Side Hustle Bar — Restaurant in Salem

I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.

7-8 months ago, this place was fire - food was tasty, hot, and service was enjoyable. But there's been a ski jump of a decline - not sure if it's management or staffing, but within the last 6 months, the visits have been abysmal.

During my last mid day visit, there was one bartender on duty and the staff does not excel at food service. I ordered a soda, chips & salsa, and 3 asada queso tacos. Refills are scarce, their syrup or carbonation levels are off every time, and unless food is delivered or you walk up to the bar, you're paying for one very expensive soda. I inhale these things, so it's embarrassing walking up to the bar 5 or 6 times to do their job.

Their handmade chips used to be 🤌🤌, but it took 30 minutes for the chips to arrive, and when they did, they were tepid, some were chewy, and a few were wet with grease. Possibly good ol'double-frying or sitting on the line too long.

At this point, I'm hangry and particularly unpleasant especially after tipping 20% up front, like an idiot. Finally, after 40 minutes spent in contemplation, my 3 asada queso tacos arrived. Yet my joy instantly died because, apparently, mediocrity is a hill we die on. The tacos were meh-warm, the cheese was cold and coagulated, and the tortillas were tough and chewy - and you guessed it - probably sitting on the line too long.

Four score and 7 years ago, the food was delivered hot and fresh, complete with napkins, salsa, condiments, refills, and enjoyable staff who actually knew you by name. Today, you're army crawling in no man's land to get a measly looking bottle of unappetizing salsa, stuck to the sides of the glass, that's 3/4's empty, and the wrong kind.

Painfully, they're also pushing silicon valley prices. With tip, it cost close to $35 and these kind people charged a whopping $8 for wet greasy chips & salsa, oddly, the same price for chips & guac.

Lastly, before I depart this side quest, upon entering the bar there's a noticeable unpleasant odor - not referring to the weed from adjacent businesses, but specifically within the bar itself. It's not rotting beer, it's some other unidentifiable scent.

Again, not mad - just disappointed.

To the manager calling this review a bot or AI - the review is real. I have no problem calling and talking to a manager. Again, disappointed that's your response instead of taking action in...

Yikes, it’s time to close shop or go buy some Lysol or hire those people who clean hoarders houses cause dang this place is nasty.

The drinks: I tried to order a drink, they were out, asked for another but oh out of mango. Okayyy. So I asked for another, nope! They were out of pineapple puree. So sheesh can I get a soda?? Well I was asking for too much cause nope they didn’t have that flavor so I just settled for what they had. My fault, I should have asked for what they did have.

The food: I ordered a quesadillas, no problems! Or so I thought. After about 20 minutes the waitress came over to me and said they are out of the flour tortillas. Hahhah yes they were out of flour tortillas. Maybe it was the many 3 customers that ate them all I don’t know. So the waitress said the cook is offering to make me small ones using corn and they’re so good she gets them all the time so I said sure thank you. I didn’t want to make the situation tough or be rude.

Oh my goodness when the food came out I was shocked!!!!! I think the bubonic plague touched those things before getting to me. It looked bad smelled bad and the carrots looked damn near rotten.. practically zombies.

NOTE: before I left I told the staff I’m sorry but I couldn’t eat it because it wasn’t not good. She did not care. Said “ ohh it probably would have been better with flour tortillas”. …… yeah, no kidding, too bad they were out. No offer of a refund so I was out 20 dollars and a good tip but I just wanted out of there at that point.

The atmosphere: A joke. Straight up a dumpster fire. The pool table. ..Just look at the photos or go in there yourself. Good luck finding a Que with any kind of tip on it. The upstairs wasn’t clean. Fingerprints on the windows. It was gross so gross. Just go see for yourself.

I feel like they took a lot of my money In exchange a spit in my face. I have not one good experience to take away from that.

I’m sorry but I just kinda look forward to this place closing because they don’t have much to offer the community anymore. Someone’s going to get really sick one day and it’s just a shame the owner doesn’t care.

A good time was not had. Maybe the owner needs to get a side hustle to buy cleaning products...

I've had very great, and very poor service at this bar. My first experience was more than pleasant, I ordered flautas and a white claw. I had purchased desserts from the bakery next door, and forgot them at the bar. When I called, the male bartender offered to bring them to me later that evening. When I showed up to the bar to grab my desserts, he actually bought me a beverage for my troubles. Insanely great, above and beyond service. I was really happy to have found a new fun bar downtown.

Fast forward two months later: I finally got a couple friends to meet me at side hustle. When I arrived, my friends said they had been waiting at the bartop for over 20 mins. (hey, that can be expected for a busy evening. No offence taken here) I proceeded to wait for another 15 minutes, for some reason the bartender took my order first. My friends had been waiting for their first drink as well, much longer than I had been. That's fine, I mentioned to her that my friends needed to order too. (I figured she was just busy, it's kinda like a sportsbar/club vibe) She said they needed to wait. We waited another ten or so minutes, she took their orders and everything was fine. From there, the bartender just wasn't very nice to me. I kept seeing people walking around with beer and still able to take a shot. So, I tried to order a beer and a shot, and was told no, but I wasn't cut off. She just told me I would have to go through the line a second time. Ok, no big deal. Throughout the night it really felt like the girl on the right side of the bar just didn't like my friends and I. She would take extra time talking to the people in line so we would have to wait. She would go to other people who weren't next, or had not been waiting very long. This happened multiple times throughout the night, so we had to just avoid that side of the bar all together and order from the bartender on the left side. It felt kinda like high school at that point.

Overall, this is a good bar. I would just say the service you recieve...