Shea’s Place – Dining & Unwinding

great place to eat there chef there is name lenny and he’s a great cook if you ever in the area please stop by great food

First and last visit. Place had one table at 6:50 p.m.and I thought we missed the dinner rush. After sampling the food, I think there are just a few people (per the reviews) that got lucky and had a decent meal or… they are easier to please. My husband was a chef for 20 years and we owned a restaurant so perhaps we have harder-​to-​please pallets.
I was informed that Happy Hour was to expire in 10 minutes so I took advantage of the great price on Margaritas and ordered two: one for before the meal and one to follow. I ordered onion soup since I wasn’t very hungry. It was the worst tasting soup I have ever had. It was oily and tasted like water that had some oil and browning flavor added. The server was outside on the patio taking a break and didn’t bother to ask if our meals were good. My husband ordered the «stuffed» pork loin which lacked flavor and worst of all, lacked the sausage stuffing. Perhaps the «chef» was tired and forgot to stuff the pork. Our appetizer, Arancini, sounded good but lacked salt: quite tasteless and room temperature. However, the oregano seasoned ketchup was warm and we tried to make the best of it.
While my husband is eating and I have finished my first Margarita since I can’t eat the soup, our server finally checks on us and asks if I want my 2^nd Margarita (that I ordered in advance and shouldn’t have waited for).
I ordered a Caesar salad but cancelled that after I heard a loud laugh from the kitchen. Not a good idea to order a meal from a pretend cook after insulting his left-​over soup.

The atmosphere at Shea’s Place is casual but not trashy or tacky. I would feel just as comfortable stopping by in flipflops with the family in tow as I would be for a business lunch. The space is clean, uncluttered, and non-​pretentious. It really is a great place to unwind and enjoy yourself.
And while the portions are on the smaller side, the food quality is excellent and I have never felt cheated when it comes time to settle up. Nor have I left hating myself for finishing the last bite on my plate just to get my moneys worth. I think the food walks the perfect line between value and over indulgence.
I like the wait staff I have interacted with so far, they were, while a bit unpolished, friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. But please, someone get the front desk a stack of business cards. I think I confused the receptionist when I told her I was after a business card so I could contact management about a possibly arranging a staff lunch for my office.
Overall I would say this is probably one of my favorite restaurants in Leander.

My girlfriend and I visited there for the first time on Friday the 24^th of July. It was about 6:45PM, we saw an acoustic band on the back patio playing and thought we would try it out. The waitress was nice and the people seemed friendly. We placed our order just before happy hour was over. The waitress returned shortly and said that she could not bring us our margaritas because they were out of the house tequila. She did not offer us a single top shelf drink; tough luck I guess. I then ordered a Miller Lite. Needless to say they were all out of that too (on a Friday afternoon). We ordered an appetizer (buffalo wings) while we were looking over the menu. When we received the wings, we received no napkins whatsoever. To our surprise, shortly after that, a different waiter came out with two margaritas and asked us if we ordered a couple. We told him yes and that we were told that they were out of tequila. He said «well we have tequila» and then said he would be back after he double checked inside. Needless to say we never saw him again. At that point, we knew this was not the place for us. We asked for the check and received a ticket. I thought I would give this place a quick critique on the back of the ticket. I wrote out our experience in a tactful manner and placed my name and email address for the manger to contact me. Needless to say, we were never contacted. We will not be back again.

I had a great hamburger! Perfectly cooked to my liking. Fries were great too. They will put what u want on the burger-​I got fried onions. Yummy!

Ribs melted in my mouth. The veggies were good. I think next time I will try garlic mash potatoes instead of red potatoes. Strawberry margarita hit the spot after a long day. Service as always was excellent !!!

I like it that we have a small very local restaurant that has been really well put together in «downtown» Leander, but I do have a few quibbles overall. We took out family of 9 in on a Thursday I believe, because they have two free kids meal for each adult entrée. We thought it would be an great way to try out something local and save little money.
Here are the negative bullet points:
* Kids’ Menu selections are spare. The restaurant offers a lot of interesting things and though kids can be finicky, it would be nice if smaller portions of some of the neater dishes were at least available to kids.
* While the waitress was very kind she was not terribly attentive and there was no one else in the restaurant for most of our meal, and even later it was only us and one other
party. I don’t think you should have to ask more than once for silverware that should have already been on your table when there is nothing else going on for your server to do.
* No changing table in either of the bathrooms, we’ve still got a baby in diapers and I didn’t think anyone skipped changing tables these days.
* We got auto-​gratuity added to our ticket. I am sure some people accept this but I always find it frustrating. It’s basically the server assuming that you are going to be a shitty tipper. I am aware of how restaurant POS software works and the server has the option of adding auto-​gratuity. I think it says a lot about how they feel about you. And even though this was 18% I still would have tipped more if it hadn’t already been tacked on.
On the upside:
* All of the food was pretty good, the chicken dish my wife got was a little on the salty side, but other than that everyone enjoyed their meal.
* The interior of the restaurant is very well done and its pleasant inside with a lot of natural light.
* The patio is also well put together and pleasant to hang out on.
I live in Leander and really hope that small local restaurants and businesses like Shea’s Place can succeed. I might simply be giving 4 stars because I don’t want t sabotage their success — but I do hope they continue to improve some of their lackluster service and keep refining the menu to make it more interesting.

I went on Thursday and their was at one point only 2 other families there. It was so quite that you had to whisper when you talked and it was weird that the waitress would be looking around and staring while you ate. The draft beer cooler wasn’t working so no draft beer. The food was way over priced for that place you can get better food for less somewhere else. The cheese cake we got was frozen and not homemade. I was very disappointed in my experience at Shea’s place.

Overview: Gracious good service, upscale comfort food, a delightful family experience! My three men and I dined here last Saturday, they aren’t open for lunch during the week so I was pleased that both of our sons were available to enjoy a family meal out. (oh, I make dinner almost daily but my young men speed eat while I’m so busy fusing over details that a leisurely meal out affords us all the opportunity to enjoy one another’s company)
The experience: We arrived around 6ish, we were greeted and seated immediately. They do have half booths but the few available were taken. No worries, the tables are solid and cozy. Our server was superb, we took all of her recommendations and suffered no disappointments. Our drinks were always filled (no small task since my oldest drinks water like he just crossed the desert), and the food arrived hot and was metered out perfectly.
The Food: We started with an app of fried portabella with a horseradish ranch dip. Lets just say none survived, they were all happily demolished. Next our salads came along with my youngest son’s soup. The salads house dressing of soy ginger was pleasantly understated (too much ginger is like kissing grandma’s neck for me) so they also were devoured delightfully. My son’s Butternut squash soup was so spectacular we all four decided he must have an allergy and not a contagious cold so that we all four could share it. We all wanted a full bowl to ourselves. Next our main courses came, Meat Loaf with Mash and veggies, Fried Chicken Breast with Mash and veggies, a Steak Sandwich with fries, and Blackened Catfish. We all agreed that the side veggies were an unexpected treat. Carrots, zucchini, onions, all tender and with a touch of parmesan. My meatloaf was excellent, and my son’s fried chicken was very southern comfort delish with him eating almost the whole plate even though he didn’t feel well. My husband loves blackened catfish to the point of being a critic and this one met his high standards. The finale was a triple chocolate cheesecake. This I mostly left to the professionals after one bite, I like chocolate but my oldest and husband are clearly in a relationship with it. They thought it was perfect.
Conclusion: I have nothing negative to say, only the highest praise for the staff and the food. I just can’t say enough about our server, she was so adept at her job and truly made our dining experience better for her knowledge and suggestions. I’m so over the moon happy to have a quality dining experience in Leander, and I think the genre of higher end southern food is a perfect choice. This is my new favorite Leander restaurant.

Excellent food! Very impressive. Worth coming out to try. I was extremely satisfied with food quality and service. Will come again.

Overall not coming back but neat little place. 3 stars for good food but Sloooow service in an empty restaurant on a Friday night!
Bad parking situation for a restaurant this big. Server took a while to get to our table and wasn’t that busy. Limited menu. Children’s menu is 3 items. Food was all right, nothing special for the price.
Soup came out room temperature after we asked for our soup/​salads 2 times. Salad greens flavor was a little off for being farm to table as well.
Main course two people had chicken fried steak that gravy was bland, grilled veggie sides were good though. Catfish was really good, cooked and seasoned well. Short rids were tender and flavorful also.
Didn’t have appetizers or dessert so can’t comment on either. Good luck if you try here.

How anyone could give Shea’s Place anything below 5 stars is crazy. Great staff, extremely reasonable prices and delicious food. I really love this place and can’t wait to go back. Did I mention how clean it was?
Tonight my wife and I split short ribs, they were fantastic. The sesame ginger salad dressing with the farm to table greens was delicious and the Tomato Basil, soup of the moment, may be one of my favorite soups to date.
What a gem in the middle of Leander!

I have been here twice and I love it more each time! When my husband and I came in the first time it was a little quite, but the owner came by and made conversation with us. Our food was absolutely delicious! They give you a complimentary dessert on Wednesdays! Let’s keep this place in business!

Great food and great service. Chef is fantastic and attentive. Worth the trip.

If I could give this place ZERO stars I would!!! Let me start off by saying I have been here before. about 2 years ago. When the place first opened originally before it closed down. I had horrible service here but the food was ³⁄₅ at best. I remember them being awfully slow with the seating process, drinks, food, check, etc…
Well tonight I went to the lighting of the Christmas tree thing in Leander with my five year old boy and one year old girl. After the lighting we were walking back to the car and I had promised my kids they were being good today so I would get them a treat from Sonic. Well we passed by the restaurant and there seemed to be a lot of families with small children and babies eating, a Christmas tree and Christmas music. But I remembered the last time what happened when we went there. They seemed very unfriendly towards the fact I had taken my one child who was 2 ½ at the time and children in general. But my son really wanted to go inside because it seemed warm and inviting. OK what the heck. Why not. I wasn’t hungry so I planned on getting a mommy beverage and they had a full bar stocked. Cool. And the kids just wanted a snack and they were thirsty so I planned on getting them something to drink and maybe share a kid’s meal or appetizer. (Last time I went here the kids meals were about $ 7…for a grilled cheese so I was hesitant)
the place wasn’t even BUSY! They had like three tables full of customers and at least 6 empty ones. It literally took 15 min before the seated me and my two kids. Oh, by the way, all these employees and a man I am going to assume is the manager all walked by without even acknowledging our presence. Not even a hello, we will be seating you in just a moment, NADA!!! But we were already in there… so I continued to wait then finally we got a table. Now I was the third table in the left side by the Christmas tree. YES REAL BUSY: eyeroll: Waitress comes and takes our drink order. I asked her what kind of adult beverages they had or would suggest, she said Mexican Martini, so OK cool. I’ll take one of those. And two lemonades for the kids.
15 MIN LATER…
Still waiting for my DRINKS. A food order was not taken. During this time, our waitress was bussing other tables, and getting checks for the tables that were seated at the right side of the restaurant. She comes to our table, by this time the kids are getting anxious and I’m about to leave. She says, what did you order? A Mexican Martini and lemonades right? I said yes, but don’t worry about it. We’re leaving. This is crazy. I came here because my son wanted to come in and I wanted to treat the kids to a nice restaurant after the Christmas tree lighting, but forget it. She apologizes and says it was their fault, they were not used to the extra flow of people. I said OK that’s fine, but I won’t be returning. Freaking insane.
Every time I try to come to this restaurant, its horrible. Its very disorganized and the manager was cleaning tables, making bar drinks, helping orders get out, while the staff ran around like energizer bunnies yes not really accomplishing anything like helping customers. I really tried to give this place a second chance and disappointed again. I might be willing to come back if they offered some type of discount and a guarantee it would not take 30 min from the time I walked in to the time I got my drinks. So I walked the kids across the street to La tapatia and had myself a strong margarita, and a kid’s meal. They were busy too (what I consider busy, not what Shea’s considers) we got our drinks right away but the kids plate took a while but was still within a reasonable time.
I could have saved myself 30 min had I not messed with Shea’s. Maybe next time if I don’t have the kids I will go to the Leander Beer Market and try them. Seriously, what a disappointment.

Recently chose to try Shea’s out with a friend for happy hour. Margarita on rocks were great, nice flavor without an overbearing sour taste most places have, and they had a nice kick. Ordered the Portobello Fries and Chicken Parmesan both also were great. Something unique was the Parmesan croutons on the salad. Was expecting the croutons to be the normal hard crunchy type but instead where a perfectly toasted sour dough texture that were nicely seasoned. Will definitely be going back to try other items.

I’ve been here several times since they re-​opened as an American style local farm to table restaurant. The food is significantly better than when it was a Mexican style restaurant. Today, we have a new menu, which is good. Before we had 5 entrees to choose from, now it’s 7 with optional specials. The wine and beer choices were lovely. I really enjoyed the short ribs with red potatoes. Ribeye with horseradish was awesome. Grilled chicken was great, not sure it’s still on the menu though. Tonight I had the special Meatloaf (no jokes please) with mashed potatoes and grilled veggies. It really hit the spot. My husband had the sausage cheddar stuffed pork loin with balsamic vinaigrette reduction sauce with grit-​cake and greens, he loved it! Apps: arranchi balls are really good, quail was better than Foxhole Culinary tavern. Dips were good and garlicky… Haha. We enjoy the key lime cheesecake. I’m telling you. It’s ALL good.

According to my wife, the crunchy parmesan grit croutons rocked her chicken Caesar salad. I had the steak sandwich and it was very good — the grilled onions were a great touch. This place is a great find in little old Leander.

1^st of all atmosphere and serves was 5 stars! However the food and election of menu brought it down.
The do have gluten free options so that is great if you need it.
We started with rice balls. They were not very big and lacked salt.
Next came our salad. I choose cesaer since the other 3 dressing options didn’t fit my taste plate. The dressing was very watery but large portions for the salads. My hubby opted for wasbi ranch and it wasn’t goo at all.
Next the entrée I choose a steak cooked medium it came out well done and lacked flavor. Potato where hard but he veggies (zuchinee) was yummy. My hubby choose short ribs. Kind of a small portion there where 2 and had lots of fat on them
The silver lining is they do have specials if you check there FB

We heard that Shea’s was reopened with new chef, new menu and was getting high marks by friends. Took the family of four to dinner on a Wednesday evening. The atmosphere is very nice, with a nice sized outdoor patio and integrated bar restaurant setting environment. Service was excellent, a little too attentive taste, but they accommodated us in every manner, even for our gluten-​free eater.
Food was fantastic! High quality ingredients, great taste and simply presented. Portions are smaller than your average chain restaurant plates, but the quality makes up for the portion sizes… just get more appetizers.
We had the grilled chicken, blackened catfish and smoked quail… all excellent. Also tried the arancini and portabella mushroom fries. Each meal also came with a house salad made from fresh greens.
Drinks: We wanted wine, but the wine list at the time was 2 – 3 bottles, which is the reason I’m giving four vs five stars. We didn’t ask, but it would be great if they let you BYOB. Shiner draft was good, just a tad under the temperature I like, but within range.
Great experience, will return.