Carpe Vinum 121 — Restaurant in Salisbury

Walking in, we could smell something burning from the kitchen. Not a great start (and those smells continued throughout the meal - especially the fish). It's a simplified upscale dining area with a very large bar. CV has an extensive wine/drinks book. Yes, I said book. Do not go to their website for a peek at their menu, as it's incorrect. You can see some of the dishes they prepare, but the menu has been rearranged, many things are no longer offered and the prices are definitely not up to date! One other thing to note about the seating... If you're put at the front at the restaurant where there is carpet, expect difficulties getting your chair to slide back and forth to the table. Sounds weird but this was an issue for us moving around at our table. If you can, sit further back on the hardwood floors. Our server was Ava and she was great! We started off with the $8 bread basket with assorted butters. Unless you're reallllly into this kind of thing, save your money for one of the other small plates like the Robiola, which we also ordered. It was tasty and would have made a better appetizer than the bread basket. The bread basket had three rolls with three different toppings - not seasoned with, just toppings -(seeds, cheese and herbs), a croissant and a biscuit (which was flat and not very good). We also started with the foie gras which came with three slices. The issue here is that even though this is a standard issue menu item, it was listed on the "specials" menu and that is a red flag. Even so, we ordered it anyway and it came out with a grey border with a pink interior for each slice. We ate it anyway. Note to self to never order the regular menu items on the "specials menu". There were NO PRICES on the daily specials menu provided at seating. Apparently we're supposed to guess... or unless they're just the regular menu prices - even though the catch of the day is market price and that's listed NOWHERE! My friend had the grilled scallops which were divine. They came over a yellow rice which was NOT good, and a sauce that contained some sort of mayo base? The sauce was just ok, but steer clear of the rice. It's a good thing she ordered a side of the mashed potatoes because they were delicious (and cost $8 ordered as a side). I had the tuna tartar, which I have to say was good. It came mixed with chunks of avocado and supposedly soy sauce, honey and crispy fried rice. I tasted no soy, honey or crispy fried rice. I asked for extra lemon and fresh cracked pepper. One other note - if you order a soft drink and ask for a refill, you pay for each glass. One diet Coke with a refill was $8. So we spent $125, not including tip for our dinner. Was it worth it? The scallops were perfectly cooked and seasoned. They were the star of the show and one of the reasons for the four star food rating. Everything else was ok, but to be able to get it in Salisbury makes it special so I'm also giving it four stars for this, too. Overall I would say the splurge was worth it and it's great having this option in...

What an absolutely delightful evening. The Bardinases have hit it out of the park with their new restaurant. Our party of four had a lovely dinner last night and we cannot wait to go back again and again.

In my mind, a good restaurant is a three legged stool - service, atmosphere, and food. Even for a soft opening, they did brilliantly with food and atmosphere and just a hair shy of brilliantly with service.

Atmosphere: The look AND feel of the place is fantastic. It is 100% classy, understated, comfortable, elegant. I could go on and on. I love the fact that there was natural light on two sides in a downtown mid-block restaurant.

Food: The food was 10/10. Every dish was beautifully plated, tasted delicious, was correctly portioned, priced to be a very good value, served at the right temperature, and with perfectly appropriate ticket times for the type of dining experience. Our group had ceviche, carpaccio, caprese salad, lobster bisque, the charcuterie and cheese board, filets and sea bass. It was as lovely as any food I have ever had. You could hold a gun to my head and demand I come up with some fault and I don’t believe that I could. Cocktail menu and wine list were lovely. I am an Italian wine guy, so I was looking for something Italian on the by the glass menu and don’t think that I saw anything other than the Prosecco. But my other choices were all lovely and again, appropriately priced.

Service: Taylor was delightful. Her demeanor was very welcoming and relaxing. She knew the answer to every question that we asked and served and cleared appropriately with perfect table maintenance. Her mechanics were dead nuts on. We, as a group, could not agree on a bottle of wine, so I did not get to see her wine service. I am sorry that I was unable to do that. I will have to come back, order a bottle, and let you all know how that goes. The one service area where there was a struggle was with drink service. We ordered glasses of wine with each course after our cocktails and with two of the courses, the wine took so long to be delivered that we had finished the course before the paired wine arrived. Other than that though, everything was fantastic.

The bottom line is that the restaurant scene in Salisbury has just gotten a major boost. Put this place on your list. It was truly extraordinary. I cannot...

First off people don’t know how to properly review and use Googles beta description. It’s how much did you spend per person, not how much did you spend on your date/outing with group. So if your bill is $100 what’s 50% of that, right, easy enough.

Secondly it’s small plates. Here’s how to do it if you have never been to a place like this before. They bring you a wine and drink menu, you order that first. They will let you know the specials, and give you the food menu everything is small plates so that being said order a soup and salad for your first course and you and your date choose 3 different items on the menu. They will bring you a small clean plate, and my that time your soup or salad, when you finish that the first small plate will come, right as you finish the second will come followed by the last. Napkin goes in your lap folks it’s not a BBQ joint. 3rd: There is not a dress code on the door but if it’s summer time dress like you are going golfing and if it’s winter dress like you are going to Sunday night church, comfortable but still nice, it’s okay to wear a sports jacket too, you won’t stand out.

The staff was wonderful, the food was delicious, service was amazing, and it’s definitely one of the nicest places in town. I’m not from or live in Salisbury but was visiting family. For this town it’s a step up from all the BBQ joint, fast food restaurants, and family style houses, but it’s good that there is something nice in that town. Also this isn’t a place for takeout, a place you ask if y’all have coke products, showing up at 9pm without reservations etc, I read all the negative reviews and came to the conclusion that those people are mainly stupid, dumb, or didn’t know better and are embarrassed so they gave the place a 1 star instead of going on down the road and picking up their fast food normals. Oh, almost forgot, make reservations, takes like 5 seconds and you should be able to do it from google or their...