Salty Lobster & Co — Restaurant in Roanoke

Overpriced, slow service, lacks flavor, questionable business practices, rude and snarky behavior towards customers.

Tried this place for the first time at Salem Fair around 1pm, as a result of a referral from Empanada Nirvana's social media. Prices were not displayed that day, not sure why. Was pressured to buy a combo, even after being told no twice. An unhappy crowd quickly formed as a result of a poor setup, slow kitchen service, and confusion on price, with about 10 people waiting for food for 20+ minutes in the baking sun on hot asphalt, with another 10 standing in line for 10-15 minutes. Everyone waiting was grumbling and griping.

Lobster size was small, lacked flavor. Likely a Market Cull, it was basically unseasoned tiny lobster meat on a low quality slice of buttered split-top texas toast. No sauce, no seasoning, just plain lobster. Boring 😴

Additionally, I encourage anyone who ordered from them outside of the City of Roanoke to check their receipts and pay attention to the taxed rate. Seems the owners are scraping each transaction by using a larger tax percentage, and pocketing the profit. How can Empanada Nirvana, who also was at the fair, charge the regular tax of 5.3% on their $22 five empanada special, but Salty's charges a 10.8% tax for a $22.99 lobster roll? 🤔

When asked about their taxed rates, they blamed City of Roanoke for a meal tax, yet we were in Salem, and no other vendor charged us a 10.8% tax, so that doesn't make sense. They then chose to double down and mock constructive feedback provided to them through the Square app about their poor operating practices and how to improve their service & speed. Way to treat customers who pay your bills!

The VA Department of Taxation will be interested in our report in regards to...

I waited to post this review because I was on the fence. I purchased two lobster rolls, one with chips and the other with fries and calamari with chips. It was pretty pricey but we thought why not. We don't eat out often.

1. the place is hard to find. Maybe some outdoor sinage will help since this seems to be an issue that I am seeing in the reviews.

2. I scheduled my order for 7:15, arrived at 7:16 but my order was ready by 7:09. Most people wouldn't complain about their food being made early but when you pay as much as I did, you expect for your food to be hot. Not sure how to remedy this issue. Maybe keep fries and anything that's supposed to be served hot on a hotplate until the person arrives. By the time we got home (I live 5 mins from downtown) the food was cold.

3. Both our rolls appeared much smaller than we expected but the heaping mound of lobster made up for it. The homemade chips were really good.

4. My boyfriend's roll was fine but mine was soggy.

5)The calamari which we got as an appetizer was barely touched because it was cold and overcooked.

6. Overall, I enjoyed the lobster roll but I was not happy that it our sides were cold by the time I arrived and my roll was soggy. We are willing to give this place another try but we will more than likely order when we get there and eat in the building since there is plenty of seating (IMO, seating should be advertised since many of the people who are dissatisfied with their food seem to be using delivery service or picking it up...

For the longest time now we’ve been trying to find a seafood restaurant with fresh seafood. We doordash and never knew this restaurant was here. We decided to try it hoping the seafood didn’t taste nasty and rubbery or smell extremely fishy. We ordered the crab boil with 1/lb of shrimp with the spicy garlic wow sauce and it was FANTASTIC!!! The seafood was fresh and had a nice sweet taste as fresh quality seafood should. We’ve traveled to several beaches and haven’t had seafood this fresh and tasty even there. There was potatoes, corn cobs, and sausage in the dish as well. Everything was cooked just right and you could taste the seasoning throughout everything. The sauce was FANTASTIC as well it was the perfect amount of spice with a sweet taste too. The presentation of the food was great too it came in a bag that kept the food warm and kept everything from spilling out and making a mess. This bag came in a big foil pan which just wrapped around the pan. As soon as you opened the bag the aroma of the food just hits you in the face and makes your mouth water. It was a little pricey but trust me when I say you are paying for what you get!! We have a new favorite restaurant here in Roanoke! We definitely will be...