Ritter's Housemade Foods — Restaurant in Salem

Just went to Ritter's for the last time. It's expensive and I knew that but figured I also knew I could get something healthier there than most other places and that in general lunch might be cheaper. I got the bahn mi. almost said no mayo but figured maybe it won't be too much. I saw that underneath the menu options for sides that come with sandwiches were rosemary fries or sweet potato fries, it also said "add roasted shoshito peppers for $3". I thought "oh nice kick my fries up a notch" so I added that and asked "what's it go better with, the rosemary fries or sweet potato?" And the lady said "people I've seen get it usually go with the rosemary fries" so fine. I did that.

The food arrives and the peppers are served whole and roasted and in a side dish? Shocked, I even asked the food runner if I was expected to eat them like popcorn? and she looked at me and was like "yeah just don't eat the stem" like someone who has to deal with goblins for customers every single day. I simply had expected them to be chopped or incorporated someway into the fries. Which to me is like if they're not, why put them under the fries on the menu? Just throw them into the "sides" section of the menu if they're a separate option? It's not a common thing to get ala carte peppers with a meal, but this place has some how tried to normalize it. It didn't particularly strike me as something I would expect to come on its own. It's like if someone said "your meal comes with fries" I wouldn't expect them to also say "and you can get sauteed mint leaves in a dish on the side for 3 additional dollars". The hell? Am I the chef now? It's weird. Incorporate it or make it clear it's completely outta pocket.

Then I check out my bahn mi, and it's got literal gobs of mayo falling out the edges of the 6" French roll it's on. The veggies look fine but the pork belly is cut into cubes which unsurprisingly doesnt make for the best closure of the sandwich so naturally the shredded veggies just fall out. And that's about when I also noticed it had next to zero cilantro. Almost no cilantro. No basil. It's just a carrot and cucumber pork belly sandwich with bean sprouts. Terrible. I scraped as much of the mayo off sandwich that I could and then finished the meal. I figured I could save my peppers to add to my dinner at home or something.

I went to get up and get a water which is serve your self at a water station that's 15 to 20 ft away from where I was seated and before I could get back to my table I watched service staff clear my plates and two new people immediately sat at it. I just watched it happened because after I saw the guy take my food I didn't wanna run up with my drink like "no no no no! My peppers" there was no checking from service staff to see if I was done, or if I was at the water station, those stupid shoshito peppers still in the dish I had were just tossed without a second thought. They just threw out money spent for they're dumb haughty upsale. I felt like I got tricked and then slapped in the face.

I finished my water while standing at the station across from the bar and then found the guy I saw walk off with my dishes from my table. I handed him my water glass. I said "this is for you" and he looked surprised like "wha?" And didn't immediately take the glass. I said "or it's for somebody". And I just set it on the closest counter and left.

Cause, like, you just cleared my table and I can't exactly put it back on the one two ladies that just came in took over? No bussing station (which is surprising cause everything else feels like a cafeteria). Yeah never again. I left...

First time to Ritters, which was recommended to us. We arrived on a sunny day for lunch, and first impressions were great. Very cool design and the counter / bar service at lunchtime is a smart format.

We ordered a BLTA and the wood fired pizza special, a rustic Hawaiian with crispy pork belly. Despite our having been the first customers in the dining room for early lunch at 11:30, the food took a while to come out. The first issue was that the sweet potato fries with the BLTA were weirdly ice cold. We immediately asked for new ones, and while waiting I found that the pizza was undercooked to the point of being raw in the center (soggy, doughy, yuck). So strike two. They apologized and promised to try again.

As I returned to the table to wait, the "warm" (not hot) replacement sweet potato fries arrived, and my wife informed me that the BLTA (one of her favorite sandwiches) was essentially tasteless. Strike three.

I'm actually still waiting on the new pizza as I write this, but this place has not lived up to what I understand is "hype", despite initial impressions on arrival. As I'm writing this, the replacement pizza arrived. This time cooked longer, but not nearly up to wood fired pizza expectations. Maybe the oven wasn't fully heated, maybe too many toppings, but soggy (although the dough was cooked the second time). The bigger issue is that the crust is average, the sauce is bland, and even the "crispy pork belly" (which was the selling point) completely lacks any flavor depth. Super boring, and still has to be eaten with a fork. Soggy and sad.

Maybe lots of food on the menu is terrific, and their reputation is well deserved. Maybe we picked the two worst items on the menu. Maybe the kitchen staff was hung over. Could be anything. We still won't return.

I spoke with a manager, and then her general manager, to let them know of this sad tale, in hopes that they might address what must be indicative of a possibly larger issue, telling each of them we aren't asking for a refund, but hope our concerns are addressed. In response, we got "OK, OK, OK, sorry". Super.

Hugely disappointing. Time to move on. Lots of downtown Salem restaurants -- I suggest...

I've thought about this review a bit before I am writing it. I gave them 4 stars for the quality of the food. I would give 5 stars to the girl behind the counter. She was very kind and helpful. Unfortunately I would give no stars to the rest of the service. We are trying to stretch our budget and help others by supporting eating establishments during this time. Our regular establishment was full so we researched other places while sitting in the car with our 8 year old grandson.

We decided to come to Ritter's because the menu sounded interesting and we like trying new things. We sat outside and it was windy and cold. Well, it is winter. So be it. We ordered over $70 of food and we were excited to try new things and have extra to bring home. I am not a small woman and I appreciate being able to bring a sturdy chair outside so I could sit and eat there. We ordered drinks and I ordered ice tea with real sugar. I got the tea, no sugar. Before he left I asked for real sugar and a spoon to stir it with. I said the spoon part to his back as he walked away as I was asking for them. He brought the sugar, no spoon, I nudged my husband to ask him. He wasn't listening to me. My husband did and I sat through the appetizers and I was thirsty. When they brought the main dishes out he brought a spoon, yay. Unfortunately my main dish was not brought out. I waited and watched my family eat their lunch. I waited for some one to come and check on us and it never happened. Everyone had their lunch except me. I gave my husband the receipt and he went in. He said they said they were sorry, however, noone bothered to say anything to me. They made it, bagged it and we left. It was horrible, hurtful and unkind. My grandson asked me why they wouldn't bring my food and I was at a loss.

UPDATE: I spoke to the owner and I understand what happened. They are nice and we had a great talk. I appreciate them taking the time and caring. We will go back. ...