Summer Salt

We came here for the first time this summer and for the most part we were underwhelmed. Most of the food was cold (and so was the coffee), and everything was underseasoned. The vibe was cute on the enclosed patio with the string lights, but the chairs were very small and uncomfortable. Considering how much money we paid and how many other delicious prix fixe menus there are down the shore and in Philly, this was a big miss for us.The best dishes were the corn fritters and the desserts.

This place serves "hard" ice cream, and in incredible flavors. Black raspberry, salted caramel, the standard vanilla and chocolate. It's smooth and delicious. They take credit cards. You order at the window, get a ticket number, and around the corner is the pickup window. The seating area is outside, with an unobstructed view of the ocean, but it is a narrow strip of deck and can be a bit crowded. The tables could be wiped down a little more often probably, but all in all, a great stop for an afternoon cool down, or after you try your luck at the various grabber games next door at the arcade. Napkins get a 4/10. I'll go back and confirm napkin rating, and update. Jimmies and sprinkles and other toppings available, as well as water ice. Open 9-9p everyday and if the lines at Wawa have you vexed, they serve coffee! Prices are in line with what you'll pay for anything here in Avalon.

Great food on the ocean!

Summer Salt is now our favorite restaurant in Avalon. The food was incredible and we loved that it’s a farm to table with quality ingredients. Everything was delicious and flavorful. You can tell they put in a lot of effort into every aspect of the restaurant. Every worker was so kind, the view on the outside patio was great and the music was really good too. Only suggestion would be to put some sort of privacy screen to seperate the icecream customers from the summer salt tables. Overall I’d highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a great meal and experience.

The food and staff were amazing. Great! Stop when you're in the Avalon. Highly recommend.

An upscale, “Hampton-esque” style, farm-to-table restaurant, in a beautiful beachside setting, with easy parking. Oh we wanted to LOVE Summer Salt so much, but ended up just liking it instead. The highlights here are, polished & attentive service, Lovely beachside ambience, the sauces! (Oh those sauces!). Interior decor is simple but elegant in a beachy sort of way. Every dish is simply but attractively plated. We liked the idea of trying a pre fix FTT menu with multiple courses, each based on simple but delicious preparations. The real standouts here are the exquisite sauces that accompany each dish. Someone really knows their sauces. Those mouthwatering accompaniments aside , most of the dishes were just okay. The (big) downsides here are the teeny tiny portions that will remind you of tapas, but at 2x or 3x the price you’d expect for the quantities of food offered. And while Summer Salt graciously accommodates dietary restrictions, their alternative choices for some dishes are just not inventive & equivalent to the original dish. So instead of a nice Crabcake (which unfortunately had breading) you get 5 small Al dente greenbeans in a pool of hummus? Instead of corn fritters you get (literally) an eighth of an ear of corn, served with the cob still attached (?) in another fabulous sauce. C’mon. The standout of our meal was the Carolina pan seared pork chop. Absolutely delicious and a decent size chop, with little trimming required. The scallops were less successful in that the plate arrived with three medium size scallops with some nice red pepper slaw. This was more like an appetizer portion, and the scallops themselves had little flavor and were undercooked. If you are very hungry and/or are used to typical restaurant portions, you may be doing a Yelp search for “best fries near me” after dinner. The authentic farm style chairs are nice to look at, but after the first 45 min, the flat hardwood seat bottoms became uncomfortable. Grab the banquette if you can. Then there is THE bathroom (yes, there is only one gender neutral restroom). There was a line for the bathroom during most of our meal. It is spotlessly clean, but still, one restroom for a restaurant this size is not enough. Plan ahead potty-goers. Given the location of Summer Salt, in the exclusive enclave of Avalon NJ, I’m sure many guests here will not even notice the $85pp charge. And I’m sure that is very much inline with other local restaurants. The problem here is the food is mostly good (not great) and even after eating multiple courses, you might easily leave a little peckish. Anyone know the best fries in Avalon? As long as you know what to expect here, and don’t have a big appetite, you may like Summer Salt just fine. There’s a lot to like here. But for us it did not quite live up to expectations. Dietary restrictions: Can accommodate gluten intolerance Parking: Large free lot right next door.