Permanently Closed - Rocksalt

They are out of business

Waiter was terrible. Never checked on us. Power went out. Not their fault but didn’t offer us any options like here is what we can get you. Waiter was smug, then argued with us. They are closing, now I know why.

called and said they decided to close early so reservation not honored

Made reservations, got to the restaurant it was closed do to plumbing issue.
Next day went back and no one came to greet us as we waited for 10 minutes.

Service and attitude was terrible.
Difficult to be seated.
Food seemed as though it had been microwaved. Arugula salad had none - it was romaine. Staff seemed disinterested and stressed.
Oysters were only so-so.

After a great meal in the Charlotte location I wanted to take my wife and our sons to Rocksalt. Let's start with the oysters, after waiting around 20 minutes and until just before our main course they were brought to the table with so many bits of shell in them it was like they shucked them with a hammer. I could understand the time if they were busy but we were 1 of about 7 tables that were occupied and only 1 other table had oysters. When our meals arrived my wife had ordered a burger being that she isn't a fan of seafood and although she requested no onion jam it was covered with the stuff. One of our sons ordered the kids cheeseburger, low and behold it also had the onion jam that wasn't supposed to even be on the kids burger. Our other son had chicken strips which he did say were pretty good but hey, how do you screw up a pre-made chicken strip? Then there was my "seared Ahi" tuna... it arrived on a pile of slightly warmed Brussel sprouts and looked like it was butchered with a stick and cooked in a microwave. The tuna was grey/beige on the outside with no seasoning whatsoever and had never seen a surface hot enough to impart anything close to a sear. Our waitress was obviously disgruntled being that when we asked if they had other dressing options for the salad with the chicken strips her response was "you know we are closing in 8 days, like forever". Well with the quality of the food and staff it is no wonder they are closing, I only wish they had closed before we had the opportunity to have this experience.

I always see death on the horizon when a restaurant doesn't have menu items. A well-run place will never "be out." But Rocksalt had no lamb on Saturday evening. We also learned the wood-fired pizza oven is "broken" and can't be used. Feels like a place in decline, and it hasn't been open that long. Management must be awful. Stay away - it's only going to get worse.

It was restaurant week in Charlottesville so we wanted to try out ROCKSALT. The food was very slow to come to the table- an hour for our appetizers and almost 15 minutes for our drinks at the start of it all. Food was mediocre. Will not be back which is sad bc it’s a great location and fun vibe on the inside.

Very pleasant crew, from hostess to waiter(s), and delicious food, we’ll definitely be going back! (A bit noisy, but not overwhelming)

This place has improved on service and quality since 2014. Great service, value, and delivery of product.

We made a reservation on open table and they were closed. No sign on door. No message on machine. Is this place run by a bunch of snowflakes who don’t know about customer service?

We had a reservation for weeks on open table and when we arrived, the restaurant was dark, the door was open but no one was there. No call from the restaurant that they would be closed. Who leaves a restaurant unmanned and wide open for anyone enter????

Showed up and restaurant

We got to the restaurant for a 6:30 dinner reservation around 6:20 and it was dark. The door was ajar and when we opened it, the restaurant was totally empty and dark! A few more couples arrived and we all realized that although we had reservations, the place was closed and we ended up calling the police to make sure that everything was okay and the establishment just didn’t lock the door! Very disappointed and could not find any other place to eat that evening and just grabbed a burger and called it a “night to remember”! We had been been looking forward to some good seafood and now will never go back.

Server was awesome

Soft shell crabs were prepared very nicely. The cocktail sauce was good, but a friend asked for tartar sauce and was told there was none. What's up with that?

Had scallops with risotto. It was more like risotto with 4 scallops on the side. People were sloppily dressed. No atmosphere place was almost empty and it was easy to understand why. Wine rack area on back wall was mostly empty conveying idea you had run out of most of your wines. Definitely not a place you would want to bring a date.

The oysters were good, but it took quite a while for them to arrive even though the restaurant was not busy. The trout was delicious, though not particularly interesting. The restaurant is located in one of those new shopping developments that just seem phony. We much prefer places that are in interesting areas. Overall, this was a find casual dining experience but we will probably not return.

Wonderful! We ate in Charlottesville each year and always eat at Rocksalt. Excellent with great servers as usual.

Ehhhhh. Did not live up to expectations.

Unfortunately this is the last time we will visit Rocksalt. We were hoping for a better experience this time, but again we were disappointed. The menu was expensive (graduation weekend, fixed menu - $55 each person) and the food was mediocre. There was also a $50 penalty for cancelling the reservation. Overpriced and underwhelming.

We came on graduation day, so there was a $55/person required 3-course set menu, but you can add on oysters. Before we ordered our set menu, a member of my party order a half dozen oysters. We then ordered. The appetizers came out and were good. No oysters. The entrées came out, still no oysters. Entrées were all very bland and underseasoned. We were also promised the oysters were being shucked “right now”. Eventually, we cancelled the oysters because we were almost done eating, and the waitress was very surprised. This is the second time we have been here, and both times the food has been bland and mediocre.

We cannot provide feedback on the experience because we did not stay to eat. Only upon arrival did we learn that the only menu offered that evening was a $55 pre fixed for graduation. Limited options and a family member with a nut allergy significantly limited the choices enough that we elected to go elsewhere. This information should have been provided ahead of time at the time of the reservation.

We went there on Graduation weekend and didn't realize they had a fix menu. Our friends from Germany visit us every year and always look forward to the Happy Hour oyster menu. The restaurant was kind enough to give us the happy hour price. It left us with a positive experience. We will definitely go back there.

In the first place, paying $55 per person for a 3 course meal is really not too bad for a sophisticated restaurant, but...… this place is a sports bar on bad steroids.

Now mind you, you are paying for service as well as food. The reservations were made online after an attempt to call was fruitless. We figured the place was busy, but when we arrived, there were approx. 20 guest. Our server finally arrived about 15-20 minutes after we did, a group of five. A young lady did take our drink order prior to our servers arrival thank goodness and when he did show up, he made some comment about talking in the back. He took our order then returned to tell us that one of the items, which four of us wanted was not available. After changing our order he discovered that it was available now, but we just stayed with what we had. When our order arrived it was anywhere between lukewarm to cold. We never saw our server again for at least an hour when it was time for desert. Again, one of the items was not available so an alternate was chosen. A higher end restaurant on a Friday night, runs out of food and hardly any customers.

Ordinarily I would say bad night, but for some reason, I think it may just be like this. Too bad, great location, but high priced for low service. The night cost almost $400 for 5 people an not a one had anything good to say about the night.

I never leave bad reviews but I cannot express how horrible the experience was ! I originally booked it for my son’s graduation dinner and at that time no mention of a pre-fix menu . When we arrived we saw that it was $55 per person with no children’s menu . The waitress was actually very nice person . There were hardly any people serving . We had a table of 8 . My scallops were raw and I complained which I never do and they came back worth another plate that was completely cold !!! My husbands meal was so bad he couldn’t eat it and my sons 55 dollar steak was raw ! So my bill was over 400 dollars for the worst possible food / experience you can imagine . I reel robbed

Made a reservation for Mother’s Day brunch. About 7 tables occupied with 2 servers when we arrived 10 minutes early. Slow to take drink order and getting refills was ridiculous. After an hour and no food we left. With 6 people in the open kitchen you would think the food would be flowing out. Server was inattentive at best. We weren’t the only ones to leave.

Well...didn’t actually have the chance to experience...I made a reservation days ago for 8 people at 11am for Mother’s Day brunch. Confirmed my reservation 2 times. We had family coming in from from Richmond to meet us. When we arrived at 10:45am we were told that they wouldn’t probably be opening until 12. I said I made a reservation days ago...apparently there was miscommunication and there was no one there with a key to open the restaurant. The waitstaff and cooks were just hanging around outside. 😳 there was a very nice young lady at the front who was telling the same story over and over again to everyone who was trying to go in. I realize it was not her fault and felt really sorry that she had to stand there giving bad news to everyone...thank gosh Burtons came to the rescue!! And it was fabulous!! Pretty crummy experience, we were really looking forward Rocksalt, none of us had ever been and sadly probably won’t waste our time again. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Our waitress was either impaired in someway or drunk, she fell down, I thought she was going to spill every plate or glass she brought out. It was very strange and having to explain to my 8 year old children was not cool, the whole meal was stressful.

Great meal
Great service and when I got New England clam chowder instead of Manhattan they apologized and gave me a complementary glass of wine

Anxious to visit again when they've back in full force. Very limited menu but everything we ordered was excellent. Serve needs a bit of attention. Ordered their fish special meant to be share - a whole red snapper but had to ask for utensils to divide it, an extra plate and serving utensils for the side vegetables. The fish was perfectly grilled with a fabulous pesto. Happy hour oysters were good but small size. We wondered if they served larger oysters when paying full price. Again delicious and great value at half price. Our server was good about offering a small sample of wine to help decide on a very nice muscadet.

Wonderful experience! Brought relatives from New Orleans and they loved the food, service and restaurant atmosphere! Jo-Ellen our server was friendly, professional and very experienced. We’ll definitely return!

Although our daughter's tuna was good, as were her vegetables, but the swordfish (2 dinners) was criminally overcooked. I loathe brussels sprouts, the menu accompaniment for swordfish, and got cauliflower and broccoli instead, which were okay. No bread appeared. I considered the restaurant to be badly overpriced for the food offered. My husband's clams were good, but pricey. The restaurant was 2/3 empty, still managed to be quite noisy, and I can't see how it will succeed. I'm sorry to say that because C'ville badly needs a moderately-priced, GOOD seafood restaurant. The service and managerial attendance were excellent; the manager refunded our price for the swordfish.

We were visiting Charlottesville from out of town and our hotel concierge recommended ROCKSALT. They were able to take our open table reservation, so we booked it. Upon arrival there was no wait and we were able to sit outside. Our waitress brought water out and we asked for a kids menu. After that, the service became extremely slow. We weren't all that bothered because we were there for pleasure, but we were also hungry. We were there for 50 minutes before our dinner came out. I had ordered Swordfish because I had never tried it before. All through dinner, I kept asking my husband if swordfish is just like tuna and even had him try it. It wasn't until I had finished dinner that our waitress came out and confirmed that I actually did get the tuna and she hadn't realized it. She was very nice and brought out the swordfish (which was actually really good) and obviously we were only charged for one dinner, but no manager ever came out. Nothing was taken off of our bill. Overall, it was a mediocre experience and the food was ok.

Do not bother to eat here.

Pros: Our server was friendly and did the best he could with the terrible restaurant conditions.
The fried oysters were ok.


Cons:
Oysters were improperly cleaned - very grimy and gritty (sandy).
Shrimp was clearly frozen.
The restaurant is DIRTY.
A huge space but almost nobody came in on a warm Saturday evening.
Weird blue mood lights - is this a club or oyster restaurant?
It is clear that this restaurant is on the decline.

The chef left recently, and the replacement chef decided to leave a severely modified menu in place. Missing are wanted items that are still posted on their website menu like catfish, grits, and baked oysters.

We were in Charlottesville visiting the University of Virginia with our granddaughter and we wanted to celebrate. We loved the Rocksalt - the fish was fresh and delicious and our waiter was terrific.

Rocksalt's bartender Al is the BEST!!!! I love this place!

Very slow service and bland, unimaginative food. I had swordfish and other diners had burgers. Vegetables-Brussels sprouts were bland too. Nothing was even tasty except for the seafood tower but they didn’t have enough mini forks to go around. The newly very limited menu is very different than what is posted on Open Table which is inexcusable in that it misrepresents the reality. Sloppily run restaurant and so I’ll never go back. WTH!

There was a chef transition and the menu was extremely limited until bed chef arrived. My Open Table reservation was not registered with the restaurant because of this change for some reason. We left after sitting down at table and being told about limited menu.