ROCKSALT

Service was good, oyster stew was very good. Scallops and pork belly were ok but wouldn’t order again. Steak was nicely seasoned but poor cut of meat. The fries were great. Should take skin off apples in crisp.

Always awesome. They’re raw bar is delish. Great oysters. They also have a very good draft list. I will even admit that I had the moo cow burger in this seafood restaurant and it was outstanding. We shared the special rotisserie one night which was fresh bass. It was awesome! Been 3 times now… will be going back for more.

have only ever been here for drinks, but the atmosphere is great and the wine is good!

The food was pretty tasty. VERY small oysters and expensive for what you get. I guess you are paying for the atmosphere? I definitely need to come back and have a «real» dinner here. I came for drinks and appetizers and split a special. Good seafood though and presentation/​plating of the entrees.

I’ve had brunch and lunch at Rocksalt, the French Toast was to die for and their burger was the best I’ve had in C’ville. I highly recommend Rocksalt for brunch, lunch or dinner.

Not worth the money. Staff wasn’t very friendly or attentive. Im a huge ceviche lover and it was basic. Oysters were alright. Definitely overpriced for quality. Cut our meal short, was totally let down.

Came here to catch up with a good friend. It was pretty slow on a Thursday evening.
We started with some raw oysters that were really good and fresh, but those ended up being the best part about the meal.
When my friend asked if she could swap out a side item on one of her dishes the waiter kept insisting that it was impossible and was kind of patronizing about it.
I forget the exact name but I got a lightly fried fish of some kind with arugula and lemon aioli. The fish was really oily and kind of salty and the lemon aioli was extremely sour and a little sweet in a weird way that reminded me of key lime pie.
I might come back just for the oysters, but otherwise I think there are better options in Stonefield.

I have been to RS about 9 times in the past year and I must say they have been consistent with the quality and quantity of food and the staff are super friendly, especially Al and Jason – we mainly sit at the bar. On New Year’s Eve we went in twice – grabbed dinner before a movie and then went back for dessert and coffee after the movie! Yum-​Yum — highly recommend this restaurant if you enjoy seafood and decadent dessert! Nice local beer and cider selections as well.

Always fantastic. Fresh, seasonal, honest, delicious choices. Great wine and beer selection.

The lack of seafood in Charlottesville makes people go here by default. I ordered Goose martini and they brought me a martini glass with hot vodka. I had to go to the bar and explain to the bartender that a martini is supposed to be shaken or chilled in some fashion. I also ordered the whole fish which came out boneless already filleted. ?? When I tried to send it back they acted like I would be nuts for wanting the whole fish. I mean just overall weird.

Went for brunch. Very good homemade hash with poached eggs. Shrimp and grits were excellent.

The customer service was good when one of the ten waiters or waitresses was around – which wasn’t much.
I ordered the platter and was extremely disappointed by what I got for the price. Everything was undersized, the oysters not properly shucked, and the quality was mediocre.
I much prefer Rhett’s over Rock Salt for price and quality. This is a seafood restaurant primarily, and all of the reviews about burgers or drinks are missing the point.

Well, the waiter told me only 2 out of the 6 happy hour specials (I overheard the others being explained by another server, after placing my unnecessarily pricey order). He also had to check on our basic questions twice with the kitchen. The food was utterly forgettable and overpriced. Another disappointing Stonefield experience!

Cliffnotes: FOOD POISONING
Long version: hardly anyone there so it should have been WAY quicker, food took an hour and a half to come, waitress took 30 minutes to take our orders and was very spacey, very inattentive wait staff, our friend got food poisoning after eating trout, clams, and oysters here so it was one of those things. We won’t be coming back. It has great potential but the wait staff needs to be more professional and attentive, times for food prep quickened, and standards for cleanliness and food preparation need to be followed. (food was good but the negatives vastly overshadowed, and obviously food poisoning pretty much wrecked that)

I don’t know what folks are eating because if they ate at Rock Salt than it totally ROCKED!
Amazing seafood, great service.. . Yay Sierra!
Don’t miss the opportunity to have a quality seafood feast!

The slew of mediocre reviews Rock Salt has received on Unilocal made me a little apprehensive to check them out, but nonetheless I decided to give the place a chance for lunch (the most noncommittal of meals). My worry mounted as we were the only party in the restaurant from 11:30−12, but the crowd increased past noon. And, more importantly, the dishes we sampled were memorable. We started off with baked oysters, which brought six large bivalves artfully arranged on a plate dusted with the restaurant’s eponymous seasoning. These delights, topped with breadcrumbs and creamed Tuscan kale, were cooked perfectly, as the topping was piping hot and crispy but the oysters themselves remained succulent and pleasantly briny.
Our main courses were executed with similar deftness. The rotisserie lamb sandwich offered mounds of tender, earthy meat complimented perfectly by a green pepper based hot sauce and roasted red peppers. Served on thick slabs of grilled bread, it proved a tasty alternative to the standard lunchtime roast beef. The fried oyster po boy, though somewhat overdressed, possessed some of the best cooked fried oysters I’ve had, as the crust was crisp yet light as air, while the shellfish themselves retained the flavor of a raw preparation. The bread, a ciabatta style roll instead of the more classic French baguette, sopped up the juices and maintained a pleasant crunch throughout the meal. Both sandwiches came with fries, whose oversalting betrayed otherwise solid spuds.
Ending on a sweet note, we shared the bourbon crème brûlée which while slightly over-​bruleed was still, you know, dessert, and thus delicious. Though we didn’t imbibe, Rock Salt has a huge tap list of local beers (many of which I hadn’t heard of) and an appealing cocktail program. We look forward to returning here to sample more of the menu.

We went the first week that they opened and it horrible. A raw bar that serves beer is a simple concept but the food was like a hockey puck going down.
But then! We tried it again today and they crushed it. The burger was excellent and the blu cheese dressed salad was a perfect compliment. My kid had a cheeseburger and fries and it wasn’t at all crap. A kid’s menu that treats kids like they might enjoy food. Who thought that was possible?
This place is not what you remember. It is much much better with a great beer selection and fresh oysters every day.
The manager threw the first chef under the bus saying that they have a new young chef. Well, here’s to the chef who may have saved these salty dogs from the treacherous rocks.
Slurp a few and then grab dinner. You’ll be glad you did.

I went to Rock Salt for a friend’s birthday a few months back, so this review is way, way overdue. But, without further ado, I will start by saying, I was really excited to try Rock Salt. I am a huge seafood fan, and it seemed like a great new place to try. I will say that I feel like most restaurants in the Shops at Stonefield fall short on ambiance – they all feel very large and are not very welcoming. Anyhow, they were able to accommodate a larger group midweek for our party.
All of the ladies were super excited about the prosecco on tap, but they were out of it on this particular visit. To create the celebratory mood, I went with another glass of sparkling wine on the menu, and it did the trick. We started out with oysters, a favorite of mine! We went with two of each of the three offerings – Rappahannock, stingray, and olde salts. The Rappahannock were my favorite by far – it was my first time trying that type, and it did not disappoint. The oysters were definitely the highlight of my meal!
For our mains, he went with the ahi tuna, and I got the rainbow trout. The ahi tuna was the better one of the two entrees. The rainbow trout was good, but it was served with lentils that weren’t prepared very well, so I wasn’t a huge fan of the dish.
I would like to go back to give Rock Salt another shot, but there are so many other places on my list to try in Charlottesville. I think a future visit might entail some prosecco on a tap and oysters to get our evening started but then enjoy mains somewhere else.

I was hesitant to try Rock Salt, because the other options in the Stonefield Shopping Center have left something to be desired (aside from Burtons, which can’t be beat).
It has an open/​industrial feel that I didn’t find unpleasant. We went for happy hour and had oysters and drinks. The waitstaff was helpful without over-​explaining or patronizing and the wine was good. Oysters came out fast, tasted fresh, and getting the check and drink refills was smooth and easy. The place makes you feel a little special without making you feel you need to dress up.
I’ve been craving a trip back ever since!

The experience was sooo disappointing! Rick Salt was recommended by someone that I trusted who had really great restaurant knowledge. Unfortunately Rock Salt was a bust.
We ordered drinks and a short time later an app. Waitress served our appetizer before bringing drinks to the table! The tuna tartare was way too lemony. Just a sour plate of fish. Asked for Soy and they didn’t have any. The dinner was also disappointing. Salad was under dressed, pasta was dry.
Thumbs down. I don’t think they are going to make it. Certainly won’t see me again.

Came for happy hour… cause a friend and I had a craving for oysters… happy hour $ 1 oysters M-​F til 7:00…barely made it we got there at 6:30 ish… sat at the bar and all the bartenders were really friendly. Told us about all the specials that they had on beer and wine.
They had 3 different types Rappahannock, Stingray and Olde Salts. We got a dozen each. I had read reviews before that said the oyster chowder was really good and after debating the bartender told me it’s really good so I figured why not it’s not everyday you get oyster chowder.
My chowder came out in a decent sized bowl and it had 2 big meaty pieces of oyster. very flavorful not an overly creamy chowder big chunks of carrots and potato with bits of bacon to add a smokiness. An awesome soup for a dismal wet light rain kind of night.
The raw bar oysters were so fresh and delicious you could taste the quality. My friend was pretty surprised too since she had been for dinner when they originally opened but not for happy hour or oysters.
We also got a glass each of the house white and she got an extra glass of the house red. About $ 5. A glass not bad for a happy hour it was about a half pour or so.
My friend suggested we try the espresso crème brûlée because she said it was amazing the last time she had it so of course… I can’t say no to crème brûlée so I caved and ordered one $ 6 it came out in the soup bowl that I had my chowder in OMG… Talk about awesome it was almost pudding like the espresso gave it a nice flavor wasn’t overly sweet which is good cause you have the brûlée top.
Overall a decent experience at rock salt. The next time I’m in town in cville this will be my happy hour stop. Oysters and crème brûlée why not? Affordable quality gotta love it.

Went for there newly instituted happy hour, which we were quite excited about, but having arrived a 5:55pm were told that there was only 5 minutes left on the happy hour. We got our order in and they didn’t mind us ordering multiple drinks and oysters but it would have been nice if the happy hour ran until 6:30 or 7 so we didn’t feel rushed.
The staff were welcoming and the space is nice with a modern, functional feel with a nod to the hipsters by using heavy chairs made of industrial rebar. A nice atmosphere.
Our waitress was enthusiastic to the point of being a little over enthusiastic but she new the menu and could make useful recommendations.
Post happy hour oysters, I had the fried tomato salad with a side of ham and brussel sprouts. All of which was delicious. and I would happily order again. I would have preferred a couple more lettuce leaves but the presentation was great.
Overall a good experience in a nice place. I will be returning regularly if they extend the happy hour.

New to Charlottesville.
I happened upon this new Seafood restaurant on a recent business trip to Charlottesville.
Located in a new shopping & dining complex called Stoneridge.
The restaurant is owned by the Cruxton family who owns the Rhappanock Oyster Company as well as several other current & emerging seafood restaurants.
I had the Rhappannock & Chincoteague oysters to start… oh my, just exceptional.
I then had a bowl of their oyster stew… just fabulous.
For my main I had the wood fired whole trout which is just too good for words.
A new restaurant so the service is a bit spotty.
I had probably the worst margarita ever.
The stools at the bar weigh a ton and very difficult to get them close enough
to the bar to eat. Someone needs to look at the design of this concept.
Overall, a solid 4 star experience, If I lived in Charlottesville I would certainly be a regular.
The menu looked quite good with a nice selection of varied entrée’s; salmon, lamb & grilled chicken.