Opus

Salem, United States

4.5

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 978-744-9600
Website:
www.salemopus.com
Address:
87 Washington St, Salem, MA, 01970
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
440 ftWashington St @ Federal St
740 ftWashington St @ New Derby St
910 ftNorth St opp Lynde St
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Brunch, Dinner
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Trendy
Noise Level
Average
Music
Live
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Full Bar
Happy Hour
No
Best Nights
Thu, Fri, Sat
Coat Check
No
Smoking
Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No
Has Pool Table
No

Today

Today 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Salem) 03:36 Friday, 20 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Tuesday 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Wednesday 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Thursday 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Friday 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 am – 10:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Opus is known for their small plates and sushi, but the cocktail menu is not to be missed. It is filled with flavor combinations unlike anything else on the North Shore. Opus was awards both «Best After Work Drinks» from North Shore Magazine and «Best Sushi» every year since the restaurant opened.

Opus’ maverick kitchen whips up unexpected flavor combinations that simply taste amazing. The restaurant’s sushi team draws on both East and Western influences to create sushi rolls that are as unique as they are delicious. The upstairs dining room is centered around an oversized, glowing glass bar where guests can meet for a drink or enjoy a leisurely Sunday brunch. The restaurant also offers its 5−5−5 Menu at the bar Monday through Thursday, when guests can enjoy five different popular appetizers at just $ 5 each and $ 1 oysters from 5 — 6 PM.

Downstairs, in Opus Underground, guests enjoy nightly entertainment in a Moroccan-​inspired space, filled with cozy seating, oriental rugs and dim lighting. It is an intimate space with the stellar acoustics to amplify live tunes for dancing or just mingle in comfy lounge chairs. The live music crosses all genres with weekly punk shows, karaōke, hip hop, reggae nights, and more.

Opus Underground is also a popular spot for private parties, and if your event is scheduled for earlier in the evening, you can just roll into our regularly scheduled entertainment to keep the party going all night!

History

Established in 2013.

Part of the Serenitee Restaurant Group. We pride ourselves in building unique restaurants that grow out of the community where they are.

We have two foodie, local sourcing restaurants:

— 15Walnut in Hamilton

— Alchemy in Gloucester.

Two «Cheers» bars where everyone knows your name:

— Cala’s in Manchester

— Hale St Tavern, Sushi and Oyster Bar in Beverly Farms.

And two destination restaurants with live music:

— Opus and Opus Underground in Salem

— Latitude 43 and Minglewood Tavern on the waterfront in Gloucester MA.

Serenitee comes from the Serenity Prayer. The informal «tee» shirt ending comes from our commitment to make places that are comfortable and fun.

Meet the Business Owner

Jeff C and Mark M. M.

Business Owner

Jeff Cala is Serenitee’s Managing Partner and Executive Chef. He oversees the daily operations of all 6 restaurants with a particular emphasis on designing menus, sourcing top quality ingredients, and inspiring staff to work at their highest level. Jeff is a Mozart in the kitchen. He has an instinct for what works, a palette that can deconstruct anything he has tasted and a drive to be the best. Jeff is a sponge for knowledge and has worked at some of the finest restaurants in California, New York, Florida and MA before co-​founding the Serenitee Restaurant Group.

Mark McDonough is a serial entrepreneur and owner of Serenitee Restaurant Group. He oversees hospitality, marketing, finance. Mark’s views the restaurants as an extension of his commitment to weaving community. He has a masters degrees in business from MIT and Family Therapy from Antioch New England. Having a degree in family therapy is VERY useful in the restaurant world;

Opus also recommends

Latitude 43

311

reviews

Seafood

,

American (Traditional)

,

Sushi Bars

Jeff C and Mark M. M. says,

«Contemporary, coastal cuisine, award-​winning sushi, jaw-​dropping green architecture, cozy fireplace, outdoor dining on Gloucester’s waterfront.»

15 Walnut

110

reviews

American (New)

Jeff C and Mark M. M. says,

«Comfort food with a little edge and a focus on local ingredients, plus friendly bartenders, creative cocktails, cozy seating & weekly live music»

Minglewood Tavern

24

reviews

Bars

Jeff C and Mark M. M. says,

«20 rotating beers on tap, live music Fri & Sat, tavern favorites like nachos, wings, burgers & wood-​fired pizza. Cozy barn board wrap around bar.»

Alchemy — CLOSED

30

reviews

American (New)

Jeff C and Mark M. M. says,

«4.5 stars! Romantic bistro atmosphere and named nooks like „The Cave“. Vegetarian-​friendly, local seafood, house made charcuterie, Sunday brunch.»

TWK

31

reviews

American (New)

Jeff C and Mark M. M. says,

«4 stars! Modern American cuisine made from scratch with local ingredients, creative sushi & fresh crudo, dynamic wine program & weekly live music.»

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20 reviews of Opus

No registration required
Place rating: 5
North Reading, MA
My husband and I both ordered a sushi dish and it was delicious. I got the spicy tuna, as always. The restaurant itself is a bit crowded upstairs, but downstairs was super fun and funky. Its a lounge with live music some nights. We went down after sushi and had some post dinner drinks. I would definitely recommend this place for good food and service, and a great after party feel downstairs!
Place rating: 5
Orlando, FL
Always love the food here. Been here a few times. Sushi is great .and the opus burger
Place rating: 5
Marblehead, MA
Love this restaurant! Fun, exciting, healthy and delicious array of small plate items. Opus is filled with lots of good energy, warmth and friendly staff.
Place rating: 5
Salem, MA
My dad likes to hang out here so I came along for the ride of our lives! There are 2 wonderful floors of good vibes and chill tunes. We went downstairs to grab an old school styled father and son type drink and boy some kickin live music was the cherry on top of our excellent bonding experience. I can honestly thank the staff and all involved at the opus for bring me and my father closer than ever and the service and good times provided by all individuals led to a life’s times of joy. Thanks
Place rating: 5
Gloucester, MA
A friend and I stopped by for lunch and it was great. The sushi and sashimi was outstanding. I also had the Opus Burger and it was cooked to perfection (medium rare!) and delicious. The service was very good, everyone was friendly and attentive without being overly so. The martini’s were perfect and I loved the monster sized olives! The bar, where we ate, was funky yellow — very cool. This will be on my places to visit when in Salem again, for sure.
Place rating: 3
Salem, MA
I loved Opus when they first opened, but they have changed the menu multiple times, so it seems they are trying to figure out what works for them. My husband and I decided to give it another try, and were able to be seated easily on a Sunday evening. The bar area is hip and chic and the bar glows different colors throughout the night. The drink menu is extensive and there are many interesting coctails on the drink menu. The food menu is a mix of flavors. There is a sushi menu, as well as small plates, American style entrees and burgers. We decided to order off the sushi menu. The Spicy Salmon Roll ($ 10) was your typical salmon marinated in a spicy mayo and wrapped with cucumber. This roll was good, but somewhat small. The Firecracker Roll ($ 12) was very tasty, with crunch right where it was needed. This roll was tuna, scallion, tempura flakes and Vietnamese chilli sauce. I would recommend this roll for the variety of flavors. Lastly, we ordered the Shaggy Dog ($ 17), which was my favorite, although priced more than I would expect for the size of the roll. This roll was salmon, mango and avocado wrapped together and topped with crab, mango sauce and Wasabi aioli. It was a flavor profile I had never experienced before. Overall, I thought the sushi was ok… although I have had better. The atmosphere here is nice and I’m sure I’ll be back for a girls night or another date night. I’ve heard the drinks at the bar are yummy.
Place rating: 4
Boston, MA
A fabulous «adult» bar and restaurant in an ever increasing field searching for a younger demographic; it’s absolutely refrshing. The food is fresh, exciting, and delicious. The drinks are just as excellent. Service can be slow, especially with all the craft cocktails, but it’s usually worth it. Definitely a go-​to place to eat and drink in Salem.
Place rating: 4
Salem, MA
Originally I gave Opus a Three star score, which does mean A-​OK. HOWEVER, the manager wrote to me, therefore I am raising it to 4 Stars!
I ate breakfast on a Sunday here once, and it was pretty good, but my family thought the food was just ok, nothing special. The waitress that day was extra nice.
However, we just went to dinner and had a really hard time choosing what to get. I try to be adventurous, but the menu/​dish combinations was just plain weird to us.
The waitress said it’s an «Eclectic» menu and had to give us more time to choose a few times. She was patient with us, and nice about it.
Why I didn’t follow my intuition, and just get the Garlic mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts as side orders, I live to regret! If I could have gotten salmon, and those two items it would have been nice, but the Salmon plate had nothing I was interested in at all.
I ended up getting a linguini dish with various mushrooms, and a cauliflower paste. Impossible to chew the mushrooms. They were under cooked, rubbery. So, I had to just pick around and eat the linguini only, which also could have been cooked slightly more, but I was desperate. There isn’t that much linguini in that dish!
I left hungry but didn’t want to make a fuss since we were there with friends, and I didn’t want to be a drag! I came home and ate some leftover raviolis I had made the day before!
The ginger ale was good.
UPDATE 1.21.16: THE MANAGER WROTE TO ME, WHICH I APPRECIATE SO MUCH. MY HUSBAND AND I HAVEN’T GIVEN UP ON OPUS. WE WILL TRY IN THE FUTURE, AND FOR SURE GET THE GARLIC MASHED POTATOES, AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH SALMON!
I AM ADDING AN EXTRA STAR.
Place rating: 5
Princeton, NJ
Our first time to Opus but not our last! We shared 4 rolls and all were super fresh and delicious! They were The Firecracker, Spicy Tuna, Yummy Roll and Dragon Roll. The fish tasted like it hard just been caught! Excellent!!!
Place rating: 5
Newington, NH
Great music waiting for table on a Sunday night after Christmas.
Friendly greeting upon entering, nice atmosphere. Not too loud or pretentious. Menu has good selection, sushi menu has many great options.
Prices are decent, two of us and one drink. Quite satisfied with total with tip. Will recommend.
Food was very good.
Place rating: 4
Danvers, MA
Opus is known for the small plates and their sushi, but I was also impressed with their cocktail menu.
The California roll was among the freshest I’ve ever had, filled with delicious lump crab meat.
We also had fried calamari and bacon wrapped dates filled with feta and basil that were warm, sweet, salty, and both soft and crispy at the same time. I ended up replicating the recipe for Thanksgiving they were that good.
I had a Maverick burger which is really just the chefs choice. The beef was perfectly cooked, moist, and was topped with mushrooms and bone marrow for a rich, savory burger. I loved it.
The meal wasn’t without issues, unfortunately. The wrong salad was served and the replacement took forever, and a cocktail ordered took 20 minutes to get to the table. But here’s what makes the difference between a well-​run business and a place where management doesn’t care — the manager apologized, with the cocktail in hand and told us it was now on the house, as was the salad, and another item. We had also had a Groupon that we didn’t realize was for Thursday night and we were dining on a Friday. Well, the manager noticed and decided to still honor the Groupon even though we were there on the wrong night. The food was delicious, so I had no problem paying the full price and using the Groupon another time on the proper night. But instead we left paying very little for an amazing meal.
So despite some minor hiccups on a very busy night, I will most definitely be coming back to Opus again and again. Great management really shines here, while both the food and cocktail menu impress and satisfy.
Place rating: 3
Bayside, Queens, NY
Bad service must be a running joke in Salem, because it can’t be a coincidence that my friend and I were met with rude staff at every restaurant we visited during a weekend trip for her birthday. Opus has a great atmosphere, and there was even a live funk band playing at 2pm on a Sunday — but our waitress completely killed the experience.
Although it was practically empty, she emphasized that we should not have requested to be seated at a table because we were only ordering drinks and dessert. She also prematurely brought out the check not once, but TWICE before we were even done ordering additional libations.
I admit their cocktail menu is quite creative, and the ones we had were all very tasty. I don’t recall all the names (since some were seasonal and not listed on their website), but the two drinks containing ghost chili and pumpkin purée definitely deserve an honorable mention! We had also shared their coffee panna cotta with candied pecans, which was just the right amount of sweet to keep us sated.
Place rating: 5
Salem, MA
It is safe to say that after 2 years, and well over 30 visits, Opus is hands down our FAVORITE place for dinner and brunch in Salem!
Creative, ever-​changing cocktail, wine and food menu, chill atmosphere, great band playing during Sunday brunch and lots of Gluten Free and vegetarian options on the menu for those with food restrictions.
We love to sit on the bar. Devin and Ramona are the BEST bartenders in the business! Their knowledge /​passion for cocktails and making you feel welcome and well taken care of, is what keeps us coming back!
PS: Their new braised octopus with sausage, Brussels sprouts and polenta dish put some serious hooks in me! I have been craving it on daily basis!!!
Place rating: 2
Hopkinton, MA
Ugh. Such a disappointment. I was really looking forward to eating here and relaxing, enjoying the ambiance, etc. It was Halloween night (and before I go on, yes, I KNOW it was busy, mistakes happen) but the service we received was depressing for a posh, modern place like this.
We waited in a thick crowded line for about 10 – 15 min. Not too bad. We were seated in a corner by the front of the restaurant. Our waitress was very nice, sweet, friendly lady, but once the drinks and food was ordered, everything went downhill.
We ordered a Cesar salad and a side of truffle fries. Both very good, but we didn’t receive our apps for a good 25 min. We watched 3 parties come and go while waiting for our food. Listen, I’ll repeat, I get it was a busy night, but there were no excuses to have 3 other parties have their food delivered on time and faster than we received our entrees.
We ordered 3 sushi dishes for our meals, but we were in such a hurry to get on with our night, we couldn’t even really enjoy it. For $ 19 for a sushi dish composed of 5 pieces, it was not worth it. I got the shrimp tempura roll and it was cold by the time it was served.
The manager did come over to us, spoke with us, made sure everything else was alright and took off the sushi from our bill. I respect that entirely, but I don’t know if I’d come back again, truthfully.
Place rating: 5
Quincy, MA
Just tried this place for the first time yesterday. It was soooo good! I got the steak frites. It was cooked perfectly and the truffle fries were equally as yummy.
Also got the spicy salmon roll. It was very fresh.
Bf got the opus burger– he said it was amazing!
Mom got orriecetti (?) which was one of the specials. It was just as good as our meals!
Step dad also got a burger and it was cooked perfectly.
The drink menu is totally wacky with weird ingredients but once you figure it out they are very tasty. I got the life on Mars. There is a great beer and wine list. I would recommend their house red– it’s very smooth.
We will def be come back to try more sushi!
Place rating: 4
Salem, MA
I like Opus.
I like the space, I like the vibe and I like most of the staff. All of our servers here have been awesome. One of the bartenders was a bit dickish to a friend of mine who misunderstood and tried to order a glass of wine that was only offered by the bottle. They do have a nice beer and wine selection. Interesting cocktail list, I have yet to try one.
Calamari is awesome, my husband loves it. Their sushi is steep but the portions are large and the fish is very fresh. I have tried a few different rolls all have been good. Their French onion soup was insanely delicious, my husband and I were fighting over the last bite. I came here on my birthday for some sushi and started the meal with an avocado gazpacho that was so buttery it was hard to believe it was a vegan offering. My husband had a special which was a pasta with roasted tomatoes and braised beef and it was excellent. Really everything I have tried here I have cleaned the plate.
The downstairs has live music and a totally different atmosphere. Its a little bit less my scene but it’s cool.
They are great about checking what is in their dishes if you are a vegan/​veggie or have any allergies…
Place rating: 5
Bethpage, NY
Came here for brunch. Got the spicy margarita and joy ride as a drink to start. Excellent drinks. Then ordering clam chowder as an app and a firecracker sushi roll as an app. Got the steak and eggs and molten avocado meals. Absolutely delicious. For dessert for the coffee panne cotta and ricotta pie. I wouldn’t hesitate to order anything else on the menu. Everything looks just as good as the next. And the staff is incredibly friendly. Stop in here for some good eats.
Place rating: 5
Malden, MA
Ok, so I gave Opus a second chance and I am so glad that I did! This is going to be a regular Salem hot-​spot for me. After my initial review the GM, Danny reached out to me and encouraged me to give them another shot. I love when businesses do that because it shows me that they care and that they take pride in how their customers feel and what that their experience is like! I don’t write Unilocal reviews with hopes no one reads them, I take pride in writing them and giving an honest opinion. I also like to see a hands on GM, Danny was running around hustling just like the rest of the staff.
The menu has changed and the new drinks are swanky and fun! Lots of house infused libations like gin and voda… very cool. Took me a while to choose my first drink! Then I switched over to the ever classic French 75 which was made to perfection. Ramona the bar manager is top notch. Her drinks are carefully crafted and delicious.
We tried the short rib raviolis and they did not disappoint. They are made in house and they were delightful. I hear they also make tator tots, which I will definitely have to try next time we go back!
Also I must check out the underground during our next visit.
Place rating: 5
Lynn, MA
Went to Opus a week ago Sunday with a Groupon and absolutely loved it!
After running through the extensive drink options, I decided on the Koala On A Mule and my husband enjoyed a local craft beer.
We started with a spicy tuna roll and the clam chowder. Both were delicious and flavorful.
For dinner, my husband enjoyed a ½ order of the paella (which was huge and chock full seafood). Even after trying his hardest, he still took a good-​sized portion home.
I enjoyed the beet salad and the mushroom tart. Both were decadent and very filling and both came home with us for a late night snack.
Opus has such a diverse menu — there’s something for everyone there!
Place rating: 5
Salem, MA
Opus is a fabulous restaurant! Every time I visit, I order something different and am always pleasantly surprised. I LOVE the drinks here and usually order the climbing rose or the sinner and saint (I think it’s called that).
If you’re NOT looking for an interesting and different dining experience, go somewhere else! (More for me anyway)
The new chef has masterfully created SO many unique and delightful dishes that they will make you want to come back for more. (Eat the figs… So tasty)
Opus also has a super cool atmosphere with very friendly servers, hosts, and bartenders.