Scratch Kitchen

I wanted to give it 4 stars but I gave it 3 because the décor detracted from the experience. Our food was great and came out at a reasonable time considering everything is homemade and cooked to order. I had the burger with Gouda cheese. It was delicious. My friends had the homemade lemonade. Also great. One friend had the vegetable panini with goat cheese and the other had the Cuban. The fries were well cooked, crispy and seasoned well. The homemade catsup was very tasty. We all loved our meals.
However the décor and overall ambiance was very confusing. For being so focused on their food quality, the décor fell short of my expectations. It reminds me of a restaurant that you might find on the side of an interstate next to a motel in the middle of nowhere. Funky flooring and old wood paneling. Very old and outdated. We still ate there but I don’t think it’s wrong to assume that other people take one look and find somewhere else to go. The thought that their kitchen might be gross and dirty did cross my mind because of the décor.
I also ordered a glass of white wine with lunch. My glass was not clean. It had large white spots and drips all over it. I didn’t make a fuss and drank the wine but it made me question how clean things are back in the kitchen.

Great Food! Great place! Great staff… First time in Salem and really enjoyed the food. Black bean burger and wings yummy! Loved it

Kinda just a fluke to come in here. It was raining and hailing so we decided to just come in. It was a good choice. I got the burger with bacon jam. It was really good. Sides are separate. But for an app we got garlic bread really really good. The sandwiches did come with pickled zucchini pepper and onion type salad. Wow that was truly a burst of flavors I loved. They had a large menu and a good beer selection. Everything here is local and house made items.

I was planning to eat here because of the reviews. I found a parking garage and when I walked out, there Scratch was, right on the first floor of the parking garage! Great, friendly service. I had a Cuban and clam chowder. Excellent. Awesome homemade iced tea. And my waitress was very proud of the food they serve. That means a lot. I recommend.

This is our 2^nd try at SK
I am in no hurry to go back The food was just OK and for the 2^nd time the service was awful I don’t understand it either because it really was not that busy Our server seemed frazzled forgetful and not available
I don’t think we’ll be back for a long time
I know so many people that love SK that’s why we decided to give it another try

This place is like the worst place to get clam chowder. Omg sooo watery. The cheese fries were gross. Sorry absolutely hated it and the service sucked too.

This place is not consistent AT ALL. My husband and I have been here a few times and it’s been hit or miss. The «hit» times the food was amazeballs but, the service was slooooow. We were ok with that since it’s called the Scratch Kitchen and well, the food is made from scratch but I digress. The last time we visited we took my mom. We figured it would be a great place for lunch and since my mom has many food allergies, making food to order would be great. Every item that my mom ordered was either not available or they couldn’t make it. Huh? I decided to get wild and order a grilled cheese sandwich. Crazy, I know. While I sat in anticipation of my super sandwich I went to use the facilities. Bad idea. Not only does the door not lock so well, the place is swarming with flies and the level of cleanliness is on par with the Port Authority. One thing I have learned whilst dining out… if the bathroom is nasty, imagine what the kitchen looks like. Yikes!
Our food came out about 100 years later and my grilled cheese was a soggy mess with some pickles thrown on it. My husband had some chowder and it looked as though someone had chowed it before they served it. My mom had french fries. That’s it. The beer was warm and the water was lacking.
The bottom line here… SK is no better than your college dining hall.

Weird experience here with beloved husband last night. We are Salemites, but Scratch is not on our list of regular places to go. We like to give places a chance and since neither of us had been here in a very long while, we decided to try dinner last night. First note, the place was completely empty on a Friday night. This place is all over the road in terms of Unilocal reviews, but a consistent theme is very strange or bad service. Our waiter was very upbeat and outgoing but did not seem to know how to wait tables. I think that the management should really look into how to train staff. We ordered the goat cheese and veggie panino, and the fish taco. My husband wanted a certain fish made a certain way, but our waiter told us the dish was «pre-​made». Hello, do they know what a «scratch» kitchen is? Although my panino was tasty, it was crisp on one side and a floppy soggy mess on the other side. I doubted that they even grilled it on one side. Pretty gross. The fish taco was a baton of fried fish set atop two soft tortillas with some kind of slaw on the side. Everything is served in plastic baskets, the type you would get at a clam bake. We were not given any forks. When we alerted the waiter about our fork situation, he exclaimed that «no one» had given us forks. That «no one» being him? Or… Maybe they have a fork butler who was slacking that evening? The hilarious part was that the waiter came back with *one* fork and set it between us. I said to my husband, «Would you like to use The Fork»? Luckily, we both have a sense of humor about these things (up to a point). I got a hard cider that was in a can and not cold. I was going to put ice in it, but decided that its lameness complimented my soggy sandwich perfectly. We plan to «scratch» this place off the list, sadly.

Debbie was so nice and accommodating for our group that came in. The food is made with ingredients from the local farms. The food we had was delicious! I highly recommend this place!

this place is a scratch all right scratch it off your list food here is barely palitable, i came back one more time but the food i ordered has no taste or flavor like the first visit i refuse to even name the items i ordered lousy sandwich lousy breakfast not coming back consider it scratched off list

I was so excited to eat here with friends visiting from western Mass. We sat down, the young man who sat us took our drink order, and then a woman brought us menus.
A few minutes (10, maybe?) the same woman who brought our menus came over to take our drink orders. We mentioned that the someone already took our drink orders and she responded by saying «oh he doesn’t know. He’s just helping me out.» We gave her our drink orders, and then she asked if we were ready to order food. We were not, as we had been chatting and catching up.
She came back a short time later and said that «a party of 10 just came in» and she wanted to get our brunch orders in before theirs. So, we told her what we wanted for brunch, and it looked like she typed it into her iPad.
Then we waited, and waited… and waited. Total time waiting *after* she took our orders was just over 60 minutes. We are generally pretty patient and knew what we were getting into by going to SK — and that it was probably going to take a long time but it would be worth the wait. But when we saw the table holding the party of 10 (actually 12!) get their food and we hadn’t had so much as a coffee refill, we started to get curious. When the waitress was questioned, she responded by looking through her iPad at the orders and saying that ours wasn’t in there. She also got kind of snippy when we asked how long it would take after she told us to ‘give me your order again and I’ll give it to the kitchen right now.’
So, we never got to eat at SK. We did walk next door to Brothers and had a fantastic breakfast… not what we were looking for initially, but after an hour and 20 minutes of waiting for Sunday brunch, we were so hungry it didn’t matter. Customer service is customer service, and SK failed miserably.

Myself and two friends recently had dinner here on Saturday ³⁄₅ and everything was fantastic. It was a spur of the moment «how about here» decision and it certainly turned out to be the right one!
Personally I had Mac & Cheese with pulled pork and it was delicious. The smoked BBQ of the pork blended superbly with the creaminess of the pasta. It was so good I couldn’t even wait for it to cool before digging in.
The waitress? Hostess? Was delightful and welcoming. Stopped in to check at regular intervals and struck up a real conversation as opposed to just idle chat.
I’m very happy we dined here.

Positive — Really good burger, one of the best I’ve eaten; grass fed sustainably raised beef.
Negative — Really random and cheap décor. Waitress was nice but spread way to thin.

Came here on Halloween it was extremely busy really long line but I didn’t mind the wait. What I did mind is that the staff were too busy and frustrated to answer any questions like are there 2 seperate lines for seating or to go? After about a 45 minute wait got our food (to go) and it was really bland. The brisket was just plain and soggy. I was too hungry to care but I won’t be eating here again.

After sitting at the place called Brothers something for 15 minutes and not one person greeted me or acknowledged my presence, I ventured 20 seconds over (ova) to this excellent little establishment and was immediately greeted by an upbeat and delightful host/​waitress. Being in the hospitality industry, sometime that’s all it takes.
Ordered the bacon, egg and cheddar sandwich, after receiving my coffee of course, and within 10 minutes my meal came out hot and fresh. HOMEMADE BACON. Best OJ I’ve had on my cross country trip so far. Very fulfilling experience. Ready to tackle downtown Salem, right outside the door. Try the BACON dusted popcorn. I might drive all the way from CA again just to have this experience again. Great people, environment and food.

This place was completely empty and service was subpar, but the food was delicious. The only thing is that the jasmine rice was really dry. The pulled pork sandwich was off the hook, with or without BBQ sauce (which delicious in and of itself). The ketchup is awesome too. Fries were hot and fresh and they serve you complimentary popcorn upon being seated. Interior of the restaurant could use a little renovation but it’s not awful.

Really disappointed after seeing the reviews.
Went with the wife and kids. One out of the four meals came out correct. Our requests weren’t overly complicated: add bacon; no coleslaw. Dinning room was not busy yet we had a difficult time getting our server.
Also ordered a beer that came in a can and the can was filthy.
In an age where there are so many chemicals in our food, I love what they are about. Maybe we just went on a bad night? It will be a while before we go back with so many other options in the area.

This place has nreally good food. I had the BLT AMD THE BACON WAS AMAZING! They even make their bacon from scratch. I highly recommend you have something with bacon from this place.
They have homemade colas from Maine and they are delicious.
This place is located in proximity to the harbor. And the touristy areas of Salem.

We came here for breakfast on Sunday because there was no wait. After eating here, we now realize why there was no wait.
Even though the restaurant was only about 20% full, service was slow, and our server was very friendly but didn’t seem to be present. After informing her we wanted bacon, she asked us if we wanted bacon. My decaf coffee was almost refilled with regular coffee.
I ordered the potatoes with eggs, bacon, and BBQ ribs. The meat was not fall off the bones. It was more like put elbow grease into removing the meat, it was so dry and hardened from overcooking. The bacon was also way overcooked and really dry, probably from sitting under a heat lamp.
The best part was the coffee. We will not return.

I’ve heard good things about this restaurant, and it seems to live up to the hype. We were immediately greeted and invited to sit anywhere. Everything looked clean, and I’d give it a «quaint hipster» vibe.
Nothing about Scratch Kitchen is hurried, which they tell you on the menu. The menu was delicious, with a good selection of «normal» looking food with a little something extra. You can really smell the food cooking from the semi-​open kitchen, something I always like.
My fish taco was soggy; I’m not sure if it was the dressing or the slaw, but each taco dripped when I picked it up and my dish was a small puddle by the time I was done. The flavors were great, don’t get me wrong, I just prefer to not have the fish still swimming when I eat it. The Scratch Burger looked great, and my wife finished it all – the only change she would have made is using actual bacon rather than the onion & bacon jam, but I think some of that comes from her dislike of jam. If you go, GET A SIDE OF BACON! That shit was divine (although greasy, bring an AED) and I could have easily eaten my own dish of it instead of sharing.
I wish I could have paid more attention to the been menu, but what I did see of it makes me want to return (well, the beer menu and the bacon; never forget the bacon). Good selection of craft beer in bottles and draft. Even the non-​alcoholic menu was unique, with natural sodas.
Overall, a great place that may become my new Salem go-​to.