Salty Dog Saloon — Restaurant in Gainesville

As a young professional living and working in Gainesville I have been to Salty Dog many times. But after my most recent experience I will no longer support the establishment. Three of my friends from out of town and I arrived to the back entrance of Salty around 10:30pm on 11/21 and after paying the cover charge were rudely informed that it was a "one out one in" night and we would have to wait. I asked to look inside at the bar only to find it half empty but the individual working the door insisted we were not allowed in. Another Salty Dog staff member came out to smoke, instead of stepping away from the 4 of us waiting to go into the bar he smoked directly next to the door. Now as we have waited patiently over five minutes we have unwanted smoke blowing our way and the doorman begins joking with the other staff member about making us pay a cover and wait as well as using other derogatory adjectives to describe the four of us. Meanwhile I am texting our other friends who just walked right through the front entrance with no wait or issue. The girls and I decide to walk around the block and to the front entrance where there was no wait and no one counting entering and exiting patrons. I informed the individual working the front entrance of our back entrance experience, he offered no apology or concern for our...

Very rude and condescending bartender. Possibly the owner. You will notice some negative reviews from minorities who felt discriminated against. It did indeed feel targeted as the bartender (the only one there) was extremely disrespectful to both myself and my partner, but much nicer to the other customers that were not minorities. We noticed he was also nicer to women who were alone or without a boyfriend until they'd arrive with their boyfriend. It's a greek-life focused bar with benefits and discounts for the main frats and sororities, so it is not for the average Gainesville resident, not for women with boyfriends, and not for minorities. It was a nice atmosphere, which is a shame because our experience was so poor that my partner was uncomfortable staying there for longer.

Would not go again, and do not recommend. For a future tip, there is no table service either for...

I've been hearing great things about this place from a few friends that frequent here especially about the food. Very fun atmosphere, good music. I didn't have any drinks but they seemed to have a good selection. Unfortunately, the food was rather disappointing especially since it was the whole reason I decided to come when I made it to town. Ordered the garlic knots & curly fries, can't remember what my friends ordered. The fries were the best part, sour cream would have been the icing on the cake. The garlic knots on the other hand were very dry & hard my mouth got tired from chewing. Due to how late it was (close to midnight) I'll chop it up to they probably thought everyone would have enough liquor in their system to be satisfied just to have food in their stomachs. I'll try this place during the day for lunch & see if the food is better...