The Black Salt — Restaurant in Hamtramck

tldr- lots of hype, but the experience isn't worth the trouble of dealing with the staff.

After checking the website thoroughly, I was excited to try this place. I was immediately put off by the door person, who ignored my party after multiple attempts to speak with them. At one point another person waiting said they thought they'd been told minimum 20 minute wait but no one bothered to take names or make a list of the multiple parties waiting. Which, again, we tried to confirm multiple times but were ignored. It was like the door person was too overwhelmed to bother even communicating with people who were waiting. At one point they snapped, "it's not a space issue, it's a time issue" while walking away. The wait at the bar for drinks/spells was extremely long, but that's not a problem for a curated experience. The pay off was less than expected, though, as the drinks were underwhelming and I honestly struggled to finish mine. Others in my group agreed. In terms of atmosphere, it was visually cute but unremarkable. By that I mean it was on trend with moody/dark/witchy/academia feels, but it felt like sort of a bland version. There were many empty seats, and normally I like that kind of vibe, but maybe that contributed to my first impression, maybe it feels less blah when there's more life and joy to fill it. if you're looking for a bar experience this isn't it. It's more like quiet coffee shop but substituting drinks for coffee. If this had been my corner dive bar, I wouldn't think there was anything wrong (aside from the extremely off putting door person). But, with the amount of hype this place gets and the way it presents itself on socials and on its website, I expected more. It's not worth the inconvenience or the stress of dealing with staff or the risk of unintentionally breaking a house rule, which rest assured are not a joke and are very much real. I'm not at all interested in going back.

Edit since I can't reply: ignoring people with no explanation, followed by an abrupt "it's not a space issue, it's a time issue" is not effective communication.

As for house rules, I meant the limit on how many people are allowed to gather at a time. It was not posted anywhere, but you explicitly told us that in the future, you're not able to accommodate groups of 6 or larger unless we booked a private event. I looked again at your website after to make sure I hadn't missed anything, and there was nothing at all about limits to group sizes and mandatory private event booking. When I saw the private event booking online, I thought (as is usually the case) that meant renting out the whole place for the evening. As the plan was limited to "after dinner drink," it didn't seem necessary. Especially because for every other bar I've ever been to, seating is not as strictly planned and enforced as a restaurant would be.

I did not stay for over two hours. I did not order two drinks. My husband order one drink for each of us, and I stayed for an hour and a half. Which was exactly how long it took for us to finish our drinks, decide on a new plan, and clean up after ourselves... including putting all of the seating we had occupied exactly the way we found it, and gathering any glasses and setting them together on a table for easy bussing.

I empathize with your hectic Saturday, and with the difficulty of being short staffed. That being said, literally any communication at all other than "it's not space, it's time" is would have alleviated most if not all of my complaints. Your free to peruse my review history, you can see this is a rarity for me. The only other negative review I've ever left was for a service that ended up destroying my home and leaving it unlivable for months. I don't leave negative reviews for fun. I just don't see how you can hope to be successful long term without at least retraining your door person, and lightening up a little. Every member of my group had a negative interaction with them.

Asking me what kind of paganism I practice is extremely gatekeepery and exclusionary. You...

When I say there is magic to this place, it is not an understatement. The Black Salt is everything I would ever want from a bar and I wish I lived closer so I could just pop over daily after work. The atmosphere is perfect, everything about it feels like you are transported into another world. The menu is amazing with a mix of the classic and wonderfully crafted originals. The touch of the rituals are something that’s another level that’s truly special and something you can’t find anywhere else. The best part about their menu? Almost every drink has a non-alcohol version. It creates an environment of inclusivity where I can bring people who drink and or drink. It’s truly a special place that you have to visit multiple times because you’ll always miss a special detail, making each visit unique. I can’t wait to see what they do next, as it has grown into such a wonderful little spot. The owner is truly one of the nicest people I have met and deserves everyone’s patronage. Best part, there’s a parking lot across the street so you don’t have to worry about parking in the street. And don’t forget quarters to check out their little spell gum-ball machine!

EDIT: Wanted to do a follow up because I still LOVE this place so much and they just keep on hitting it out of the park every time we go. I wish I could review this place more than once, but I just encourage others to go and experience the magic. Some highlights

Black Cat Party - They have parties on Friday the 13th that have special drinks, music, and just great vibes!

October festivities - We went to their Wednesday night movie night and it was SO much fun. Being able to watch a movie with strangers made me finally see the appeal people have of watching sports at bars, that shared joy and experience of watching something you all love together. I’m looking forward to future movie nights and hope they do it outside of October as well!

Thank you Black Salt for being such a perfect place...

I had visited this establishment numerous times and I must say, was tickled pink upon seeing the many non-alcoholic beverages. As someone who has never had an alcoholic beverage in their lifetime(almost 39 and no, I am not Mormon), it was AWESOME.

Why one star? My forever woman and her Aunt, whom came in from England and was excited for the ambiance of Black Salt, each ordered a non-alcoholic beverage. Upon receipt of said drink, the two recovering alcoholics took one sip of their ALCOHOLIC drink.

The bartender said it was loud in the facility and another(unknown role/ ownership of person) disclosed that they should always triple check that the drink is non-alcoholic when brought to them. Apologetic however placing blame on my lady(for not triple checking) and offered a free drink replacement. They however, did have to pay for their drink number two.

Synopsis: Recovering alcoholics order non-alcoholic beverages to maintain sobriety and were not carded(based on drink ordered being non-acoholic). Bartender makes drink and drink has alcohol. Recovering alcoholics now sip alcohol. Black Salt offers a free drink replacement and customers have to pay for drink number two. Woowww. Do better.

Selfishly I will admit that I am glad I opted out of the festivities tonight as I am uncertain how I would have handled being served an alcoholic drink and ingesting a sip; my worst nightmare, second to a burglar walking up the stairs.

I had been recommending Black Salt to most, especially those that do not drink, however will now advise against after this...