Saluda's Restaurant — Restaurant in Columbia

Disappointed with Reservation Policy: Caution to customers that book on-line.

Upon making a reservation at Saluda's, unforeseen circumstances arose, and I needed to cancel my reservation. I attempted to contact the restaurant by phone to cancel but no one answered.

To my dismay, I was later shocked to discover that I had been charged a hefty $150 fee for missing my reservation. This policy seems not only excessive but also unfair, particularly given my attempt to cancel in advance. The owner's response was that they have a notification of the website informing customers of the missed reservation charge; however, its hard to see everything on a cell phone when making the reservation and I would never imagine a business scanning customers this way.

While I understand the importance of honoring reservations and the impact of no-shows on restaurants, the lack of responsiveness from Saluda's staff when I attempted to cancel is inexcusable.

Additionally, they are probably doing this multiple times a night and netting more profit by cancelled reservations than they would have made if the customer actually ate there and I'm sure they filled the seats a few minutes after the reservation time anyway.

A simple acknowledgment of my cancellation attempt or even a voicemail option to leave a message would have sufficed. It's disappointing when a restaurant prioritizes profit over customer satisfaction, especially in situations where communication breakdowns occur.

In conclusion, if you plan to dine at Saluda's, be wary of their reservation policy and ensure you have a fail-safe method of cancellation. Otherwise, you might find yourself facing an unjustified charge for circumstances beyond your control.

PS: this is the 1st time I have ever left a bad review on...

This was overall a huge disappointment. I had not been here in probably 15 years. Many friends recommended Saludas for a nice date night dinner. My wife and I came on the 13th to celebrate Vday early. Wife got she crab soup, it was very good. I got a salad that was decent enough. The main course is where things go south. Wife got scallops. They were cooked perfectly and very good, however the rice and peas that came with the scallops were cold and had no flavor. Rice was watery and nothing was seasoned. She ate her 4-5 scallops and didn't hardly touch the sides. I got the sweat tea brined pork chop. The pork chop itself was very average. A little dry and not a lot of flavor. The sides were absolutely horrible. Ive had better mac and cheese out of a box. It actually kind of tasted and looked like box mac and cheese. The butter beans had little to no flavor. Very bland and I love butter beans. Both sides were cold and lacked seasoning. We were both shocked at how bad our sides were. We didn't complain, or send it back. We rarely do that type of thing. Our server was absolutely amazing! He was very attentive, knowledgeable, and professional. Maybe one of the best servers I've had in a while. We had dessert drinks, a desert old fashion and a chocolate martini. Both were delicious. Overall I was very disappointed in our main courses. Especially the sides. I dont mind paying premium prices, but I do expect to be wowed when I do. It's hard to find high quality fine dinning in this town. We typically go the Charlotte for that type of thing. I was hoping Saludas would change that. It came highly recommend by a few friends. Maybe I just caught them...

This was our 1st time dining at Saluda's. I read a lot of good reviews and decided to try it. I should have read the negative reviews too though. I ordered the cheese board appetizer and although everything on the board was good the bread was burnt. Our water glasses all smelled like fish or a wet dog. My husband and son ordered a shrimp cocktail and both said it did not taste good and didn't finish it. My husband's beer even had a tart taste and did not look (it was dark) or taske like a Coors Lite at all. I ordered a filet mignon and requested for it to be medium rare but received it quite rare. I did mention it to our waitress and she offered to take it back but I really don't like (and shouldn't have to at a fine dining restaurant in the 1st place) returning food, declined and tried to eat it but could not finish because it was just too raw. My son also could not finish his scallops and said it just wasn't good but tried to eat what he could. My husband did speak with the manager just to let him know how poor of quality the food and cleanliness of the water glasses was but the manager really wasn't that concerned and got a little condensending. We were not looking for or asked for any discounts. We just wanted him to be aware of what was being served. We fine dine frequently and are still fairly new residents of this area but I don't think we will dine at Saluda's again. If it was just 1 mishap that would be one thing but it seemed it was our whole meal that really was not worth it. The atmosphere was nice, our waitress was nice but the food was not good at all. I'm reading a lot of similar complaints that I wish I would have...