Breakfast by Salt's Cure — Restaurant in West Hollywood

Overall a very tasty brunch, but it’s important to know a few things before going. As mentioned the food is very good flavor wise and the location itself is prime. They don’t have a parking lot so it will be street parking only, but luckily the streets perpendicular to it have a lot of available spaces and did so for our Sunday morning brunch. I also like the fact that you order at the counter and then they bring the food over to you. Makes it nice after you finish your meal than you can immediately head out.

There are a few downsides to note. As many other reviews mention the service speed is extremely slow because they only have 2 cooks and a small griddle. It will take quite awhile for your food to arrive so this is not the sort of place to go when you have time commitments after. Also the menu is fairly small and doesn’t have any complex dishes like Eggs Benedict so pancakes or breakfast sandwiches will be your options. The size of the items is also a bit small compared to a lot of other breakfast places so I wouldn’t choose this location if I wanted a large of extra filling meal. Finally the restaurant itself is very crowded. The tables are very close together and when busy you have two squeeze between the those sitting at the counter and those sitting at the half booths. Inside spots may not be available depending on the time due to the limited amount of seating options.

For our meal we chose the OG Pancakes, Pork Sausage side, and the Breakfast Sandwich. The pancakes are griddle style thin pancakes and aren’t very big or fluffy size wise, but they give you a stack of three. The OG is very tasty, but also very sweet so you must be in the mood for the sweetness. The sausage was very good and came in the form of a patty. The Sandwich was flavorful, but a bit small in size and would be even better if avocado was added.

Overall a really nice breakfast or brunch option albeit with limited menu options and a claustrophobic indoor dining area. I would recommend, but with some minor...

Disappointed. Imagine raving to your mom (whose fave meal of day is bfast) about this spot she’ll love when she visits in town for Mother’s Day. Only to feel embarrassed over such a poor experience and meal all around.

Food gets two stars because I’ve had them a couple of times before via food delivery app but never “dine in” and the food was top tier. Unfortunately this was my first and last time “dining in” and I say that loosely because although the prices are full service breakfast restaurant prices, you order at the counter like some higher end fast food places and take a number. That was no issue.

The issues were the food and service quality and overall ambiance:

1. the main reason for going- the pancakes, were not done fully. Picture your first time ever making pancakes where it ‘looks’ done but once you dive in it’s full of gooey batter. Instead of making it right they simply just argued that, “that’s how they always are”. I know that’s not the case because serving undercooked pancakes with batter present I’m sure would have accompanied a shutdown or less business. Also, I’ve eaten here plenty of times and never experienced this previously.

The service was poor due to how the above was handled. But also having to ask for the infamous cinnamon butter, which was always given complimentary with delivery orders. Simple things that typically come standard yet none was offered given or in plain sight to get ourselves.

It was obvious that although we arrived an hour before closing, they were rushed and it showed in the food and how we were treated. Moreover, imagine still eating and communing yet meanwhile they’re putting chairs up all around you. The space is surprisingly tiny so this was a huge distraction and turn off to an already sour experience.

Also odd to see several non staff, or off shift staff perhaps, jumping off their bicycles and walking up to the counter to give items to the chef, who was still on duty, no gloves used or...

It would have been nice if the person taking our order at the front counter relayed that it would be a 45 minute wait before our food would arrive, giving us the option to go elsewhere if we were starving (we were) before we paid and took a seat.

What made it worse was watching a couple who sat down next to us 15 minutes after we arrived get their food first.

When ours finally did arrive, it came out piecemeal, my eggs coming out 10 minutes after my potatoes (seasoned well, but slightly burned, with a tasty dipping sauce) and ham (a nice homestyle maple cure, but very tough). If you wanted salt, pepper or any condiments you must ask - our server didn't offer nor ask if we needed anything else. Coffee and water are also self-serve, with cream and sugar also at the counter. A lot of to-and-fro in a packed, teeny space with high traffic. There's almost not enough room to squeeze into your seat at the table.

The servers have their hands full, as there seems to be only one with one bus boy and one person at the cash register.

The "kitchen" is a tiny single griddle understaffed with 2 very hard working (i.e. slammed and struggling to catch up) cooks. The staff was nice enough, considering the heavy turnover and our growing impatience, even if our server could have been a little nicer and apologetic about the wait. All it takes sometimes is a little check-in and update to calm a diner's growing "hanger" after the 30 minute wait (again - it was easily 45 before our food arrived). Or at the counter before ordering "Hey just so you know, we're a little backed up with like maybe at least a 30 minute wait" would be nice.

All that being said, we will return, probably closer to opening hour and likely on a weekday to sample the delicious-looking pancakes. Nice to have a decent quality brunch spot in the neighborhood and no doubt their tiny staff can deliver better service when it isn't the busiest day...