Saltcellar — Restaurant in Columbus

Whenever we are in town we tend to go to Salt Cellar. We have been disappointed the last few times because they change the menu quarterly and don’t really retain any of the good items (like the stuffed trout from 2023). This time we got sushi for an appetizer. The rice in the sushi was hard. My husband and I both ate 2 pieces each, and the 2nd piece was to confirm that we were truly tasting hard rice. We asked the server who dropped off our entree to let our server or manager know about the issue with the sushi, but we wanted the plate removed from the table because with our entree plates it was tight. Her response was “well if I take it then I’m just going to through it away” which was an unacceptable response to our issue. Our server luckily came over at that time. She told her manager and she reported back that the manager said she wasn’t taking anything off the bill because we ate some of the sushi. At this point, they disposed of the remaining sushi, never brought a replacement, but expected us to pay full price for a couple of piece of sushi with hard rice. We asked that the manager come speak to us. The manager came over with an annoyed disposition. My husband explained that the rice was hard in the sushi. She said “I eat our rice all the time and I had some earlier and it wasn’t hard, but I don’t doubt that a couple of grains might have been hard.” I’ve NEVER had sushi where the rice is hard. No where in America and definitely not in Japan. It’s not acceptable even for rice to be hard in any other dish. It was the undercooked type of hard not the overcooked bottom of the pot type of hard. I told her that her response was unacceptable and she said she would take a percentage off. I told her that was still unacceptable because you’re still charging us for a portion of the sushi which was hard and you throw out the rest of it without remedying the issue. She then asked, with an attitude, while rolling her eyes, “what do you want me to do?” Reluctantly she took the sushi off the bill. The rest of the meal was ok. We had the short rib, but it was a little dry. We asked for a little more of the jus and got charged $6.50 for a 0.25 ounce container of the jus. How convenient that works out to be 50% of the cost of the sushi. The manager is the literally the worst manager I’ve ever encountered as a restaurant diner. At this point I’m no longer interested in visiting Salt Cellar again. And we won’t be recommending it to our Airbnb guests who visit our multiple properties in Columbus...

3 year later review: Much better experience! We planned on going to Salt Cellars sister restaurant but they didn't have any openings for 3 hours so we decided to get Salt Cellar another go. We sat at the bar and had a great experience. Our bartender was so friendly (I completely forgot her name oops) and all the courses were delicious this time around. We had drinks, the peppermint martini (daily special) that my mom loved and i had the Pirate something and it was good (although I didn't finish it because it didn't fit the vibe of my food, that's my fault). I also got the bartender to water it down with more cider which made it even better.

We had the sampler appetizer and it was delicious. The shrimp were cooked so perfectly and the crab cakes had such an amazing smell and taste.

I had the scallop risotto and the portion was fairly large. The scallops were cooked perfectly and there were small ones in the risotto as well. I felt I received my money's worth for it, and it was delicious.

Mom had the seafood platter again and enjoyed it all. Son has the seafood pasta and ate as much as he could (it too was a pretty large portion!). We had our mandatory 3 desserts, banana pudding cheesecake, German chocolate cake, and the icebox cake. They were all great but the German chocolate and banana pudding cheesecake shined the brightest. The ice box is perfect for someone who wants a dessert that isn't extremely sweet but still very much a cake.

10/10 will try again

Old review: Took my mom for her birthday. It was overall a good experience. The waitress was attentive but not overbearing, the restaurant was nice and clean. The appetizers and drinks were the stars of the meal. We had the grilled halloumi and the tuna tartar special. The entrees were the letdown of the evening. The ribeye I ordered was way overcooked, the brussel sprouts were not roasted nearly as long as they needed to be, and the mashed potatoes looked rubbery and unappetizing. However, the scottish salmon and seafood platter were great. Now as for the desserts, the coconut cake was phenomenal, and the cereal cheesecake and banana cheesecake were delicious as well. Other than the entree blunder, I overall recommend this place. Next time I come it will be more of a sit at the bar and have drinks...

This was our first time dining at Saltcellar, and we were terribly disappointed. It was my birthday, and I’ve wanted to eat here for a while and was excited to finally try it.

We were seated right away, as we had a reservation. Tyler was our waiter and almost immediately greeted us.

My husband and I ordered drinks and two appetizers, which were great.

I ordered the 8oz filet, medium rare with a side of mashed potatoes and spinach. My husband ordered the Ribeye with mashed potatoes with a side salad. Tyler asked my husband if he wanted his salad before his meal, and he said yes.

Our food came out, I cut my steak in half, and the inside wasn’t cooked at all. Tyler walked over and I said, “so, my steak, it’s a bit more rare than I prefer.” To which he agreed in a shocking tone and said, “that’s like a blue raw, I’ll take care of this.”

I told my husband to eat because I didn’t want his food getting cold while waiting on mine.

Tyler came back with my plate, which had the same steak, recooked. It almost shocked me because I didn’t think food could be placed back on a grill once it hits the table, due to safety and sanitary health reasons, but maybe things have changed.

At that point, I asked Tyler if my husband could get his salad, because it was never brought out before the meal as requested.

I cut a bite of my steak and it tasted charred on the outside - almost like the cook put it on the hottest part of the grill to quickly cook the inside. The juice from the charred steak ran into my mashed potatoes, giving them a charred taste, too. Also, because the steak had a charred taste, it took from the flavor of the steak.

Having been served a raw steak is one thing, but having the outside over cooked like that to rush to cook the inside, is just terrible.

Needless to say, I barely ate my dinner. And we paid an upcharge of $2.50 for a salad my husband was too stuffed to eat by the time it came out.

I don’t mind spending good money on good food - but last night was a bad experience and definitely wasn’t worth $158!

I will say, Tyler was a wonderful server, he had e great personality and continued to check on us. But that’s about the only positive...