The Salty Donut — Restaurant in West Palm Beach

Crappy service. Literally.

I would rate this zero stars, but since that’s not possible, I’m giving it a one. Yesterday afternoon, my boyfriend and I decided to go to this café to order two matchas. When we walked in, we see fresh dog poop on the carpet, which we only noticed after the cashier pointed it out. By that time, we had already stepped in the dog poop, and when we looked down, we saw a trail of skid marks across the entire café (not caused by us, but from the marks the dog had left). We hadn’t noticed the poop earlier because we thought this was a reputable café—why on EARTH would we expect dog poop on the floor?!

Afterwards, we went to the bathroom to clean our shoes. When we came out, we saw the manager mopping up the mess, but the way she was mopping was just smearing the poop further across the floor. She didn’t bother to clean up the rest of the skid marks, and then another employee proceeds to carry the floor mat covered in poop through the kitchen to dispose of it. In my opinion there should never be feces walked into the area where the doughnuts or any food items are stored, yet we still decided to order our matchas. However, by the time we placed our order, we realized we had lost our appetite and felt too grossed out by the situation.

We quietly requested a refund to avoid causing a scene. I want to emphasize that the girl at the cash register was lovely and incredibly kind and accommodating. I truly appreciate her excellent customer service, and I mention this because I don’t want her efforts to be overshadowed by the café’s overall lack of cleanliness and this poor (poop) situation.

Eventually, the manager, the same one who had been mopping, came over. It was clear she didn’t want to give us a refund and explained that it was too difficult to process, even though our matchas were still completely full. We had to repeat ourselves multiple times about losing our appetite due to stepping in dog poop inside THEIR café, and eventually, she agreed to give us a cash refund. However, she then turned to the cashier and repeatedly said they would only give a refund to us this one time and that they don’t usually issue refunds.

I’m grateful we were able to get our money back, but I’m writing this review because the situation we encountered was disgusting and unprofessional, raising serious doubts about the café’s hygiene. I believe they are in need of a health inspection. I hope this review helps others avoid a similar experience and choose a...

THIS IS MY OPINION! I came here on a Saturday morning about 11 AM. It was my first time here so I had a few questions. The reason for my visit was because I was excited to try a new donut shop and a very old lady that works at the hospital. I wanted to get her donuts for her birthday because I know she likes sweets. I asked the lady at the register when will be your last batch for the day. (What time. She was kind of annoyed about my question because she gave me a snippy attitude, explaining that they’re working on their last batch for the day now . So I kept my composure and said OK fine. The reason why I was asking was because I wanted the donuts to be as fresh as possible to take to the hospital at about 4 PM. Once she realized her demeanor was kind of offputting, she responded nicely letting me know that the donuts will be good for 24 hours. So I ordered a Chocolate Tres leches doughnut. The donuts was very dry and the icing was a little bit Strange. I only wanted one, because I wanted to know how it would taste for the lady. I did not like it at all, it was dry. I was confused so I took a second and third bite. It wasn’t good. Almost as though it was spoiled. Fast-forward I went back about 3 o’clock to get the donuts for the lady. I got traditional glaze, guava and cheese, brown butter and salt, cinnamon pear crumble, and whipped lemon ricotta. She absolutely loved every single one of those donuts!! She went on and on about how they are so delicious and well crafted. I was really happy because she means a lot to me. So I thought maybe it was just me. So I went back on that following Monday. I was there about 930am. I ordered maple and bacon, guava and cheese, blueberry crumb, cake, and whipped lemon ricotta. And again, with the dryness, the maple bacon was so dry I just couldn’t understand why. The bacon was very good as though they use an apple with bacon. The guava and cheese was OK. Nothing special. The icing was very delicious. Blueberry crumb was different in a good way Because it’s a cake it’s not really a doughnut. The lemon was also OK. My overall experience for myself was just OK. It’s upsetting to know that I look forward for such an exciting treat, and I was let down. I will give the traditional donut a try to see if that one is different. I am just really disappointed because for the price I expected something way better. As I said, in the beginning, this is...

Honestly... I was kinda disappointed! We live in the neighborhood and have been excited for The Salty to open just down the street.

We got 4 donuts to try (glazed, brown butter + salt, strawberry milk cake, and caramel apple) and picked them up just before closing (7pm). My husband and I love donuts but none of these were very good... The caramel apple was the best of the bunch, but even that I probably wouldn't buy again. All 4 donuts were pretty dry and just didn't taste very good.

The brown butter + salt kinda tasted like... meat?! It was weird. It tasted like the way the inside of a greasy diner smells, if that makes sense. LOL.

We've tried The Salty Donut in Miami before and loved them so I'm not sure if we just came at a bad time or what?? (But if the donuts are dry and yucky by the end of the day, they shouldn't sell them, or they should close earlier if they can't keep the donuts fresh until 7pm!)

Maybe we just don't like cake donuts? But none of these 4 were very tasty and if I'm going to eat a donut, it better be delicious! So I'm not sure if it's quality control, or the recipes are different, or what, but even my go-to glazed was just "meh." I got donuts a couple times from the pop-up truck when it was here and they were better so hopefully it was just an off day...

I also came back another day for the iced cinnamon cereal milk latte and it was WAY TOO SWEET. Planning to make another coffee and use a splash of it as the syrup/creamer for that coffee, lol. Otherwise it's overpowering and like drinking syrup!

Please keep working on this place and get it perfect so it can become my go-to donut and coffee spot! :) I really want to love it here but so far...