Shoreline Grill

Soggy greens. Sloppy service (I didn’t get my water without ice until almost the end of the meal).
Sub-​par seafood. My waitress-​recommended sturgeon was overcooked, begging for flavor and swimming in a sea of indifferent, lukewarm cabbage soup.
Overall, totally not worth it. If you are going to spend a hundred dollars on a meal, there are a zillion other restaurants that u could pick over this one.
my two cents!

Get in the door while you still can — this place is closing down at the end of the month.
I had a pretty fabulous love affair with the fried calamari, but the sturgeon entrée was slightly overcooked and nothing to write home about. Given the price point, I found the staff to be a bit too casual in their approach and informal– I don’t really care to know how hungover my server still is from their night before.
In a town full of extraordinary things, this place is just nothing bright and shiny. If you have a hankering for seafood, you are much better off going to Perla’s.

I went there for lunch today because I had one of those Groupon deals. I got my prime rib enchiladas to go and the hostess was very nice. The inside décor was really nice as well. I wasn’t too impressed with the bread. There was something funny about the middle of the bread that I wasn’t quite expecting. It was a soft, eggy tasting something there. It was just a litte too odd for my taste.
The enchiladas were ok. The sauce on them was PHENOMENAL but the meat inside and the corn tortillas were about taco cabana quality.
It was ok, I wouldn’t have been happy paying full price for them but for the groupon it was a great deal.

I love fish, and I’ve been here several times. Twice on dates and once when my family was in town. The first time I went, I thought it was great, and I raved about it to my family, but wouldn’t you know, when I took them, the whole experience fell flat. It all came down to the food. The fish I got on my first visit was perfectly cooked with a delicious sauce. I ordered the same dish the next time, but the presentation was different and the sauce was distinctly different, and not in a good way. I don’t know if it was just a difference in different chefs, or if they revamped the recipe, but the fish on my 2^nd visit was a solid 3 stars. At 5 star prices.
I haven’t been back in a while because when I get a craving for fish lately, I usually opt for sushi. All in all, this is a fancy-​ish place that probably gets a lot of visitors who are in town for a convention, and who will never be back, so it seems like they have sort of given up trying to impress. They do a serviceable job of turning out decent food at expensive prices, and the people who are charging it to their expense accounts probably are fine with it. For my money, if I’m going to a fancy restaurant, I want them to try a bit harder.

I really love the happy hour, which is what my review is based on since I havent had dinner here yet.
I met some girlfriends here for HH and I couldn’t have been more pleased. We had a great little corner by the bar, full of comfy chairs and a coffee table to rest our drinks and plates. We also had a great view of the river.
The HH menu is pretty good, a little bit of everything. My highlights: the burger was excellent, delicious thick patty with a sweet bun, the calamari also had fried bell peppers and some other veg I cant remember, it was tender and the dipping sauce was some kind of yummy aioli. The HH wine list was not huge but decent, a couple of sparklings, whites and reds.
Our service was excellent, our waiter was very attentive and had suggestions. I would recommend the happy hour if you want a little sampler of Shoreline but don’t want to break the bank.
Review of dinner to come!

Three years ago I would have given it 4 stars, especially since I love seafood and they’ve been good at that. The last few years they’ve just gone downhill. I went with some co-​workers recently (8 of us) and we were all non-​plussed. Go downstairs to Trio.

I brought my dad here as an early Father’s Day dinner. It was the first time either of us had been. We opted to eat inside as it was still very hot at 7pm. I felt that we had okay service. I ordered the cioppino and he ordered the tenderloin filet. We both finished our plates. We ordered dessert as well. That took a little longer than expected to come out, but we both enjoyed the truffles and shake and chocolate mousse cake. Presentation of both our entrees and the desserts were beautiful.
Parking was easy to find and there were several signs from the parking garage to the restaurant.
I also received a follow-​up call from the restaurant to ask how our dining experience went.
I would want to return the restaurant when we could comfortably sit outside and enjoy the view.

Maybe it is time to give up the ghost on Shoreline or they really need to re-​vamp and have a grand re-​opening. I love the idea of an upscale sustainable seafood restaurant in central Texas, but unfortunately, the menu and presentation leave something to be desired. I like that the menu is only a page, this implies that they don’t do a lot, but what they do, they do well. But, this last time I went, the food didn’t really blow me away – it was just okay.
Mostly it is the presentation and service that is a downer for me. This is the second time in a row where my server really didn’t know anything about the wine. For a restaurant of this caliber, the staff should be more knowledgeable about the wine options. Second, my dining companion was understandably disturbed to see the water pourer touching patrons’ glasses with the water pitcher. Again, for a restaurant of this caliber, the staff should be trained to not cross contaminant community items with patron items. It was after noticing this, that I started getting bothered that the servers seemed to be putting their thumbs on the plates. As a cater-​waiter veteran, this is a «no-​no».

Called to make reservations for two at dusk. We got reservations confirmed for 730pm. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation and parked in the lot out front. We were told to park in the garage around the corner. We got back into the car and waited forever for the light to change and parked in the garage which is attached to the Four Seasons. We had a difficult time finding our way to the restaurant itself from the parking garage. Do valet instead of the garage for sure.
We got in and were told there were no outside tables available. I protested that we called to reserve one. I was told those were first come, first serve. They should tell you that when you call you call to reserve instead of telling you that your reservations are confirmed. We decided to stay and eat anyway. We were seated at a nice table, ordered some drinks, and had a very attentive waiter. I ordered the Chilean sea bass and my husband ordered Texas red fish. After we ordered, we were moved to a table on the patio. The view was spectacular. The food arrived, and it was perfection. The presentation was beautiful. It was cooked and seasoned perfectly. We were having such a good time we even opted for dessert.
Even though the evening started out rocky, they turned things around very quickly. Sit on patio at dusk to watch the bats — awesome!

Why does such an upscale, established restaurant in the heart of Austin, have such crappy service? This may be the reason why this restaurant is not getting the four or five star rating.
Went there on Saturday for dinner on a beautiful Austin evening. We’ve been wanting to try this place for a long time. The restaurant is very old-​Austin — dated interior, no gimmicks, and the patrons are rather old. The food is pretty awesome.
The popovers were delicious. Light, airy, and flavorful. My 7-​yr old turned his nose at the rather simple children’s menu of mac and cheese, pasta, and popcorn shrimp; instead, he opted for the raw oysters and the calamari appetizer. The raw oysters were pricey, but good ($ 3 each for a very small oyster) New England oysters. The calamari was fantastic – light and crispy with a few deep fried lemon slices and peppers. We also had the shrimp appetizer. The shrimp was fresh and very large, with a spicy cocktail sauce. The entrée of scallop was great. The scalloped were huge and cooked properly. My absolute favorite dish of the night was the Texas redfish with parsnips and a curry sauce!!! Great balance of flavors and textures. We finished the dinner with a decadent truffles and milkshake dessert. Very good also.
All in all, the food is fantastic; however, our service was not at the caliper that one would expect from a fine dining establishment. Our waiter seemed very busy and rarely checked on us. My husband ordered a glass of wine with his dinner, but didn’t get it til he was almost done eating. The waiter comped us for the glass of wine, but still, the meal could have been enhanced greatly with the right wine pairing. When the bus boy cleared our appetizer plates, he left my dirty, cocktail sauced fork for me to reuse (can’t they give me a new fork?), my table had crumbs all night. The waiter finally cleaned the crumbs on the table at the end of dinner. What’s the point? Part of shelling out big bucks is the overall experience – ambiance, service, and food. They got 2 of the 3 going for them.

If I had to choose between the Chilean sea bass and seared mahi mahi, I think the mahi mahi wins. Don’t get me wrong… the sea bass is great but the mahi mahi rocks! Bacon wrapped scallops and the brie puff pastries both get thumbs up. The cheesecake was good but I’ve had better. Next time I’ll try the parmesan crusted chicken.
Tip: don’t park in the San Jacinto garage unless you have to. Valet all the way!

One word: Yuck
I was stoked when my friend said he was taking me here for my annual bday dinner that we celebrate. I expected that it being the restaurant for the Four Seasons it would be the most amazing meal.
I was highly disappointed. I must say I am only giving it 2 stars because the waiter was great and service was great… but the food for around $ 30 an entrée should be illegal.
The wine menu is extensive.
We ordered a crab cake to start, very dry and the crab wasn’t fresh.
Our salad was good but messing up an arugula salad would be a joke.
The sea bass gnocchi was not good. The sea bass was undercooked… while my red fish was overcooked. We ordered a crème brule for dessert. I had like one bite.
I was super ready to get out of their when the bill came. In reality it just needs a makeover and a new menu… and maybe a new chef.
I’m sorry for my bluntness. It was a WOW moment.

Shoreline Grill is an amazing restaurant inside the 4 seasons hotel in Austin.
The restaurant is beautiful and the view is amazing.
The staff was very friendly too.
My husband and I were impressed by the taste and presentation of their food.
Most importantly, THEY HAVE A VEGETARIAN MENU! How awesome is that?
I started with the Roasted beets and watercress salad and that was the best salad I ever had. Their vegetables were beautiful and the combination of flavors was amazing.
We ordered the barley risotto and the pan seared tofu. The dishes looked worthy of a photograph. The presentation was magnificent.
We ordered chocolate muse for dessert and we were blown away with the richness and decadence of it.
I highly recommend this place.
Be ready to spend at least $ 30 per person.

We had our reception at Shoreline Grill for two reasons. The sunset view is fabulous and so is the food. Shoreline would only get one star from me due to the enormous stress that they caused, but I am giving two because my guests enjoyed the food. However, we were not as pleased with what was delivered for our reception and here are the three main reasons why…
1. After we put down a deposit for Shoreline, there was a change in staff from who we were initially working with. I sent multiple emails to try to confirm plans for our reception and none were returned. I stayed home sick one day from work only to find out from the news that Shoreline had filed for bankruptcy. Of course this would put any bride over the edge, especially since invitations had been sent out and I did not know if I could still even have our reception there. It took multiple phone calls, emails, a trip up there, and hiring a wedding coordinator to get any answers. Terrible damage control on behalf of Shoreline.
2. Our tasting was fabulous. The food was delicious and I could not wait to set up the menu. The event coordinator said she would put together her suggestions for us, but a month later we still had heard nothing. That aside, the portions that were actually served at the receptions were at least half the size of what we had anticipated from our tasting. The bacon wrapped scallops looked like bay scallops, and the rock shrimp nachos were at least a fourth of the size of what we had seen. Now, I know they catch everything seasonally, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt on the scallops, but not on the tortilla chip and shrimp. They were tiny!
3. Finally, this is the one that I cannot get over. We had two cakes (from a different vendor) that in total would serve 200 people. We had around 100 guests. The cake was sliced into freakishly small pieces and served to our guests. I assumed that they would box up the rest and my family could take it home. Nope. Shoreline gave away my wedding cakes to their staff without asking anyone if this was okay! They did not ask myself, wedding coordinator or my parents. $ 600 worth of cake down the drain. At the end of the night we got stuck with an extra bill while their staff was eating our cake.
An event at Shoreline would be fine as long as it is not important.

Kudos to this place for offering a vegetarian menu, but not so many kudos for it not being so hot!
Okay yes, I realize this is a seafood centric restaurant and I should be eternally grateful that they even considered the likes of me (unlike most finer dining establishments), and okay I do think that’s neato, but as far tastiness is concerned — I can’t give this place four stars in good conscience.
Being that Shoreline is housed in the Four Seasons, it is way snazzier than TGI Friday and the like — equipped white tablecloths, deliciously concocted cocktails, expansive impressive wine lists and well-​mannered, well-​trained waiters. I will say our waiter was lovely, but not the warmest individual. I think he was possibly anxious about the non-​meat/​seafood disclosures.
The separate vegetarian menu isn’t too shabby (check the website) — even for vegans. I settled upon the gazpacho soup and it was very delightfully tomato-​acidic — almost like a raw marinara sauce. So if you’re into that sort of flavor punch, go for it. I had the pan seared tofu as my entrée and it was quite beautifully arranged — large tofu medallions, seared and sealed with the lightest bit of salty flavor on bed of neutral tasting tabbouleh. It was good, but I am sorry to say that I’ve had tastier tofu and tabbouleh a dozen times over. Also a little helpful hint, the pâté choux gnocchi is kind of strange — the gnocchi bits were more like mashed potatoes instead a slightly dried potato shell — extremely bland and gooey in the mouth.
I wish I could recall the cocktail I had — it was pretty terrific in that it wasn’t disgustingly artificial and sickeningly sweet and perfectly chilled. Anyway, that was the highlight, so yeah…
Shoreline Grill = meh, okay for vegetarians if you want get a little fancypants, but I’m sure there’s better options out there.

For a white tablecloth restaurant downtown near the lake, the food just doesn’t live up to the setting and ambiance of the place. Since my boyfriend and I arrived a little early, we decided to take a quick stroll down near the lake to build up our appetites. The view was awesome, and I was expecting just as much from the food. Guess that was my mistake… I suppose I expected much much more from a downtown restaurant charging $ 30 an entrée. When you charge this much, you usually expect high quality or high quantity, am i right?
When we were seated, we were promptly greeted by our waitress who was very friendly and knowledgeable about the wine list and the specials for the day. She brought out herbed popovers… (POPOVERS?! YUMMY!) Too bad the one’s that were served to us were cold (UNYUMMY). Minus one star.
We started out with the calamari appetizers. Now, I’m a huge fan of calamari. It’s usually my go-​to appetizers whenever I go out, but these weren’t that great. The batter was somewhat sour… kinda seemed like they put the lemon in the batter instead of letting you squeeze some over it when it first comes out. My boyfriend and I weren’t too crazy about the sauces that came with it either, but all the tables around us were ordering it and seemed to be enjoying it. Maybe we’re just old school when it comes to calamari. I won’t blame that on Shoreline.
My boyfriend ordered the Alaska halibut with summer squash, clams, and a fancy «citrus nage.» After stealing a little taste of his, I wasn’t very impressed. I think how he described it was, «Meh. It’s okayyy.» I will say that the fish was cooked well, but his main complaint was that the portion was small and everything was oversauced. One of the waiters said it was supposed to be a «broth,» but it seemed awfully thick to be broth-​like… but hey, I’m not a chef.
Sooo, whenever I go out with my boyfriend, I always seem to be the one with food envy. You know, when someone else orders something different, and it just looks WAY better than the food you ordered. I am happy to say, that I, for once, did NOT have food envy!!! Rejoice! My dish was finally better than his! I ordered the scallops, which were cooked perfectly! The corn purée and the mushrooms that accompanied it were okay, but they weren’t nearly as good as the scallops. The portion just seemed microscopic compared to the not-​so-​microscopic price I was paying for it…
The reason I’m giving it three stars is because I did not feel any desire for «more» at the end. Don’t get me wrong the food isn’t bad, it’s just… normal tasting. The food wasn’t all that exciting, pretty mediocre, nothing special or interesting. Give me something to challenge my palate, Shoreline!
All in all: View? Amazing. Service? Awesome. Food? Average.

I’ve just begun to like seafood, so I thought this place would be great to try out. The atmosphere was nice, but, like someone said in an earlier review, it seemed like he was just «tolerating» us. Granted, it was an hour before the restaurant closed, but we never thought it would take an hour to prepare 5 dishes either. And for mediocre seafood!
My arctic char wasn’t anything amazing, which, for its price, should have been. The flavors were a bit on the bland side, which made me feel like I had to force a lot of my food down. I also thought fish was easily cut with just a fork, but at the end, I had to use my knife for the skin that was more chewy than crispy.
Towards the end of the meal, we heard the cooks shouting profanities at each other, and we thought that was funny. I don’t think the older patrons would have liked it though.
When I think back, what I really enjoyed was our appetizer, ceviche (though the crackers were a bit stale), and the fresh french bread with butter.

Some time ago I bought a series of
coupons to this place on one of their magnificent 90% off sales. I hesitated until I found the somewhat eclectic vegetarian menu with much more reasonable prices than the mean/​seafood section. The option to try something other than a salad, veggie burger or pasta made the certificate worth the minimal cost just to give Shoreline a try.
Finally, 9 months later, I went to Shoreline with a friend. We arrived at 9:20pm, 40 minutes before closing but the staff never showed any grief about it. Being a Monday night with a 100% chance of showers (which actually never happened), the place was rather empty. I didn’t mind.
We asked if there were any drink specials, and the waiter seemed a bit perplexed by the question. Eventually he produced a summer wine specials menu. My dining partner and I opted to save $ 9/​each and mix some drinks at my place later over a glass of wine with dinner.
Out came the complimentary warm bread and butter. It was good, but probably not quite that fresh and the butter was just butter. I’ve had better bread at other white tablecloth restaurants (SoCo Café, and even Macaroni Grill). It is still an appreciated touch.
We both ordered the gazpacho and agreed that it was quite delicious. At $ 6/​bowl, it is quite an expensive bowl of gazpacho but if you’re craving it and don’t want to go through the work, its worth it. It is definitely a step above that of Blue Dahlia’s (the only dish I’m not crazy about there) but perhaps not as good as SoCo Café’s.
For our main dishes, I ordered the seared tofu, and my friend the seasonal veggies. We both sampled each others’ dishes. I thought the tofu was well done, with a slightly crispy and flavorful «crust» and a nice moist base. It was accompanied by a very flavorful sauce and served over a pillar of rice. The presentation was not lackluster by any means.
The seasonal veggies, on the other hand, were a bit boring in my opinion. It was basically a veggie stir fry and lacked any sort of carbs. I guess a lot of vegetarians would go for this sort of thing — but I need my carbs. It was a bit heavy on the soy sauce for my taste, but overall the veggies were actually cooked just right — nothing was soggy or too raw. I did enjoy it, but it felt like a giant side dish with less thought put into its presentation.
I have two more
certificates here and I look forward to using them. It seemed like it may be too fancy to just go here with a friend, but its actually fairly casual — despite the white tablecloths. I could imagine it being much nicer to watch a sunset and dining outside when the weather is milder. We couldn’t even see the lake at the time we went. Beware — we could smell the bat guano from Congress Ave’s bridge with a wind from the west. Better to dine inside on those days.
All of this said, if I had to pay full price for the entrées I’m not sure I would be so impressed about the value. Perhaps the non-​veggie menu tells a different story. I am much appreciative of the fact that they even have a vegetarian menu, though, and that it is at least imaginative. I look forward to trying the other 2 items at a later date.

My wife and I got married at the Shoreline and we go back every year for our anniversary. Last year the food was inconsistent. This year there is a new chef and they just switched menus a couple of days before we got there…
We started with the market crudo — which was yuzu kosho, avocado purée, lemongrass oil. Amazingly good — tasted like fatty tuna — though it wasn’t — melted in your mouth… and the avocado was a nice accompaniment. We also had the tuna tartar. OMG — it was so good. We split it down the middle so that each of us had our share.
We were feeling adventurous and also had the grilled romaine salad — perfectly seared to ‘soften’ it up and the basil seed vinaigrette was subtle — not over powering.
For our dinners my wife had the chilean sea bass saltimbocca, which was sea-​bass wrapped in prosciutto and served with pâté choux gnocchi (a potato-​less gnocchi). The prosciutto was cooked and hardened to the point where it was almost like a delicious, edible skin.
I had the whole grilled loup de mer– a fresh fish from Greece. It’s a white, tasty and flaky. It sort of reminded me of a white trout — but longer. It was a little bit of a chore to extract the meat off of the fish but it was worth every bite.
Now is also a good point to mention that the Shoreline is the only restaurant in Texas that is part of the sustainable seafood watch group and only buys fish that is from sustainable sources (
) [the staff is very proud of that fact].
Our waiter was very good and recommended a fantastic Malbec for us. He was engaging, knowledgeable and made good suggestions.
Finally for dessert we split the chocolate mousse cake — very nicely done with a wonderful chocolate taste.
It was one of the more memorable of our anniversary dinners…

My wife and i celebrated her birthday here on Friday night. Excellent service, great atmosphere and amazing food.
We had the potato wrapped California roll for an appetizer. I had the crab legs with corn and asparagus tips and she had the ribeye with mashed potatoes. For dessert we shared crème brûlée.
We will be coming back here again. We were very impressed.