Shug’s Low Country Cuisine

Shug’s is now closed after a short run. R.I.P.

My boyfriend and I just went in for sunday brunch… I hadn’t been to shug’s prior but had seen that they had fried chicken (something that is rarely seen or done well in boulder)… I looked on the website and their chicken and waffles was priced at $ 12. Upon arrival, we were the only guests there and I was disappointed to see that the price had changed to $ 15. I decided to go for it anyway and figured that it was just that good to warrant such a high price. My bf ordered an omelet with all their veggies and sausage. It took around 15 minutes to get our food and when it arrived my chicken and waffles looked okay and my boyfriends omelette was terribly disappointing. He lifted it and it dripped with oil and there was only cheese and sausage in it. The presentation was terrible and not even close to worth the $ 8 they charge for it (in fact, you would have to pay me to even look at it again.) Omelette recieves 0 stars. I am giving two stars because the fried chicken was actually well done but definitely not worth $ 15 anywhere.
We will go again for lunch or dinner and try other things and I will update my review then… but until then, Shug’s receives a very generous two stars from me. On a good note, the bloody mary’s were really well done with a ton of citrus and our server was really sweet and did a fine job.

Shug’s is a great place. I went there to see Juno What and it was an incredible venue. Small, but not too small so you feel connected and can really get into it. The crowd was great too. The bouncer on the outside was really unfriendly and nasty but the one on the inside was nice and respectful so I always went through him. Shug himself is a really cool guy who I met and he was going to give me a T-​shirt but they were out of stock. The vibe in this place is amazing and I am really excited to go there again for the FOOD, which I hear is sensational. Great to have this place in Boulder which was starting to feel kinda small for me, coming from LA.

The good:
The food was super tasty (a bit spicier than I usually allow) but very different than what I normally eat around Boulder.
The bad:
Menu was a little limited, which was disappointing. Also took a very long time to get our food, despite there being only one other occupied table in the quite large restaurant.
Overall:
I would go back and try a few other things. It would be nice if the menu were not only a little more expansive but also more detailed. Given how particular most of Boulder is with regard to ingredients, a bit more explanation would have been nice.

I had eaten lunch here several weeks earlier and really liked it and was stoked to try out the fried chicken, especially after the local paper had given it a raving review. The article spoke of half a chicken (4 pieces), with mashed potatoes for $ 13.
My wife and i went on an evening Pearl Street was really busy, and yet were seated immediately. The server informed us the chicken was going to take 20 minutes or so, which was fine. I did notice; however, the price on the menu was $ 14, even though the food critic’s review had been printed only one day earlier. The server was friendly; however, we had to ask for water while waiting for the meal.
When the meal arrived, there were three s-​m-​a-​l-​l pieces of chicken (leg, thigh and half a breast) and 6 s-​m-​a-​l-​l slices of roasted potato. When I asked where the mashed potatoes were, I was informed they had run out. Note: I had waited over 20 minutes for the chicken, how long does it take to make mashed potatoes? I requested the macaroni and cheese as a replacement for the mashed potatoes and later learned when the bill came that I was charged for it.
I didn’t complain then about the bill, thinking that perhaps I had misread the food critic’s review. When I got home and verified the price and the amount of chicken, I decided to call the next morning. I spoke with Ron, who identified himself as the manager, and explained the evening’s disappointment. After telling me his numerous excuses, he eventually he offered me a gift certificate for $ 15, and took my address promising to mail it.
That was over 3 weeks and no gift certificate ever arrived. I will not be going back.

Shug’s is billed as Low Country cooking, which is based in South Carolina (especially Charleston) and Coastal Georgia (Savannah). My my kids went to school in these two cities and, indeed, the local cooking is fantastic! Having lived in New Orleans, I can say that it gives Louisiana cooking a run for its grits, so I was delighted to see Low Country available here in Boulder.
But Shug’s doesn’t quite get there. And it’s confusing with a number of Louisiana menu items mixed in (Gulf Coast Red Snapper, Cajun Stuffed Peppers, Gumbo, etc.) with a few Carolina Coast dishes. Sadly, It doesn’t pull either one off very well.
To make matters more disappointing, the service was so slow! I mean the staff is friendly, but it just took so long to get an order out on a night when the place was 65% empty.
I would highly recommend that Shug stick to an authentic Low Country menu. Pick a few truly classic Charleston dishes and do them extremely well (e.g. shellfish and hominy, etc.). Louisiana cooking is NOT the same as Low Country and it is equally difficult to get right… and most people know when it hits the mark… and when it doesn’t.

I was not impressed. The food was mediocre at best, but the worst thing about this place was the service. It didn’t seem very busy when I went here, yet there was an almost hour wait to receive my food. The owner was rude and did not make me feel welcome at this establishment.

It was Friday around 7pm and the wait was not too bad (about 10 minutes). The hostess and wait staff were friendly and efficient. However, it seems a bit of a wait for the food to arrive. We ordered fried chicken and mahi mahi which should not take so long.
The mahi mahi was a bit overdone and has a bone in it. Definitely a no no for fish filet.
The fried chicken was good– lightly seasoned, tender and a very light batter.
Will return to try the other low country food.

Yum — We had chicken & waffles with collards and gumbo. Big portions (for me) and delicious!
We didn’t go in when we first saw it, thinking the white tablecloths would mean high prices but the prices aren’t bad.
My only recommendation would be for the owner to play some trad jazz (maybe pipe in WWOZ?) to help create a mood a little different from other Boulder restaurants.

This is possibly the slowest service I have ever experienced in Boulder. We arrived at 8pm. We did not have drinks or food ordered until 8:30. The food did not arrive until after 9:30. While the server was apologetic, I do not care to hear excuses about why or what is going on in the kitchen or at the bar. Please just apologize and do what you can to fix the problem.
The food was good, but way over priced an not worth the wait.

Maybe I’m still just bitter that this is no longer B-​side… or maybe… the food was just not that great… or maybe its ambiance is a little stale…
Meh

3.5 stars. Good service, good pie, great fried chicken. I’m excited to have have a good southern dinner place in Boulder. Lucille’s own breakfast, these guys own dinner.

This place is literally as good as Creole food gets in Boulder, Colorado.
I’m really excited that Boulder has opened a new restaurant in town that offers something not only a bit different (nothing on the menu deals with buffalo!) but also affordable, generous and fun.
Affordable: You can order food for 2 – 3 for around $ 30 plus tip. What that gives you is a plate of Friend Chicken and Mashed Potatoes, Mac N Cheese, House Salad, Pound Cake & another mixed cocktail.
Generous: I got 4 pieces of chicken! Plus, every other plate on the table seemed to be overflowing with food. Incredible.
Fun: Who doesn’t like Creole food?
I absolutely recommend and hope that you go the next time you want to eat out in Boulder.

Oh man… this place is all kinds of delicious. Atmosphere is lovely and the staff was great. Delicious sweet tea and Shug’s Punch, which is like sangria. I had the fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, and mac and cheese and all were amazing. The hubs had a po’ boy which was huge and equally delicious. Definitely some excellent down home food. Worth the stop. :)

Finally, a new restaurant in Boulder that’s not an extension of the Kitchen or Frasca family (not saying I’m not obsessed with all their food, but something different was an exciting prospect). Plus I love me some good low country cuisine, so overall my expectations were high.
Total and utter disappointment. The service was straight up bad (imagine waiting 20 minutes before even being greeted or ordering drinks, and only getting your water re-​filled 1 time in 3 hours until we flagged someone down etc etc), they were out of 40% of what we ordered (at 8:30 pm) and the food itself was bland and boring. Plus, extra added bonus negative my stomach literally hurt for the rest of the night into the next morning.
If I had experienced something like this in a city like say San Francisco, I would have probably walked out early on in this meal– I mean it was that bad. It was so bad that my friends and I (we went as a party of 6) were still talking about it late into the next day. I could go on about how none of what goes on in this place goes together (serving appetizers in plastic red baskets, but then serving dessert on white china platters?) get an identity and go with it!
If you’re looking for tasty Louisiana style cuisine, Lucile’s is still your only good option in Boulder, and quite unfortunately they don’t serve dinner.

Solid 3.5 stars. We were there on a Wednesday evening. Not packed to the gills, though not exactly dead… there were a handful of occupied tables.
Waitservice was attentive. Décor — simple.
Food — popcorn crawdads were a mite chewy, otherwise not bad. We ordered one of the fish specials, which was only all right. Fried chicken and mashed taters were really good — chicken was crispity on the outside, moist and delicious on the inside. The mac n cheese was too tangy — needs to be a lil more creamy, then it’d be perfecto.
I’m not gonna write the place off entirely, but I won’t be itching to go back there when there are so many other establishments to choose from around these parts.

Hubby & I were very excited to try Shug’s. He ordered a primerib/​steak dish which was fabulous. My grouper po-​boy (the special) didn’t come with any sauce, very dry. My side dish was chips. For the price, I expected some homemade chips/​fries and got a bag of cheddar sun chips. Both of the owners stopped by our table to check in, which was nice but a little awkward. We learned from our chats that my sandwich was supposed to come with some sort of sauce but the server didn’t mention we had options. Prices were alright, but a few dollars higher than advertised in the Daily Camera article. Beer selection was small. A local beer on top would go far with locals. We’ll be back after the kinks are ironed out in a few months.

HOORAY. A new restaurant in boulder that actually serves really good food at a decent price. Thank god.
A few notes:
I loathed grits until i had the Shrimp and Grits, very tasty and i’m sure that the devil, Paula Deen, would even love um Ya’ll.
Fried green Tomatos, awesome
Friend Chicken, tasty
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stay open.
Oh, and they are going to have a crawfish broil ;-)

Shug’s is my new favorite restaurant in Boulder! We’ve been once for Sunday brunch and once for dinner. Every dish we’ve had has been outstanding and the prices can’t be beat! For brunch we tried the crawfish-​filled beignets, the bananas Foster’s, seafood gumbo (shrimp/​crawfish), and chicken and waffles. The beignets were delicious and were topped with a tangy/​spicy cream sauce; the bananas Foster’s and gumbo were perfect, and the fried chicken was the best I’ve had in a long time… For dinner we had a blackened whole Red Snapper and the ribs. The red snapper was topped with a great sauce that also had ~30 little shrimp and the ribs were the best I’ve ever had. Shug’s offers a completely different dining experience than any other offered in Boulder and promises to be a big success! The value for the food is great, especially for downtown. They offer numerous southern beers in bottles and a couple others on tap. Highly recommended!!!

Shug’s just opened during Memorial Day Weekend. Hearing (on a Unilocal talk thread from a reliable source) that they had added homemade fried chicken permanently to their menu due to popular demand since they opened, I decided to check Shug’s out. I was totally prepared for sky-​high downtown Boulder menu prices, but was pleasantly surprised to find very reasonable prices, at dinner time, instead. Score one star!
During my solo dinner here, the manager dropped by to introduce himself. Toward the end of my meal, the owner came by to introduce himself also. Both were sincerely nice and were stopping by every table to talk with people and see how they liked their meals. And they were listening to people’s replies! I like that! Two more stars, one each for manager and owner.
Ok, so now we’re up to three stars. The wait people get a star, because they are efficient, friendly, and work well together as a team.
Last but not least is the food, which could earn all 5 stars on its own anyway. Outstanding. I was served a generous 4-​piece serving of fried chicken, with mashed potatoes and gravy. Sterling comfort food. There is a choice of one side in addition to the chicken and mashed potatoes, and I chose the Voodoo Greens. Soooo good! Whereas I could go into deeper detail about the tasty homemade quality of everything, suffice it to say it was all perfectly prepared and absolutely delicious. Truly, you should try Shug’s for yourself.
The entertainment area in the back where many predecessors at this location have had some truly amazing concerts is up and running again, I’m happy to say. There was a show tonight, but I had other things to do and couldn’t stay.
They have a nice outdoor seating area for the people watchers among us. I liked the indoor dining room better. There’s a bar in the front, and probably one in the back where the concert area is too.
They serve lunch and dinner every day except Sunday. Sundays are brunch only right now, but they might be expanding to Dinner.
July 7: I would like to add this – Shug’s description of the various categories of items they serve on their menu, as per their Facebook page:
Barbeque
Brunch
Cajun/​Creole
Seafood
Soul Food
Southern