Salt & Marrow Kitchen — Restaurant in Aiken County

Help Wanted!

Salt & Marrow Kitchen is in desperate need of an executive chef who can properly train the kitchen staff and reorganize the waitstaff to align with its intended upscale menu. Located within the luxurious Crowne Plaza in beautiful North Augusta, SC, one would expect a dining experience that matches the hotel's elegance. Despite the restaurant’s website highlighting Chef Dominic Simpson’s expertise, there was no evidence of skilled culinary oversight during our visit. Our Mother’s Day experience was, unfortunately, unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.

When making our reservation a week prior, I specifically inquired about a special brunch menu and was assured by the staff member I spoke with that there would be special brunch options. Upon arrival, however, we were presented with their standard menu, featuring only a single uninspired macaroni and cheese "special." My concerns began immediately when I noticed drops of what appeared to be blood on our table—something I hoped was merely residue from previous diners' steak juice.

We were initially drawn to Salt & Marrow by their unique offerings, such as kangaroo, bison, and delmonico steak. Such exotic choices suggested an exciting dining destination. Unfortunately, our excitement quickly faded.

The Meat & Cheese Board, advertised as including three cured meats, three cheeses, pickled vegetables, jam, flatbread crackers, and fresh berries, was incredibly disappointing. It featured only two repetitive servings of Genoa salami, some basic rolled prosciutto, and large chunks of generic cheese clearly sourced pre-cut from a wholesale store. The cheeses were too large to comfortably eat with crackers, and the strawberries and blueberries seemed nearly expired.

Next, we ordered the parmesan truffle fries and a Caesar salad. The fries were heavily breaded, offering only a faint hint of truffle oil and virtually no detectable parmesan flavor. The Caesar salad was drowned in dressing, resembling coleslaw more than a fresh salad. We resorted to using the excessive dressing as a dip for the bland fries. Additionally, we had to explicitly request a drink menu to even consider cocktails, an oversight unusual for a restaurant aiming for upscale status.

When our main courses arrived, only the adult meals were served, leaving the children waiting. My $75 delmonico steak appeared to have lingered under a heat lamp far too long, cooked well beyond the medium-rare I'd requested. The accompanying demi-glace was an unpleasantly thick, obviously powdered mixture, completely unacceptable for a steak at this price point.

My wife’s shrimp and grits were even worse. The shrimp were visibly burnt and overcooked, rubbery in texture, and the grits were solidified into a congealed, unappetizing mass, likely from excessive time under a heat lamp. We sent this dish back, and I shared half of my disappointing steak with her instead.

Although the shrimp and grits were removed from our bill, we were then brought two unimpressive desserts as consolation. When the bill arrived, I was surprised by an automatic 20% gratuity charge for our party of six and an additional surcharge for credit card payment.

Overall, our visit to Salt & Marrow Kitchen was an absolute disappointment—poorly executed dishes, subpar ingredients, inattentive service, and hidden fees left us deeply dissatisfied. If I could give this review less than one star, I would. Even my 10-year-old asked if we could leave a negative star review—that says it all. We will not be returning, and I strongly advise others to seek better dining...

Thursday December 19, 2024 Reservation time: 6:30 pm Party of 12

What a DISASTER!! This was my first time coming to this “upscale restaurant”? Only to be disappointed.

We made a reservation for 12 people for a Christmas party. We got there, before time and the restaurant was closed!!!! 😳 The “manager” who was dressed like “Little House on the Prairie” told us that there was no staff available so we had to sit in the bar area and order “bar food”. If she is the “manager” she should dressed the part so people can take her seriously. Her attire was very unprofessional.

We noticed that there was another party of 10 that made reservations for a Christmas party but they were allowed to sit in the restaurant. Now I didn’t think that was fair as a matter of fact it was quite bias. That party was all white and we the party of 12 were all black. The manager catered to them and sent the black waitress to our table to serve us. That was not right AT ALL. (Our waitress was very nice and accommodating, she should be the Manager). Were we not good enough to sit in the restaurant instead of in the middle of the lobby right at the bar??? That is quite disturbing. The manager did give us 2 free appetizers, a drink and dessert free which we were appreciative but I don’t understand why the restaurant would change management resulting in staff quitting right in the middle of a major holiday, Christmas!!! Couldn’t you just wait until the beginning of the year? I was really looking forward to dining IN the restaurant and eating decent food from a nicer menu instead of “bar food” which was not good.

The wings were great but the burger was dry and they gave us packaged condiments like we were at a ballgame or something. Several people ordered a Cobb salad only to get a big wedge of iceberg lettuce with dressing poured over top, no eggs or onions as advertised. One of the ladies in our group refused the “salad” and sent it back because of the missing items.

I called on Saturday December 21, 2024 just to see if they were open. A lady answered and I asked if they were open for business and she stated that she needed to know how many people were in my party in order for her to tell ME whether or not I could come. What is that?

I was going to try this place again but after that call and the way we were handled on Thursday I’ll pass. I will not give my money to a restaurant that is subpar

Do better Salt...

Unfortunately this was not a good experience. This was our 2nd visit to this restaurant within 1 month. First visit was slightly better but not by much. This time we started out ordering drinks. We ordered 2 different IPA's and an Old-Fashioned. It took a while for them to arrive and when they did one if the IPA's was not what we ordered and the Old -Fashioned was rather disappointing (no cherry, orange peel with all the white skin on it).After questioning the server the waitress appeared and stated they were out of the one we ordered and therefore brought us another beer "its an IPA too". It would have been more appropriate to ask us first IMHO.But Ok we didn't make a big deal out of that and just had what they brought us. Next, our food arrived. I ordered a New York strip steak medium rare and substituted the twice baked potato and broccolini with macaroni and cheese and garlic mushrooms. He ordered a Tomahawk pork chop with mashed potatoes instead of the potato. By the way, there is an ""upcharge" of $5 per substituted item which was ok with us. His meal was good including the pork chop. My "medium rare "steak was instead well done and completely dried out. Instead of Mac and cheese I received mashed potatoes. Again called waitress who stated that she repeated my order to me and I confirmed it. I suppose she had me confused with my husband. Thankfully she agreed to have mac and cheese brought out and told me that I can keep the mashed potatoes too - how kind but no thank you. What saved the day was that the garlic mushrooms were delicious as was the mac and cheese. We didn't bother saying anything about the drink quality or the overall experience as this was already a near complete failure at this point. Additionally, my husband's eyes were extremely irritated by the massive amount of smoke from the kitchen. Every piece of clothing including coats and jacket had to go into the washer that night due to the fire pit like odor embedded in them. Now I know why this was the only restaurant that had tables open that Saturday.... Needless to say, we...