Salinas Restaurant — Restaurant in New York

For a friend's birthday, Salinas was chosen as our tapas spot in NYC from several options I'd gathered. My first frustration began with their reservation system for parties of five or more. It's annoying to fill out a PDF with credit card info, billing details, and signatures, when a standard reservation platform with a linked credit card would be so much simpler. Moreover, they don't allow outside birthday cakes due to health concerns, which is common. However, they offered a $60 chocolate cake from their kitchen but wouldn't provide a lettering service nor extend our 1.5-hour time limit even if we ordered it. It almost felt like they actively discouraged ordering a cake. The email exchanges leading up to our visit also had a noticeable attitude, which left a bad taste from the get-go.

Upon arrival, the host informed us that all party members had to be present before we could be seated. I still don't fully understand this policy, especially since we were ready to order immediately, but I acknowledge it's common in many NYC restaurants. Despite this policy, the host herself was friendly and great. Once everyone arrived, we were promptly led to our tables.

The hallway leading to our area was dim and narrow, seeming ideal for dates. We were led to a backyard seating area, and entering it was a completely different experience. Teal velvet furniture juxtaposed against deep-colored walls with plant patterns, alongside lighter wood, abundant plants, and a windowed ceiling that brought in plenty of sun, created a lively and vibrant atmosphere. The cleverly placed mirrors on the walls made the environment feel much larger than its actual size.

We ordered many dishes. The Berenjena was deliciously nutty, the Croquetas were buttery and crispy, and the Rossejat Rápida was interestingly good and earthy. The Arroz Vasco and Bravas Marinas were definitely our favorites. On the other hand, the Crudo was a bit too tart for my liking (though many in my group enjoyed it), the Morcilla de la Huerta was just 'meh,' and the Pan Tumaca was not good at all; the bottom of the bread was burnt, leaving only a bitter aftertaste. We also never received the Pulpo we ordered, which was a letdown, though we were quite full by that point.

The servers were all nice and kind, which was a pleasant surprise given the prior email interactions. Because of the host and the servers, I’m adding a star on the service section.

The bathroom was clean, and I appreciated its dim lighting, as it meant you didn't see unnecessary details.

While the food was okay and the atmosphere was great, I will probably not return. There are likely other tapas restaurants that would have more accommodating policies, smoother reservation systems, and employees that don’t give...

Went to dinner at Salinas last week. Loved the vibe and the food, was initially fine with the $200 per person price tag because we were enjoying dinner, but when we were practically kicked out before even finishing our meal, I was appalled and shocked. I’ll never go back. Here’s what happened. We had an 8:30pm reservation for 3 of us. The restaurant closes at 10:30pm. Should have been plenty of time but that turned out to be wrong. We were seated around 8:45. It was our first time at the restaurant. We selected several tapas to share and figured we could always order more if we were still hungry. The server informed us that last call for food was at 9pm, a little early for a restaurant that closes at 10:30, but ok. So we ordered a few more without having received our first order yet. The food started to come out. It was creative and delicious. Then at 9:30pm the server told us that it was last call for dessert and drinks. Really?? We hadn’t yet received all of our dinner food but went ahead and ordered two desserts and another bottle of wine. Food and dessert continued to be dropped at our table until 10. At 10:15pm the restaurant turned off the music and turned up the lights. Then they started trying to clear plates of food from our table before we were finished with them. At 10:22 they turned the lights all the way on, dropped our check at the table and started vacuuming around the restaurant. We still were finishing up dessert and had half a bottle of wine left. We weren’t the only tables still eating. We hadn’t been lingering. We were eating and drinking at the pace we were served, and until 10:15 had been having a truly lovely experience. But who turns off the music, turns on the lights, and starts vacuuming if your customers are still eating?! I’m shocked that any proprietor would treat their customers this way, especially a place that charges high end prices (our bill came to over $600 with tip). This is not how a quality establishment operates. They’ve lost my...

Excellent atmosphere and delicious food but service falls short for the price point. I’ve been to Salinas twice now and both times encountered problems with the wait staff.

The first time, our group of 4 lost our table since we were missing a member of our party and Salinas claims not to seat incomplete parties - this is understandable, but the problem was what happened after.

We were added to the waitlist around 7:30pm after waiting 45 minutes to no avail, we noticed an open reservation for Salinas at 9pm and booked it. At 9pm, when we showed up for the table, the hostess informed us that the table wasn’t actually available and she wouldn’t seat us. As we stood at the hostess desk having this conversation, the final member of an incomplete party arrived to join their friends who had already been seated… as you can imagine, this moment was quite awkward and only then did the hostess change her tone and offer us a table.

I went back a second time hoping that experience was a one-off. This time I brought my parents. The hostess was cold and short with us. We asked the servers to pace our meal and instead we got all of the dishes we ordered at the same time despite not having space on our table. My parents were still finishing their plates as the staff cleaned up the table around them.

While the food is good, service felt unprofessional and rushed. This is not the place to go to sit and enjoy a dinner experience.

If you’re going to eat here, I would recommend sitting at the bar for a quick meal and cocktail. The bar is very cute and aesthetic. The bosque cheesecake and eggplant tapas were fantastic.

This place has a lot of promise but the short blonde haired hostess needs to be kinder and service should be...