Salt Tacos ỹ Tequila - Norterra — Restaurant in Phoenix

I was very excited to try this location as we have limited choices in this area. 5 stars on the chicken adobe, but really low on everything else. Oh and the decor, building, lights, DJ all 5 stars too (plus location).

I read the Yelp reviews before going and they were spot on with my experience. A few things I kept in mind is that there was a few employees that got burned 6 days before I came and it is a brand new restaurant in this area during a time it’s not easy to hire workers. I also could tell there was a lack of experience of the staff so overall I think there’s just growing pains in a weird economy. It definitely had the feeling of a cool bar for 20-30 somethings to have fun at. There’s a huge bar abs on Sat night there was a DJ. It was only like 7pm when I was there and the DJ was cranking up the music. I couldn’t hear my husband talk.

We noted that it was overpriced for tacos and salads so we got the queso app and 2 main dishes. The queso had no flavor at all so we added hot sauce. We did not order guacamole because of other reviews but it was on my husbands plate with his meal so we tried it. We did not care for it either.

I loved my chicken adobe dish and it’s 2 breasts with plenty to share. It was really very good. The black beans and rice had no taste at all. There were no tortillas for our main dishes. We would’ve asked for some, but the waitress never came back.

At the end of the meal we were sharing a water because our drinks weren’t re-filled and when she walked by I gave her my card so we could leave (without being brought the check).

We did wait about 20 minutes to be seated which was near the bar on a high top. It was a nice area to wait outside abs I think outside seating would be best unless you want to hang at the bar. If you want to drink, I’d insist on sitting at the bar due to slow wait staff.

The waitress took another 10 min to ask for a drink order (so I ordered my app to get food). My husband was asked to see his ID, which was comical since he’s almost 50 and has grey hair.

It took another 10 min to get my Sierra Mist and never were offered chip or salsa. You know you can’t ask either because the waitress is too busy. We got our app like 15 min after ordering it. My husband then asked if she could get his drink sitting at the bar waiting on her. He got a water too when she got his drink and we ordered our meal when she dropped off his drinks.

The meals came out fast and were great.

Suggestions because this area needs a go to place that’s great: Adding tortillas to main meals - could even charge for it, but give the option because my husband ordered the carnitas and it just felt like that was a miss for his meal. need to train employees to get drinks and orders and check on guests so they can order more. Seems like a win/win if so. add spice or more spice to beans, rice, queso get better guacamole tacos - at those prices let people mix abs match plus give them...

Oh, the irony of it all—a place called Salt that leaves you with a distinctly unsavory experience. If there’s one thing this restaurant serves consistently, it’s the bitter taste of unmet expectations. From the moment you sit down, you’ll find yourself wishing they’d sprinkle a little more “seasoning” into their service—because honestly, the service here is the true tragedy. Waiting for drinks and food at Salt feels like an endurance challenge. A margarita shouldn’t take longer to arrive than it takes to age a fine tequila, and yet, here we are. And when the food finally graces your table, it’s a game of culinary roulette. One moment, you’re served a taco that sings to your soul; the next, you’re met with a plate so uninspired it feels like it came from a microwaved purgatory, making you wonder if they’ve run out of the very ingredient they named the restaurant after. Inconsistency, it seems, is their most consistent offering. But the pièce de résistance, the true salt in the wound, is the ambiance. The music is deafening, and the DJ booth is downright laughable. Who, I beg you, thought a DJ booth blaring nightclub beats was the way to win over an audience of middle-aged moms and dads just looking for a decent taco and a break from their kids? The music is loud enough to shake the salsa off your chips, making polite conversation—or even ordering another round—impossible. Instead of a warm, inviting space, you’re thrust into a chaotic din that feels like an identity crisis with nachos on the side. This place could have been a gem. The community was ready for it. We wanted to love it! But instead, Salt has managed to take all the excitement and goodwill of a new neighborhood Mexican restaurant and grind it into a fine powder of frustration. Unless they turn down the music, turn up the quality, and figure out how to bring even a pinch of their namesake into their operations, Salt is destined to remain what it is now: a tragically missed opportunity wrapped in too-loud beats and...

Had a 6:15 reservation, the hostess informed us that she had "saved" us a table which was right at the front of thHade restaurant, right inside the front door, right next to the hostess stand, right next to the corner of the bar.  Needless to say we would have sat there and had endless traffic around us the entire evening.  So much for making a reservation and her trying to sell us on the fact that she had saved us that table.  For the record, the table remained unoccupied the entire time we were there which was well over an hour.

Had to sit outside, there were no available tables inside. Watched a couple get seated across from us a short time later and they had to have someone come over and wipe down the backs of their chairs as they had food on them.

We ordered drinks and requested a lime for a Pacifico and an orange for a Blue Moon.  Drinks arrived without either garnishment.  The male who worked behind the bar with a dark beard delivered our drinks and we kindly asked him to bring us the garnishes.  He went behind the bar and proceeded to work and never returned to our table. My husband got up walked to the bar and got them himself.  The bearded man made it quite clear he had no intent to return to our table.

At this point the restaurant is zero for two for us.

I had the three cheese enchiladas, added chicken which ran the price to well over $20.  Came with a side or should I say a few spoonfuls of rice and refried beans.  The taste of the entire dish was lackluster at best, definitely not a $20 plus dollar meal.

On a positive note, there was a young man with an afro who was clearly running meals and cleaning the tables who was working harder than anyone in the restaurant.  Kudos to him.

This was our third time at Salt and I have to say each time our experience was not good and we've tried coming back over the years to give this place a chance, it's close to home.  After this last experience, we've decided...