By Ebony L. Morman 

No two days are the same at the James Beard Award-nominated Salud Cerveceria in NoDa. That’s largely because Salud isn’t just one thing. It’s a restaurant known for its wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas, a beer shop with 16 beers on draft, and a coffee shop that serves espresso. There’s also a wine bar and free salsa and bachata dance lessons on designated Saturdays during its popular Latin dance night, Noche Latina. 

While this may seem like a lot for one bottle shop, every aspect of Sauld is within Dairelyn and Jason Glunt’s expertise. Jason, who helped start the bar program at The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar and did a stint at eeZ Fusion & Sushi in Birkdale Village, opened Salud Beer Shop in 2012 on the first floor of its current location with only four beers on draft. Dairelyn, who had previous bartending experience, helped out behind the bar for years before joining Jason at the beer shop in 2016. That’s when the beer shop evolved. Dairelyn’s love for wine inspired a wine program and weekly wine tastings. That next year, the cerveceria, or brewery, opened on the second floor of the beer shop. 

“We called it cerveceria because our beer and aesthetic is a homage to my Dominican heritage,” Dairelyn says. “We wanted to share that with the craft beer scene.” 

These days, Salud’s beer is brewed in a rented space at Heist Brewery in NoDa and in addition to beer and wine, guests can also enjoy seltzers, ciders, and sake cocktails. 

We spoke with one of the owners about how their small bottle shop became one of the few James Beard Award-recognized spots in Charlotte.

Unpretentious Palate: What was your initial vision for Salud? 
Dairelyn Glunt: Jason’s initial vision was to open a bottle shop that served craft beer. There wasn’t much of that in 2010, so he wanted to do a neighborhood bar. His vision was always a place where industry people go to drink. That’s exactly what Salud Beer Shop is to this day. I’m from the Dominican Republic originally, so the cerveceria showcases my side and Salud Beer Shop is Jason. It’s that Michigan bar. He’s a huge Michigan fan, so he has all the Michigan stuff and soccer. So downstairs is Jason, upstairs, it’s all me. My personality shines through with all the plants and colors. 

UP: Who curates the menu? 
DG: We created it together. We had a chef from Chicago who Jason became friends with through beer. He pretty much helped us out at the beginning, and then he left. He went back to Michigan. Thankfully we have the recipes, so we have been doing the same thing since we opened the restaurant in 2018. We’ve changed some stuff, but it’s still really good quality and we make everything in-house. 

UP: What three words would you use to describe the Salud experience? 
DG: Unique, cultural, and vibey. When you walk in, it feels like an oasis in the middle of the city. The entire experience is unique and true to us. We love showcasing our cultures in everything we do. Most of the beer names are in Spanish and some contain fruits and flavors that I grew up eating in the Dominican Republic. And from the music to the food and the beverages to the atmosphere, vibes at Salud are immaculate. 

UP: What can people expect when they visit Salud?
DG: When we first opened, there was not a brewery that looked like Salud, and that’s why we focus on doing things our way, what’s true to us. I love plants, I love colorful things. So Salud is very open and airy. We have skylights, so we are able to have a bunch of plants, and they grow beautifully upstairs. I actually take care of them myself. We’re always playing either Latin music or old school hip hop. I host Noche Latina on the first and third Saturday of the month, which has been my biggest pride and joy to have a space for Latinos and people of color to feel welcomed, dance, and have fun. At first, it was the third Saturday but it has become so popular that we have had to do it twice a month now. We have a Dominican DJ and offer free dance lessons to the public. After so many years, it’s still popular and it’s still fun. 

UP: Why is Salud important to the community?
DG: We try to do a lot with the Latin community, and people of color. I feel like there’s not many women Latino-owned breweries. Salud was the first Dominican-owned brewery in the east side. Now, I think there’s another Dominican-owned brewery. That’s important to have representation, and for other Latinos to know it’s possible to be a business owner and be important in the Latino community. Another thing that’s funny is we always try not to do anything that other breweries do. So Jason and I always said that we would never have a run club. Then, a Latino run club came to us, and they wanted to do it at Salud, so now we have a Latino run club. We just try to do things that are true to us. Salud works because it’s me and Jason. We are unique in our own ways.

UP: What’s special about both the wine and beer programs? 
DG: We focus on natural wines mainly. I focus on small wineries, small production, and very little manipulation in the winemaking. I love different wines, not things that you can buy at any grocery store. So I try to focus on wines that I enjoy. And because I’ve been doing these tastings for so many years, I have a feel for what people like when they come to Salud. So I try to cater to that. Right now orange wines and carbonic wines are popular. Carbonic maceration starts with a red wine, but in the process of the winemaking, they put grapes in a tank, and they let gravity juice the grapes out, and this creates a little fizzy red wine, and it needs to be chilled. It’s super delicious and great for the summer. 

Jason has been doing beer for 12 years. He loves it and he tries to do the most unique things, things that you cannot find anywhere else. We have noticed people want to come to Salud to drink draft beer. Because of that, we have incorporated more seating at Salud Beer Shop and are focusing on the beer on the draft list. So it’s beers that you cannot get anywhere else. That’s what we aim for. Sour beers are popular and right now people are drinking summer lagers. 

UP: What was your reaction to the James Beard Award nomination? How has that impacted Salud?  
DG: I remember [Jason] telling me the story of his friend from Axios calling to ask for a comment on the nomination. We had no idea we were even up for nomination. Once we saw it on Eater Carolinas a few hours later, it was an amazing feeling. To start out as just a small beer shop on the corner with no public relations team and to organically grow over the years, it was just a wonderful sense of accomplishment. We were most excited about telling our staff that their hard work was being recognized. The nomination opened up our business to new customers who may have expected a white tablecloth restaurant which we are not. The best part was that we were able to tell our story and show them a great experience. Now, they are some of our favorite regulars.

UP: If you weren’t in hospitality, what would you be doing? 
DG: I would love to be a stay at home mom, have a garden, and cook all day. I love to cook things from scratch. Another dream would be to own a flower shop or be an interior designer.