Charles A.
Yelp
Visited Shutters on King on a Sunday night and walked away impressed with the potential here.
Ambiance: 10/10. The space is gorgeous, thoughtfully renovated to honor the historical building while adding stylish, modern character. It feels warm, lively, and intentional. Easily one of the best atmospheres in Leesburg.
Service: Also 10/10. Heather was fantastic, friendly, attentive, and on point the whole night.
Drinks: 7/10, Cocktails were good, but at their price point I expect clear ice and a fully stocked bar. The Old Fashioned was solid but a bit too sweet for my taste (this is fine). More surprising: they were out of Benedictine, which is a staple for quite a few classic bourbon cocktails.
Food:
Table bread was great and unique, especially with the soft, spreadable butter. The bread was a combination of what looked like very high quality dinner rolls, and what looked like a thin focaccia bread with cherry tomatoes in it (very good!),
Oysters were fresh and delicious. Vidalia onion dip was a pleasant surprise. Deviled eggs were good, though a little heavy on the mustard.
Rainbow trout and autumn pesto pasta were both very good and would order again, but neither quite hit that "stand out" level.
One disappointment: they had a 37 oz tomahawk special, but the kitchen couldn't tell us anything about it beyond "from a farm in the Midwest." For a cut like that, details matter: feed type, grade, marbling, breed, any dry aging. If you're going to feature a premium steak, you should be ready to talk about it. I appreciated our server trying to hunt down more information for me. That lack of information is what led me to not choose it, and I'm usually a sucker for a steak special.
Bottom line: I'd absolutely come back for the service and ambiance alone. The food is solid, and the place has all the ingredients to grow into a Leesburg staple as the bar and kitchen sharpen their execution. Also, the smash burger looked fantastic as it passed by...I'll be back to try that along with their brunch.
Excited to see how Shutters matures. Future visits could easily be 4-5 stars as they continue to improve.