Shady Grove

LOVE the tortilla catfish with queso. Worth going just for that, but desserts and drinks are awesome too. Totally relaxed atmosphere but long waits on weekends or Thursdays! Great place for kids! more

I have great memories of going to this place as a kid w/my dad. He worked at a shop not far from here, and in the summers I would go with him. This was our typical spot to have lunch at. Now with my own family, we love to come here. Summers are the best at Shady Grove, with a nice frozen margarita, or a cold beer, sitting in the shade with the mister fans. It doesn't get much better than that. I haven't even mentioned yet how great the food, drinks, and service is at this place! It's a great place to take the kiddos, meet friends, or have a nice afternoon with your honey. The only thing I miss is that they used to have live music more often, but a lot of newer regulations down town have changed that vibe all over. more

If the biggest problems with a restaurant revolve around its popularity, that's not a bad problem to have. Try the Fried Catfish with Queso for a delicious twist on an old standard. It's great outdoor dining in a fun, casual setting, perhaps with a live band. How much more ""Austin"" do you need? Pros: Atmosphere, fun dishes Cons: Parking can be a challenge, and the wait can be long more

If the biggest problems with a restaurant revolve around its popularity, that's not a bad problem to have. Try the Fried Catfish with Queso for a delicious twist on an old standard. It's great outdoor dining in a fun, casual setting, perhaps with a live band. How much more "Austin" do you need? Pros: Atmosphere, fun dishes Cons: Parking can be a challenge, and the wait can be long more

You come here for the hip spot, the music, the drinks but the food is just ok. I mean I have been here a dozen times and love the place but I've yet to eat anything I love (ok the frito pies are pretty good). Super place to catch live music or to come on a Sunday to recover from Saturday.\r People watching is off the chain. My single brother in law almost passes out everytime we go there. \r Good service, always friendly folks although busy busy.\r Great location! more

You come here for the hip spot, the music, the drinks but the food is just ok. I mean I have been here a dozen times and love the place but I've yet to eat anything I love (ok the frito pies are pretty good). Super place to catch live music or to come on a Sunday to recover from Saturday. People watching is off the chain. My single brother in law almost passes out everytime we go there. Good service, always friendly folks although busy busy. Great location! more

Uniquely Austin atmophere with fun food. We enjoy taking out-of-town guests here. The wait is a bit long, but they have lots of tables where you can order drinks & appetizers while you wait. It's a must-visit! Pros: Fun, uniquely Austin, outdoor atmosphere Cons: busy, long wait for a table, parking can be a problem on the weekends more

Uniquely Austin atmophere with fun food. We enjoy taking out-of-town guests here. The wait is a bit long, but they have lots of tables where you can order drinks & appetizers while you wait. It's a must-visit! Pros: Fun, uniquely Austin, outdoor atmosphere Cons: busy, long wait for a table, parking can be a problem on the weekends more

I had not been to Shady Grove in a decade. When three of us finished watching the Saturday matinee of Porgy and Bess we thought we go have a good enjoyable meal. Of course, the girls taking names were friendly and helpful. They said we could sit in the appetizer area and order drinks and appetizers while we waited 30 to 40 minutes. We kept seeing this one guy serving the tables around us but never came to our table. I asked the lady who walks people to their tables to get someone. She said she would. Five minutes later I got up and walked inside to ask some guy if we order at the table or have to go somewhere. He was of no help. After about 30 minutes the one guy who seemed to be delivering all the food outside and (supposed to be) waiting on our area came to ask us if we wanted anything. We ordered sodas and tea and the ""world-famous"" nachos with beef. One minute later we have a table.\r The nachos come and there were a total of 6 tortilla chips with a glob of nacho stuff. You're supposed to have ample chips and there really shouldn't be corn in it. That's just not right and more like world-infamous.\r It looked like the inside dining area had 1 lady, like the 1 dude outside, doing everything. We joked to find something good to say about the meal and I said that the friend covering to the chicken fried chicken was excellent. Everything else was not.\r This is my first negative review of any kind online. I just figure that these owners should hire more than 4 college students to serve a 100 patrons. I'm sure the wait staff are good; it's just management. And this will keep me away from Shady Grove for another 10 years. more

I had not been to Shady Grove in a decade. When three of us finished watching the Saturday matinee of Porgy and Bess we thought we go have a good enjoyable meal. Of course, the girls taking names were friendly and helpful. They said we could sit in the appetizer area and order drinks and appetizers while we waited 30 to 40 minutes. We kept seeing this one guy serving the tables around us but never came to our table. I asked the lady who walks people to their tables to get someone. She said she would. Five minutes later I got up and walked inside to ask some guy if we order at the table or have to go somewhere. He was of no help. After about 30 minutes the one guy who seemed to be delivering all the food outside and (supposed to be) waiting on our area came to ask us if we wanted anything. We ordered sodas and tea and the "world-famous" nachos with beef. One minute later we have a table. The nachos come and there were a total of 6 tortilla chips with a glob of nacho stuff. You're supposed to have ample chips and there really shouldn't be corn in it. That's just not right and more like world-infamous. It looked like the inside dining area had 1 lady, like the 1 dude outside, doing everything. We joked to find something good to say about the meal and I said that the friend covering to the chicken fried chicken was excellent. Everything else was not. This is my first negative review of any kind online. I just figure that these owners should hire more than 4 college students to serve a 100 patrons. I'm sure the wait staff are good; it's just management. And this will keep me away from Shady Grove for another 10 years. more

Shady Grove continues to shine as one of Austin's best homegrown restaurants. Its amazing this place is closing in on twenty years and still continues to improve and impress. We also visited Shady Grove during the trail of lights and experienced a similar situation as stew, but it was the other customers that were the cause of the disappointment. My wife and I were shocked at the abundance of rude and impatient people who seemed to direct all of their pent up holiday anger on the Shady Grove staff. We sat at the bar and the barstaff and the food were wonderful. When hundreds of people flood into a small restauarant at the same time and believe that they are the only customer and then get upset when the experience isn't perfect should try and slow down and remember how fortunate we are to have a place like Shady Grove. A place that provides great food at a reasonable price, kid friendly, beautiful patio, great staff, and gives so much back to the community. Keep up the great work Shady!!! We still love ya!!!! Pros: great food Cons: selfish rude customers more

Shady Grove continues to shine as one of Austin's best homegrown restaurants. Its amazing this place is closing in on twenty years and still continues to improve and impress. We also visited Shady Grove during the trail of lights and experienced a similar situation as stew, but it was the other customers that were the cause of the disappointment. My wife and I were shocked at the abundance of rude and impatient people who seemed to direct all of their pent up holiday anger on the Shady Grove staff. We sat at the bar and the barstaff and the food were wonderful. When hundreds of people flood into a small restauarant at the same time and believe that they are the only customer and then get upset when the experience isn't perfect should try and slow down and remember how fortunate we are to have a place like Shady Grove. A place that provides great food at a reasonable price, kid friendly, beautiful patio, great staff, and gives so much back to the community. Keep up the great work Shady!!! We still love ya!!!! Pros: great food Cons: selfish rude customers more

We waited almost 45 minutes to get seated on a busy Monday evening (Trail of Lights). We ordered appetizers that came at the same time as the main entrees, what a waste. By the time everybody had their plates in front of them, we realized there was no silverware. We asked the waitress for silverware, after 3 minutes we still had no silverware. We asked another waiter, who appeared a minute later with 5 sets of silverware, but we were 9 people at the table? We asked him what we are supposed to do with half the silverware missing, and that our food was cold by now. He started arguing with us, so we asked for the manager. She was all smiling and apologetic, but didn't really care.\r So we ate our mediocre cold food, will not be back, that's for sure. This used to be a great place, but now it's just another shabby restaurant ripping off customers. Pros: Outdoors Cons: Service, Management, Bring your own silverware more

We waited almost 45 minutes to get seated on a busy Monday evening (Trail of Lights). We ordered appetizers that came at the same time as the main entrees, what a waste. By the time everybody had their plates in front of them, we realized there was no silverware. We asked the waitress for silverware, after 3 minutes we still had no silverware. We asked another waiter, who appeared a minute later with 5 sets of silverware, but we were 9 people at the table? We asked him what we are supposed to do with half the silverware missing, and that our food was cold by now. He started arguing with us, so we asked for the manager. She was all smiling and apologetic, but didn't really care. So we ate our mediocre cold food, will not be back, that's for sure. This used to be a great place, but now it's just another shabby restaurant ripping off customers. Pros: Outdoors Cons: Service, Management, Bring your own silverware more

Shady Grove is a really cool restaurant. Real cool atmosphere, highly recommend you sit outside. Bar area,... more

Shady Grove is a really cool restaurant. Real cool atmosphere, highly recommend you sit outside. Bar area, lots of outside seating, cool setup. The... more

Great Austin spot to hang out. The Chili Cheese fries are awesome. I have been going to shady grove my entire life and I LOVE IT. If you are a first timer in Austin you have to check it out! Pros: Great Place, Great Prices, GREAT FOOD Cons: Cant find any more

Great Austin spot to hang out. The Chili Cheese fries are awesome. I have been going to shady grove my entire life and I LOVE IT. If you are a first timer in Austin you have to check it out! Pros: Great Place, Great Prices, GREAT FOOD Cons: Cant find any more

We went to this Austin institution based on recommendations from the locals. We went at 11:45 am on Firday. We beat the crowd! The Hippie Chick was deserving of all the positive comments. The veggies were wonderful and fresh and the addition of the thai chicken breast made it filling. We were very impressed with the salad dressings. I had the jalapeno lime dressing which had a kick. The pesto ranch was garlicky with the right texture. The jalapeno corn chowder was the soup of the day. Spicy and delicious. My mom ordered the fresh turkey sandwich. It was impressive. It was not the ""rolled turkey"" pressed meat that most restaurants serve. This was ""pulled turkey"" that was fresh roasted. We ordered some frings for our sons. The fries were so-so but the onion rings were battered perfectly and you could taste the onions. Just about the best rings I've had in Austin. The boys who ordered burgers were not really impressed with them. They went with a plain cheeseburger. I tried to get them to order the green chile cheese burgers but they are purists. Sissy ordered the chicken fried steak. She said it was tasty and not greasy. She especially enjoyed the gravy. It was silky smooth and set off the steak perfectly. By the time we left there were no parking spaces. We were thrilled we got in on a Friday lunch. Definitely sit under the tree, it is part of the ambience. Pros: Wonderful homemade food in a fun and funky atmosphere Cons: Hamburgers were ""so-so"". more

We went to this Austin institution based on recommendations from the locals. We went at 11:45 am on Firday. We beat the crowd! The Hippie Chick was deserving of all the positive comments. The veggies were wonderful and fresh and the addition of the thai chicken breast made it filling. We were very impressed with the salad dressings. I had the jalapeno lime dressing which had a kick. The pesto ranch was garlicky with the right texture. The jalapeno corn chowder was the soup of the day. Spicy and delicious. My mom ordered the fresh turkey sandwich. It was impressive. It was not the "rolled turkey" pressed meat that most restaurants serve. This was "pulled turkey" that was fresh roasted. We ordered some frings for our sons. The fries were so-so but the onion rings were battered perfectly and you could taste the onions. Just about the best rings I've had in Austin. The boys who ordered burgers were not really impressed with them. They went with a plain cheeseburger. I tried to get them to order the green chile cheese burgers but they are purists. Sissy ordered the chicken fried steak. She said it was tasty and not greasy. She especially enjoyed the gravy. It was silky smooth and set off the steak perfectly. By the time we left there were no parking spaces. We were thrilled we got in on a Friday lunch. Definitely sit under the tree, it is part of the ambience. Pros: Wonderful homemade food in a fun and funky atmosphere Cons: Hamburgers were "so-so". more