Brett S.
Yelp
I don't want to sound pretentious, and I don't want to pretend to know what the owners of this restaurant want, but this place feels to me like a fine dining restaurant that doesn't quite have the tools to execute that vision.
First impressions were great; this is a cool place with a neat ambience. It is a super inviting space on the 10th floor (I believe) that is well lit (refreshing to not have a nice meal in the dark) and has a nice view of the city and river. The decor is great; there are "family photos," a fireplace, and the furniture even feels familiar. A great start.
Service was...slow.
The bar is...incompetent. I got an Old Fashioned, which came with a BUNCH of ice...it was mostly ice. It was watery, like the 25 tiny ice cubes in it sat on the bar for 25 minutes before it came to me. It came full in a Collins glass, with the top half of the liquid being clear and the bottom being vaguely brown-liquor colored. It tasted like...water. I sent it back, and not trusting them to a second effort (this was a failure of more than just execution), I just got a glass or liquor. My companion's cocktail was also lackluster, but not as much of a failure as mine. I'd like to add a note here - we had come from cocktails at The Royce down the street, which stood in stark contrast - they were excellent with impeccable attention to detail. Cocktails at The View at Shires Garden were anything but.
Onto food!
For starters, we got crab cakes, fried green tomatoes, and a beet salad. The crab cakes were 3 of 5 stars; lots of crab but they fell apart, came with a wilted pile of greens, and the plating was amateurish; a glop of sauce on the plate. The fried green tomatoes were good. No complaints about the beet salad.
My companion got scallops and loved them. By the time we ordered entrees, I was skeptical of The Shires Garden, and opted for what I viewed as a low-risk option...I didn't trust them to get the filet right, so I ordered the short rib. I enjoyed it; but I also view it as a tough entree to screw up.
Dessert was beignets. They came out hot and tasty and were a highlight of the meal.
Total bill for 2 cocktails, a glass of wine, two appetizers, a salad, two entrees, and a dessert was $192. Not unreasonable for what I feel like we got.
This is a cool spot with a shitty bar and OK food. If the bar was capable, I would highly recommend it for happy hour, but it isn't. And the food isn't good enough to recommend it as a great meal. So, I don't quite know what to say about this place, other than 3-stars...there are better bars, there is better service, there is better food, but the view and space are cool. This place could easily improve the bar or the service and be a force to be reckoned with in the local restaurant scene.