Salsa

Posted by: Carlo P | 5 March 2012, 9.06pm

WOW where to start.....
I was asked to organise & book for a dinner with family that were coming down from Sydney. As usual I surfed online. I was looking for a restaurant near the beach as it was a warm night. I found a place called Salsa at West Beach. As soon as we turned up I noticed shouting & swearing coming from the kitchen. This should have raised 'Red Flags'. Anyway we sat down and ordered some starters, after about 45mins the waitress brought out a small plate of consisting of 1 piece of salami, 1 piece of rockmelon & half a tomato filled with ricotta...mind you there were 8 of us at the table! What a joke! We quickly ordered 2 pizzas to get us by until the mains. They took about 1 hour. We quickly ordered mains hoping that at least while we ate the pizzas the kitchen would start on the mains...wishful thinking. The screaming, swearing & thowing of pots and pans continued throughout the night. I asked the waitress several time what was going on in the kitchen and she assured me that this was normal practice there and that infact the Chef/Owner was fairly calm that night. After about 90 mins of waiting for the mains my cousin went to speak to the owner/chef to express his anger and frustration. On the way to the kitchen a waitress warned him not to complain as the owner/chef was a heavy drug user and would more than likely abuse him verbally and phisically as he had done many times in the past. My cousin didn't want to ruin the night for us so he returned to the table and we asked for the bill, but instead of bringing the bill the mains started to come out. As it was now 10:00pm we decided to eat the food as we were starving. We paid the bill and left. Not once during the night did any of the staff apologise for the behaviour or profanity that we had to endure, nor was a discount offered for the long wait times & bad service. Honestly how is this restaurant still in business? I wish I had read the other reviews before booking there.

Food:			Visit: Fri 2 March 2012 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: invaliduser83 | 24 April 2010, 1.41pm

Without any exaggeration my girlfriend and I have agreed that this would simply be the worst dining experience we have had in our lives. We arrived on time and placed our orders and did not receive our entrees for nearly and hour. We were then asked before we even finished our entrees whether we were ready for our mains without being given the chance to answer. Regardless the mains took over 2 hours to arrive after this. One of our guests went up to the counter to query the long wait time as we had received neither an apology or any kind of notification that this was the expected norm in the establishment (the staff had avoided our table for the last hour). He was abused by the Chef. I do not use the term 'abuse' lightly. All manner of expletives were used and he was directed to sit down and said it would be ready soon.

The waiting staff were clumsy and rude, we literally had to flail our arms about to get a drink service during the 2-3 hour wait. We didn't receive our mains till 9:45pm.

When it came to the end of the meal and we asked for the bill one of our guests asked politely for some consideration on the bill due to the clear lack of service we had experienced throughout the evening. Up until this point in the evening I would have been happy to write it off as another sub-par night out. What ensued was simply surreal and something I would of never expected in a simple sea-side restaurant. The chef refused to come out from the kitchen to address the table and the complaining guest was forced to come up to the kitchen where she was not only abused, and after seeing that kind of behaviour my girlfriend and I refused to pay, while some of our friends just pulled out their wallets to shut him up. The chef not only followed us outside onto the street, he insulted us, told us he didn't "care" if we ever came back.

I understand this is a fairly extreme complaint however I implore you to google 'Salsa West beach worst service" and you will see a plethora of disgruntled reviews which all seem to revolve around the head chef "Marco".

This is not an experience I would wish upon anyone else and from my research it is quite clear that this establishment has a long history of complaints ranging from the cleanliness of the staff to the service and barrages of abuse from the head chef/manager.

Food:			Visit: Fri 23 April 2010 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: Unregistered user | 15 September 2009, 11.09am

Have eaten at Salasas several times and initally found food to be good. Last two occasions very disappointing, particualrly last weeks dinner as documented below.
Ordered meals for two. Dinner was received 70 mins after ordering - my meal arrived, was advised that that other person's meal would arrive in 2 mins. Arrived 20 mins later once I had finished my meal. My meal was OK, chicken dish very dry. Waitress kindly provided free glass of wine as compensation for lateness of second meal. When feedback offered to chef he was very rude and aggressive.
Disappointing as great venue and location, atmosphere good but quality of meals has dropped off significantly. Menu also difficult to read for those with ageing eyesight!

Food:			Visit: Thu 10 September 2009 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: nehpets | 21 March 2009, 7.43pm

Salsa took a booking for 35 - do not do individual bills - over confident rude waitress - dinner took hour and a half to arrive - pasta undercooked (Italian restaurant) steak bleeding when medium well done ordered, actually still cold in the middle - special spaghetti and meatballs , three meatballs in a sea of spaghetti with just edible sauce (suspect canned) - pizzas ok - waitress did not take complaints well - dismissive and haughty - chef downright rude - important night out pretty well ruined - lingering doubt about the bill.

Food:			Visit: Wed 18 March 2009 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: ical | 20 March 2009, 8.59pm

Attended a birthday celebration. My meal great, would recommend the veal, partner said seafood marinara best he had ever tasted. A big problem with large crowd. Service poor, very long wait for dinner, almost 2 hours! Staff definitely stressed and therefore abrupt at times. Would go again but only with a couple of people. Noted other small groups did not seem to have same wait. Maybe should not take large bookings with small numbers of staff rostered.

Food:			Visit: Wed 18 March 2009 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: jess1ca | 22 April 2008, 5.56pm

I love the food and atmosphere at Salsa. Fantastic place for dinner and highly recommended.

I have been going there for years - but have to say that in all the time I have been going there, the menu has never changed! Not only this, but the specials are always identical as well. I can practically recite them with the waiters! Luckily I love the meals (and some of the specials) so it does not really bother me but some variety wouldn't go astray!

Food:			Visit: Tue 22 April 2008
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: Unregistered user | 10 February 2006, 11.44am

I love Salsa - it is by far my favourite restaurant in Adelaide, not only because of the great location and '50s atmosphere, but the food is second to none. I highly recommend it.

Food:			Visit: Thu 5 January 2006 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere: