The restaurant brands founded by the celebrity chef known as Salt Bae are starting a new chapter, apparently hoping to turn the page on a bumpy story that has included both bad reviews and rapid growth.
Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, is a Turkish chef and restaurateur who gained social media fame in 2017 for his unusual technique for sprinkling salt onto meat. The online notoriety helped fuel the growth of a 28-unit global steakhouse chain, Nusr-Et, as well as the smaller SaltBae Burger.
The restaurants, at least in the U.S., have been widely panned by food critics, have come under fire for violating COVID-19 protocols, and faced multiple labor lawsuits. At the same time, new openings have drawn crowds eager to catch a glimpse of Salt Bae, and sales have increased over the past five years. Between 2018 and 2022, U.S. sales rose 38% as Nusr-Et went from two restaurants to seven, and global sales grew 57%, according to the company. Over the past year alone, sales are up 18%, COO Al Avci said in an interview.
Now, Nusr-Et is investing in a refresh that includes more menu variety, a wider wine and cocktail selection and a sharper focus on entertainment in its restaurants. SaltBae Burger, meanwhile, is eyeing expansion in the U.S. after closing its only location here less than three months ago.
“We’re in major growth mode,” Avci said. “It’s a very exciting time for the Nusr-Et brand globally.”
Nusr-Et, a combination of Gökçe's first name and the Turkish word for "meat," has long been known for its wide array of American Wagyu beef cuts. Previously, its steak selection was made up almost entirely of this highly marbled beef varietal. But it is now adding other categories such as Prime Angus to give people more options.
It’s also expanding its wine and cocktail menu as it prepares to transform some of its massive restaurants into restaurant-club hybrids under a new format called Eating Dancing. The concept operates as a restaurant until 11:30 p.m., at which point it will transition into more of a lounge, where people can order alcohol and small bites while they enjoy music from a DJ. Eating Dancing is currently being tested at the Nusr-Et location on the Greek island of Mykonos.
“Guests can have an incredible dinner, and after that, keep enjoying their cocktails, and it turns into a club,” Avci said. “They don’t have to go elsewhere. They can stay in the dining room.”
DJs, by the way, are now a feature of all Nusr-Et locations, adding a layer of entertainment atop the dining experience. They play original electronic music that is so well-liked by guests that some have asked to buy it. Nusr-Et is not selling the music just yet, Avci said, but the demand supports his belief that consumers have an appetite for more than just food with their meal these days.
“What we see is the guests like to have the music and the entertainment,” he said. “It’s almost like a dinner and a show.”
Nusr-Et is plotting more international locations, and its flagships in Miami and New York will get renovations soon. But the company does not have near-term plans to open more Nusr-Ets here, Avci said, and its Boston location is reportedly for lease. A representative told NBC Boston the company is considering relocating the restaurant.
Rather, the company is putting its money on SaltBae Burger, which until recently had just one U.S. location, in New York City. That restaurant closed in June “based on challenges within the existing location,” according to a statement on Nusr-Et’s website, and its menu was added to Nusr-Et’s two New York locations.
SaltBae Burger earned a negative public perception after a March 2020 Gothamist review called it “the worst restaurant in NYC right now.” It also courted controversy with such menu items as $99 milkshakes and the “ladies burger”—a veggie burger with pink buns that was free for women.
Nonetheless, the company sees a market in the U.S. for SaltBae’s signature item: a $12 to $15 American Wagyu-beef burger cooked on a charcoal grill.
“The value that you get at SaltBae is probably one of the highest all around the world [in terms of] the quality of the meat, the size of the meat versus the price,” said Deniz Met, Nusr-Et’s global director of marketing.
The self-service restaurants will be in big cities and airports as well as places with large student populations, Avci said. The company is aiming to open as many as 40 SaltBae Burgers worldwide over the next several years. It did not indicate how many of those will be in the U.S.