Salumeria Prima

Reviews

• Esme H.

  star star star star star 13 June 2026

  Omg they had the most awesome generously portioned fresh mozzarella plate, with cured meats.
  Stopped in there and it was great! Couldn't believe I was eating in an airport.
  It was great.

• Christopher K.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 5 June 2026

  I am known for many things -- patience, kindness, understanding... rage is not one of them. And yet, today, that is exactly the quality I exuded throughout my god-awful experience dining at Salumeria Prima while waiting to fly to Chicago.
  
  To be clear, Salumeria Prima is not a real restaurant. Have you ever heard of it? Of course you haven't. Nor have you ever heard of any of the "new and improved" dining options that now line all of Terminal C in Newark Airport. What they have done here is force out all of the name-brand restaurants and chains, including standards like McDonald's, and classic NYC offshoots such as the Grand Central Oyster Bar, and the Caliente Cab Company. (Neither of which were particularly memorable, to be fair.)
  
  All of these places have now been replaced by a series of generic and faux sushi bars, gastropubs, beer gardens, and the like -- thanks to a company called OTG, whose mission is to "transform the airport experience." Well, they've accomplished that. Terminal C has been transformed into the worst possible airport experience you could ever imagine.
  
  You may have had one of these transformative experiences yourself if you recently traveled through the area. All of the "restaurants" require ordering through an iPad that almost never works. Tips are requested in advance of service. No matter what fake establishment you're in, there's commonality and overlap in all of the menus as if to subtlety remind you that there's some big central kitchen hidden in the terminal cranking out all of their terrible and overpriced food and drink. $20 for a Bulleit Manhattan that the bartender doesn't even know how to make correctly? Eek! Methinks not.
  
  Worst thing about Salumeria Prima was that the place was infested with flies and gnats. And no, they were not just visiting from other parts of the airport. My attempt to eat an antipasto plate and sip a drink was interrupted by the need to constantly swat away these flying little pests. They were, literally, all over the place. I finally just gave up and left. And of course, I needed help from the server because the iPad card scanner wouldn't work.
  
  Unfortunately, OTG will somehow manage to be successful because they've taken all choice away and replaced it with the facade of choice. The sad reality is that travelers now have no choice but to line OTG's coffers or go without food and drink while waiting for their flights. And because everything is so incredibly and grossly overpriced, they'll always have enough money on hand to buy more iPads that will surely fail 90% of the time.
  
  Just another chapter of Newark Airport's decline...

• Chris V.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 28 May 2026

  We stopped at this place because it looked like a 'real' restaurant, after accepting the fact that Newark Airport's C terminal had no places to get food that didn't force you to order from an iPad.
  
  The first table my husband and I sat at had only one iPad on it. It was broken, but I assumed a server would come by to check on us, or help us out with it, or.. anything, really. We sat there for ten minutes before realizing that wasn't the case, and switched to another table. This one had dirty cutlery and glasses on it. I was hungry and tired at this point and was willing to overlook this just to get some food.
  
  Everything was obscenely overpriced. I ordered a tea and a kale salad. My husband ordered a glass of (quite bad) wine, and a sandwich. Including the 18.5% automatic gratuity (for what? someone handing you the order you made on an iPad?) out meal came out to something like 55USD (74.00CAD), which was obscene.
  
  The card reader didn't work on our iPad, so we tried both his and mine. Neither seemed to be working, so I went up to the bar (as our server didn't come to our table even once) and asked if the order went through. The bartender asked if we meant to order two of everything. We insisted that we clearly did not and he promised to reverse the second charge.
  
  The food was fine. Nothing special, and not worth the cost. But the second charge was NOT reversed, and trying to contest with this restaurant has been a nightmare; there's no contact number anywhere for it, and the airport won't connect us with them. So we now have two huge charges for a crappy dining experience. I'd seriously avoid this place. It's just not worth it. It would have been better to just buy some chips from the vending machine until we got on the plane.

• Thomas R.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 22 May 2026

  First I would like to commend the staff.  Staff were attentive and helpful in a format that is fundamentally flawed.  Staff had two hands tied behind their back due to the ordering system and overall food quality.
  
  The iPad ordering system functions as if in beta test mode. There were problems at initiation when it could not read my boarding pass.  The first iPad failed. Ordering was fine but it is cumbersome to place the food order the without going through checkout where you determine a tip amount.  I found it odd to get to and 18.5% tip approval screen before seeing food or any human interaction.  I ordered and paid for the stuffed dates and later learned they were not available.
  
  The food was nowhere near consistent with the upscale format and pricing. The pea soup tasted like basic canned soup with a packaged lobster topped piece of toast. The bruschetta was basic with hot sauce to mask the ingredients. My club soda come without lemon or lime. I left the United Club for real food and would have done much better sticking with the "free" cheese and crackers.  
  
  The restaurant needs the touch of real chef.

• Chris M.

  star star star star star 15 May 2026

  Ok, first trip where my layover is Newark, and so far I am not a fan of the airport, but at the risk of setting off filters, tbis restaurant is EFFING AWESOME! Not much to look at, but I ordered a Bacardi 'n' diet, and was server a double pour of 8-year, and my paninni was the best I have ever had! Wow! Not sure why thr poor ratings, but I am usually pretty critical of restaurants, and this place got an A+ in my book!