My husband read positive reviews and decided to make the drive from Ocean City.
Erica our server was pleasant and attentive. The cream of crab soup was heaped with crabmeat and flavor. The crab atop the crab melt was filler free and plentiful. Corn on the cob was sweet and the squash medley awakened my taste buds.

Disappointed. My husband and I planned to have dinner at Old Salty’s during our weekend visiting the Eastern Shore. We’d had dinner there about a year ago which was delicious. Something’s changed- we know what good Chesapeake Seafood is…unfortunately none to be found here. Prices were premium, product was franchise sub par in quality and preparation. Oysters on the half were poorly shucked and barely recognizable. Anyone who likes raw bar food will share that the mission is not to just get the shells apart, but to protect the amazing morsel inside. If you prefer minced oysters on the half, then these would have thrilled you. If you want an intact bivalve that pops and taste like the sea… do not order here. Ordered the She Crab soup as it was some of the best I had had when we ate here a year ago. What they served tonight was vegetable soup, and not very good veg soup, with a tablespoon of crab layed on top. News flash Salty’s…She crab soup is actually cooked with crab in it. Broth tasted like Campbell’s. Not a hint of crab flavor or anything else that would qualify as seafood. I am with another reviewer…for $28 for a crab cake sandwich I expect more than a ho hum crab patty on a hamburger roll and a handful of fries. One Hundred and thirty dollars later, before tip, we just left disappointed and taken advantage of. As I have said, something has changed. It may be the ownership, or the lack of local competition, but unless something else changes, like actual concern for your customer’s experience, I fear the next change for Salty’s will be either another change in ownership, or accepting a reputation for mediocre bar food. The choice will be Salty’s . We will no be retuening. ☹️🙁😩

So we met with some friends and took a boat ride to Old Salty's. There were 4 couples in our group. We have been there many times and always had excellent meals (read my previous reviews). WE heard that the restaurant was sold about a year ago and we hoped that didn't matter.

We had a reservation. Walked in and had to wait a few minutes to get seated. You would think that with a reservation, they would have tables put together, but no... Sat down and the waitress said she had to find us some menus. She brought 2 menus and said she would get more. The "more" never came so the 8 of us shared the 2 menus. Took a drink order and we eventually got our drinks.

They were slightly busy but nowhere near full capacity. The waitress explained that she worked at a hospital, but her husband called her in to help out. Then explained that "the good thing is that I can mess up and not get fired because I don't work here". who says that? That should have been our first sign of a bad night...

We finally ordered. One couple each ordered soup, 1 person ordered an appetizer, and my wife and I ordered soup. For the dinner orders, they were out of a lot of items, but we got through it. So we waited and waited... After about an hour and several inquiries where we were told "the food will be out in a few minutes", one of our party got up and asked if we could at least get bread... We got 1 small roll each.

After one and a half hours, one couple got their soup and the other person got their appetizer. Our soup never came. Again we asked, but got the same "it will be right out" statement. After 2 hours, still no soup for us, but the other soup couple and another couple got their dinners. Again we asked about the other 4 of us and again the same answer... At this point we were pretty mad.

After almost 2 and a half hours, the couple across from me said we should leave and I agreed. We excused ourselves form the other 2 couples who were eating and proceeded to leave. We saw the waitress and told her we were leaving and she once again said the food is coming right out... Ridiculous!!! Then we saw the owner.
We explained to him and all we got was "yeah, we're pretty shorthanded". Not much of an apology. We explained that multiple other people came after us, got food, ate, and left. He once again stated they were shorthanded. It made no sense! He was very nonchalant and offered nothing.

Surely with this type of service, they will go down quickly. What a shame!
Oh and the couples who did get their food said it was terrible. The woman's steak was cold and the fried seafood platter for $40 was mainly breading...
They just lost 8 good customers!!

We have been to Old Salty's several times and in the past, the service has been good and the food good for the price. We understand that it is under new ownership. We took a trip by boat with three other couples on Memorial Day weekend and called in advance for a reservation. When we got there, the table was not ready and they had to find some menus (???). They found two and bought them out for a table of eight. The restaurant was only about 1/3 full. Someone took our drink order. The waitress came by and said that they were short-handed, she was a waitress and she was just called in to help out, although she had waited on us on a previous visit when she was there helping out. They had put two tables together for the eight of us, but for some reason separated the tables on the order. We all waited for our food at least an hour when finally I asked if we could have some rolls as we were all hungry. Finally, at about the 2-hour mark, the soup and appetizers were brought out for two of the couples in our group. We were told the soup for our table was to be out soon. After about another 1/2 hour, I went and found the waitress and she said that our food was up next. We waited again and no soup, no food. The food for the other two couples was delivered, but the other four of us still didn't get anything served. I asked again and was told it was up next. Meantime, tables around us were getting food served. Finally, the four of us had had it and didn't even feel like eating a meal there so we told the other two couples that we were done and would meet them at the boat. They were very understanding about this because they were so disgusted too. I found the waitress and told her that we were not waiting any longer and was told that our food was "up next" again. She pointed the owner out to me and my husband and the other couple were talking to him. The only thing he said was he was sorry and that they were short-handed. My husband and I have never walked out on a restaurant meal before, but this experience was unbelievable. We were there for three hours and the only thing we got was our drinks and rolls.

The other two couples that actually got their food didn't get the correct sides or didn't get them at all and the steak that was ordered medium well came out bloody and cold. The fried seafood platter that was $39.95 was left sitting on the table because the breading was just falling off of it. They were totally disgusted that they had paid $175 for four people for a pretty bad meal. The waitress told the two couples that got their food that the soup that was ordered for us was to be brought out with the meals which was not the case. One in our party ordered an appetizer as a meal and ask that it be brought out with the meals, not the soup. Either way, waiting that long to be served in a restaurant is totally unacceptable. The only thing that we can figure is that the order for the four of us got lost. Okay, that happens, but wouldn't you think that when we kept asking about our meal that someone would check to see what was happening.

Needless to say, we will not be going back. Very disappointing as it appeared that they had added a outside bar and beach area and it is a great place to go to by boat. The owner could have salvaged the situation if he would have a least said, let me check on your meal, or let me comp something for you. Total lack of concern for the customer's experience. Very poor management!

I read a review that said it was the best place to eat on the island...well as far as we could tell, it was the ONLY place to eat on the island! First the good - our waitress was really friendly and welcoming. She sure could talk a lot, but that was OK since there were only a handful of people there at the time. Judging from the size of the place they get a really big crowd at times. They are updating the place which is good cause it really needs it.
Now the food - well, when I pay $60 for lunch for 2 (not including tip) for two crabcake sandwiches and some fries (no drinks), I expect it to be really something. My crabcake was lump meat but dry as a bone. Folks, this is the Eastern shore of Maryland and they should know how to make a darned good crabcake without drying it out. It wasn't awful, it just wasn't what I expected.