SALT Waterfront Kitchen — Restaurant in Maryland

Let me start off by saying, I am a AFRICAN AMERICAN 30 y/o WOMAN. This was my very first time actually receiving the opportunity to experience this place. A close relative delivers their mail and I’ve actually delivered their mail before as well. However, I never took the time out to actually experience this place. Although I made time to visit this beautiful establishment ALONE on 05/08/2025. I wore a colorful, modest sundress with some cute sandals. I made reservations in advance for 6:15pm and arrived on time to be serviced. When I arrived, I noticed the parking lot was pretty full. Nevertheless, I found a parking space and proceeded to walk towards the entrance of the restaurant. During my short walk, I noticed how beautiful the scenery was. The waterfront view, the boats and yachts lined up, the docks and freshly cut green grass. It felt like I was in someone’s beautiful back yard. When i entered the restaurant, I instantly felt like i entered someone’s home. You can tell that this establishment is family owned and built by individuals who cherish their legacy and traditions. I honored and valued that from the start. I approached the front desk stand and gave the young lady my name and time of my reservation. She then gathered a menu and utensils and politely guided me to my table. The table she chose was a bar seating style table, but it WAS NOT at the bar. Which was perfectly fine because I came alone. After being seated, I began to really notice how beautiful the interior of the entire restaurant is. It literally looks like the inside of someone’s home, but very well designed for a home style dining experience. Next, I looked over the menus and couldn’t decide what to order. Everything described, excited my tastebuds; but I ended up choosing the sweet and spicy shrimp as my appetizer. My waitress (I forgot her name; sorry) was very attentive and consistent with making sure I was taken care of. She asked me what drink I wanted and what I was interested in starting off with. I ordered water, a house margarita, and the sweet and spicy shrimp. I received my entire order within less than 15 minutes. Everything was perfect! The shrimp wasn’t too sweet and wasn’t too spicy. Very evenly cooked. I believe I was served about 6-8 large shrimp. After finishing up my shrimp, I then ordered the NY Strip Steak, mashed potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. The waitress removed my dirty kitchenware and placed in my next order. Although my next order took about 30 minutes, the owner and a bartender came to check on me throughout my waiting time and asked me if I needed anything. I decided to order the strawberry mint drink. It was absolutely amazing! The owner was so sweet and had a great sense of humor too. Other staff members walked by smiling and one young lady complimented my dress. I had no problem with waiting patiently for my order. Once i received my order, everything looked wonderful! The presentation was great! I began eating some of my food and quickly became full from the delicious and fulfilling appetizer. Which was no problem at all because I was determined to save my food and finish eating it later because it was perfect! The steak was cooked perfectly (medium rare like i requested), the mashed potatoes were creamy and tasty, and the Brussel sprouts were perfectly cooked! I wasn’t letting it go to waste! I personally love fat on my steak! So the cut they gave me, was absolutely perfect! Afterwards, I packaged up my food and paid for everything. I believe my experience was worth every penny! Everything was reasonably priced. Afterwards, I went to the bathroom and the bathroom was very clean! They had FREE lady products available for use. A very considerate gesture. I tipped both the bartender and my waitress well. All in all, I had a wonderful experience and stayed till about 9pm. I did order two more of the strawberry mint mixed drink....

If I could give this place negative stars, I would. Zero would be too generous.

We tried this place because several misguided souls on Facebook dared to compare it to Lighthouse in Solomons. We love Lighthouse. This was not even close. It was like expecting a vacation in the Maldives and arriving at a dumpster fire behind a gas station.

We drove 40 minutes based on the lies—er, menu—on their website. Upon arrival, we were immediately greeted by a cloud of flies and the stench of regret. They offered our 1-year-old a high chair so crusted in filth, it should’ve come with a hazmat warning. But hey, we were here. Might as well see if things could somehow get worse. Spoiler alert: they did.

Service? If watching paint dry is too fast-paced for you, you’ll love it here. • 10 minutes to get drinks. • 10 more to even order apps. • 15 more to place our order. I’ve had Amazon packages delivered from overseas faster.

The menu? Total catfish. What’s online is a fantasy novel. What they hand you is some kind of minimalist tragedy. All the items we came for? Not even on it. When we asked, they casually admitted the website is “out of date.” Fantastic.

They dropped off three open cups of water—one allegedly for our toddler, who was in a high chair one sneeze away from a CDC visit. Apparently, basic safety and hygiene are optional here.

Despite the 4.5 stars I assume were paid for or hallucinated, the place wasn’t even busy. For a waterfront restaurant on a Saturday night in summer, that’s the red flag of all red flags.

My husband tried to order the grouper sandwich until a nearby table started loudly warning each other about how awful and over-breaded it was. So he pivoted to the brisket flatbread. Plot twist: they were out of brisket. The waitress “forgot” to tell us. Classic.

He waited 30 minutes for a beer refill that never came. We eventually begged for the bill just to escape.

The food? Trash with a garnish. • Buttered noodles for our baby = overpriced bowtie pasta floating in dishwater. • Mahi tacos = dry, overcooked fish in prehistoric tortillas. • Southern fried chicken sandwich = edible but clearly held hostage while everything else got cold. • Hush puppies = they were not bad. Would have been better with appetizer plates and if we hadn’t waited so long for them.

In summary: if you hate yourself, enjoy disappointment, and want to pay good money for a soul-crushing experience, this place is perfect. Otherwise, keep driving. Lighthouse isn’t just better—it’s in an entirely different universe of quality.

Never...

Me nor my family enjoyed this outing at all. The atmosphere was just okay, but not really welcoming. It was funny when our waiter brought our drinks, he didn't bring us straws and when I asked him for straws, he looked surprised 😯. It was also amusing when one of the assistant waiters came over and put his fingers on my cup and ask was I done with that??!! I still had some soda in the cup young man! Now, let's get to the food, so online it states in the menu that they had Chicken Wings on the "Starters" list, ummm no Chicken Wings. They had only 4 Starters items, so we got the Ranch Fries (French Fries sprinkled with Ranch Seasoning) and we got Crab Dip with soft Pretzels ( that was okay). Moving on to the main course, my Wife wanted the Sirloin Steak and a salad and vegetable, but here's the kicker....the Waiter said my Wife could not have the Sirloin, unless we brought the 5 course meal??? What? So we just went on and got it, however, the choices were minimum (Salad, 3 oysters that she hates, Drink, Coffee type muosse). She just ate the Steak and said it was just okay, but it seemed reheated with a black pepper gravy on top. I got the Mushroom Pasta and some of the noodles were hard and some stuck together. Portion size was small as well. My son got the Brisket Sandwich and he said it was pretty good, but my daughter on the other hand got the Flatbread Pizza and she said it reminded her of one of those Frozen Supermarket Pizzas. My other son (who's home on vacation from the Air Force) got the Smash burger and he just ate 1/2 of it. He gave no comment, and I didn't ask. I can see on his face he didn't enjoy it. He did however ask the waiter do they give a Military discount and they do not. No worries on that part because a lot of Restaurants don't, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Anyway, not the best experience for my family and we probably will not be coming back. My recommendation to this Restaurant is to concentrate on the cuisine and be a little more open/flexible to your menu items. Also, update your online menu and take off items you...