairy free because there's butter on your sandwich".

My fizzy drink was completely flat and wasn't replaced until we were about to leave.

Very expensive for what you get..a small handful of fries for $10 and it's barely enough for two to share.

The vegan/vegetarian sandwiches we ordered were very basic - guac/jackfruit/pico de gallo between two pieces of bread... We do mexican at home far more exciting and tasty and for far less than $23 a meal (a single sandwich)

Really glad we didn't buy any alcohol because I didn't want to give them any more of my money..

Nearly $70 later and we came home for more food because it wasn't filling or satisfying.

Definitely will not be...

Second review - change from 4 stars to 5 stars. First review below.

Jugs of beer and great burgers. What a win!

Great to see the owners listening and upping their 3 wings to 4 wings. This has been our new favourite place since opening. Food and service have been consistently good. Tried all their cocktails recently. They're beautifully made and some of the best I've had in a long time.

First review.

I really like this place. Love Big jugs of beer at a reasonable price and tasty food. It has a really fresh And funky atmosphere.

A few comments for the owners. I thought the hot Wings were overpriced At $18 for 3, even though they're big wings. Plus, it's a sharing plate so if two people order it to share, you're setting the scene for a fight over who gets the third wing!

The battered pickles had too much oil in the batter. Would be great to fix that. The chicken roll should be more evenly constructed. The bites in the middle were mostly slaw and roll. I'd personally love a rye option for the reuben with the bread not as thick.

We...