Shelter Lounge

Average or bit below average food but awesome service.
Would ask managment to change the menu or work on quality!!!
Great location, if you guys work on your menu I personally would go more often.

This place looks great, but… Everything else was disappointing. Server was pleasant but very slow. I had the Cuban sandwich… way too greasy and super salty. The pickle was the highlight of the dish. Fish and chips were also over salted and underwhelming in flavor. Too expensive for the quality. You can find other great options for a family dinner.

Love the food here! However, the last time I went to shelter my card number got stolen and whoever stole it racked up $ 300 on Xbox games. I called in and let management know and they didn’t seem to care so just be careful using your card there.

Worth the wait. We put our name in with a 25 minute wait and grabbed a drink at the bar across the street. The food was incredible. We ordered poutine and Avacado fries for appetizers. We shared the pork chop, Brussel sprouts, grilled cheese, and biscuit and gravy. We ended with choco tacos and Smores pie. Everything but two items were fabulous. The biscuit and gravy was mediocre and the Smores pie was dry. Otherwise we would do it all again.

The reviews of Shelter Lounge genuinely surprise me. I know that some people notice that I give mostly four and five star reviews and thus consider me too nice (which is pretty funny considering how much of an a**hole I am) but I have no trouble giving the Shelter five stars after three considerably spaced out visits.
Most recently, My parents and I met a coworker friend of my dad’s and his wife for drinks which turned quickly into dinner as time went on. There was no considerable delay in service despite the place being very busy for the AFC Wild Card games and the staff works together to make sure that every table is being taken care of even if someone is busy or taking a break. The young woman in the plaid shirt (new Dr. Seuss book) kept us eating, drinking and smiling and made sitting in the lounge area feel like we were home on the couch — with a waitress and private chefs… (reason #290 to get rich).
We had the PB and J poppers, the avocado fries, the macaroni and cheese, the bacon chicken burger, the kale salad, and the wonton tacos. Everything was cooked wonderfully and was a pleasant indulgence after walking around Greenlake. The poppers especially were so unique, falling somewhere between thai peanut sauce, fried jalapeño popper, and pb and j sandwich.
While it is currently cold and rainy, the windows and doors are closed, but one of the best parts of this spot is during the summer they become almost completely open air.
While I enjoy Greenlake Bar and Grill across the street, I would say for 95% of occasions deciding in favor of the Shelter is a no-​brainer.

Very cool and upscale atmosphere! Might be a little noisy when a lot of people show up, plenty of tvs for the games. Burgers were great with nice presentation. Some people are whining about prices but where can you go right off green lake that’s not a cheap dive bar. Pricey real-​estate here and they put a ton of money into the build out. Great place!

I’ve been here three times now with smaller and larger groups and tried parts or had all of most things on the menu, and I am honestly still not sure what type of people enjoy paying these prices for this quality of food.
What the menu has in creativity and diversity it lacks in flavor. The creativity/​diversity doesn’t apply to the drinks.
The staff are probably the best part of the place, but again aren’t worth justifying the price point. I can think of several other restaurants I’d rather pay this much for.

While the food is pretty good, what made me give Shelter four stars is the space itself. High ceilings, huge Windows, interior wood beams, and fresh flowers on every table. For a casual lunch and dinner joint, the place has some real style and class. I’d come back just for the atmosphere and ambiance.

Let me start by saying I love The Shelter in Ballard. The one in Greenlake however not so much. So first some things that it has going for it. The location is great. Right across the street from Greenlake park it is perfectly situated for you to spend an afternoon at the park and then slide right in to grab a drink after a day of activity. As for the inside can you say natural light. This place is built like a greenhouse inside. Tall ceiling, so much glass, only minimal sunlight needed to brighten up the place. The staff is friendly and attentive and there are plenty of televisions that are perfectly positioned for you to catch a Seahawks game no matter where you are sitting. My most recent visit involved meeting some friends here for chat and enjoy some cocktails. We were there for 3 hours or so and at no point was I ever uncomfortable or in a hurry to leave.
Now for the negatives. Let’s start with the food. It just isn’t that good. We started off with the taco appetizers which were below average. I then followed it up with a fried rice bowl. I appreciate it being healthy but honestly it just really didn’t taste good. And I have visited this place many times before and had similar experiences with the food. Everyone talks about how the food isn’t that good. And in a city with so many places thst serve great food I don’t know why the shelter has struggled to create a great menu.
The second negative is the prices. It’s just expensive. Food is expensive, drinks arent quite as expensive but they are by no means cheap for a bar. I could live with the drink prices but given how below average the food is here everything just shouldn’t cost so much.
I’m giving this place 3 stars becsuse it is a great space, great location, and on sunny days in Greenlake this is just a funny place to be. But I’m deducting points because if you do decide to eat, you are really just purchasing very overpriced bar food. Come here to drink with friends and eat somewhere else if you can.

Great service, good is decent. Good avocado fries and pbj poppers. Would come again.

Shelter is a convenient place for a quick pop-​in for a snack or happy hour after we work out at Pure Barre.
There was a long wait when we came around 6:30pm so we sat at the bar. There was actually a start up company* there that had gone to the Mariner’s game and were completely trashed and were being obnoxious and rude to the staff and other patrons (us — shoving past us to pony up to the bar to order even though they had their own waitress). *side note, never support Pitchbook as a company
As far as Shelter goes, the staff was friendly but we were super confused why there was a 45 minute wait for a table when we saw over 10 vacant tables in the dining area. We eventually were so bothered by the Pitchbook drunk employees that they moved us to the couch areas in the very front (side that faces Greenlake) and we had a much better time.
They have a chop salad that is delicious, and if you ask for light on the dressing is pretty light. They used to have still rose, but they removed it from the menu so all they have is sparkling (which is still tasty).

I had heard about this place quite a bit, but had never really gotten a sense of what it was. What I discovered was a really chill bar resembling a cabin with plenty of space and a great drink menu. Definitely good for getting together with a group.

Oooh this place is so beautiful. Location, building. It’s just super good looking.
Unfortunately they kind of ruined it by installing like a million big TVs for your sports watching needs. It doesn’t really fit the ambiance.
The bartender was fun and charismatic and fun to talk to, other staff were nice.
I wouldn’t recommend the food though. Everyone’s food was really greasy.
If you’re into grease, drinks, and sports, this is your shelter.

I had to try The Shelter to see if what my friends were saying was true about the service and lack for luster food. I was hoping to give a better review but sadly left a little disappointed. We stopped in for lunch on a Thursday around 12:30pm. Three in our group and it wasn’t crowded. We were seated right away and our drink order taken which was nice.
I ordered the Cubano De Abrigo with fries and it was nothing special. I did ask to hold the mayo but on the menu it said it came with a special mustard and I couldn’t see or taste any mustard so I had to order a side of mustard. The sandwich was nothing special and had NO taste (even with me adding yellow mustard seriously) … If you are craving a Cuban go 5 min away to Bongos where you will save money and actually have some flavor in your sandwich The fries were good, but a little overcooked.
My sister ordered the Veggie Dagwood. She didn’t even finish it as she said it had no flavor and was disappointed she spent $ 13 for the sandwich. The only winner was my mom who ordered the Braised Pork Mini Tacos. She LOVED them. They are small, and only come with three but it was the perfect amount of food for her. She was pleased.
Our server was nice but she never came back to check on our drink refills. I really am shocked with the negative word of mouth and negative Unilocal reviews why this location hasn’t gotten its act together… Maybe they make so much money for high priced food and drinks they don’t care ??? I have friends who live in Greenlake who will drive to the Ballard location versus this location as they have had horrible experiences with service and food (and they sadly don’t Unilocal).
I live 5 minutes walking distance from this location and want it to be successful but can’t fathom more than a three star review. For the friendly and super fast service (although she didn’t check on our drinks I will let that slide maybe she was new) And my mom liked her tacos. I will go with a low three star review for this place. I will stick with Greenlake Grill for good food and happy hour atmosphere walking distance from my home (and many other restuarants in the area much better) and might go back in the future to see if this location gets their act together. Disappointed

Dinner: The chicken thighs are amazing. The kale salad is delicious and I wish I could make this at home. The space here is odd on the upper level in the back and while I understand the design (spacing between tables makes it easy for larger groups to get in and out of booths), it is visually awkward. The lower level is so different from the upper level that it almost seems like you are in a different restaurant.
In meeting my girls for HH, I walked right past the place. I’d never been and while I knew it was next to the Starbucks, having looked at the front and noting no signage I figured it must be on the other side. Walking back, I rounded the corner to see «Shelter» subtly signed on the side where the entrance is. Just a thought, it would be helpful to put the name of your establishment on the main street side of your restaurant. That’s just me.
I was told by the hostess that the wait was 30 mins and I took a seat at the bar to wait for my friends. They called in their drink and food orders to me so we could get them on the ticket before HH ended. To our demise, the online menu didn’t actually match up to what was on the printed menu so there was some confusion in ordering. This is a newer spot so I wouldn’t expect them to have these kinds of changes already. They do not carry the mojito tacos «anymore» but those were a staple to our order at the Ballard location. Odd.
We found the avocado fries to be different as well. These fingerling looking appetizers were soft and fell apart as we picked them up with a very thin breading that didn’t compliment well. The mini tacos (pork and chicken mole) are super good and tiny. The won ton wrapper is flaky and crumbles as you bite into it. Get two orders (4 total) and that should suffice. They are a better deal than the HH options.
We were finally called for our table about 50 minutes later. I went to check in with the hostess and she stated they only had a couch seat available «down stairs». I asked her what the seating was like as I’d never been here and was under the impression by how she described it as it being «below» the level we were on… as in, there was a DOWNSTAIRS level. When we declined and decided to stay in the bar, we decided to go check out the downstairs. Excited because we though the space was small in the first place, we were shocked to realize that the «downstairs» was literally, two steps down to the street level seating. We ran back to ask to have the table and she’d already assigned it to someone else.
We still had fun and yes, the food is pretty good. The service is great at the bar and our bartender was a sweetheart. The opened air arrangement in the front with the view is the best and the space is beautifully designed. I do LOVE the locale, the idea and the plan but i’m less then a fan of the actual execution of it all. This could be done a lot better.

This place is a 5 star for location, vibe, layout and feel. I love it. But food was not good. The flavors of the tacos were odd and did not work together, portion sizes were very small, my spinach salad was a good size but the dressing was bizarre, and the veggie options for my vegan friend was inedible. So much tumeric in the salad dressing, strange choice in foilage, and the bread her sandwich came with was deep fried and greasy wet with a piece of cucumber and something else? I felt bad for her. Jalapeños poppers were decent, but the fries were by far the best part of the array of what the 10 of us ordered.
All in all, this would be a great place to chill and grab a drink but I’d definitely skip the food. If they get their menu figured out this place would rock!

Shelter is absolutely beautiful. I was meeting a few friends for drinks and they told me the general area to look and immediately as we drove by I could pick out the building. It had beautiful sleek modern architecture, semi outdoor seating, glass ceilings and exposed brick walls. They had different table types to accommodate for any group size, whether you were looking for an intimate meal, or high bar seating or even couch seating on the street level.
It was a late afternoon on a very very sunny Saturday, so they had the window panels open. We were lucky enough to have secured a spot on the couches and had a great view of Greenlake.
Everything on their menu was clearly marked — gluten free, dairy free, vegan, etc. They also have a great drink menu, tons of different beers and ciders and mixed drinks. I got the sticky wings as a snack as we kicked back to soak in the rays.
Service was a bit slow, but we were in no hurry and didn’t have a problem waiting. The wings were pretty impressive; they served the entire wing, mini drumstick and wingtips included. Wings themselves were very crisp and flavorful and served on a bed of Asian coleslaw garnished with cilantro.
Everything was going great, we were enjoying the atmosphere when I went for the 2^nd wing to break apart and a bloody mess resulted on my plate. We immediately called over our waiter who told us that he would get us a replacement right away. I was annoyed but I was enjoying my snack so much that I just wanted to keep eating. I appreciated that shortly after the manager came over to apologize and said that she would take the wings off of our bill. However soon another manager came out with our plate of wings and explained to us that the chicken itself had been fully cooked we must have just broke into a vein in the wing causing it to bleed… Not really sure what he was getting at but we said it was fine as long as we had a replacement. The new set of wings were fine, all fully cooked and not a bloody wing in sight.
The trouble came when our bill came. We noticed that the despite what the manager said about removing the wings from the bill, it was still there. We pointed this out to our waiter when he rudely asked us, «Well, did you eat them?» Seriously? We were not on a mission for free food, all we wanted was our wings to be fully cooked. We never asked for a comped dish but if it was offered to us we were expecting it. The waiter came back shortly after and informed us that the second manager said he came out and explained why the wings were bloody and we were ok with it and that’s why they charged us. So apparently he wanted us to get upset.
The service here really put a bad taste in my mouth — atmosphere, food and drinks were great but that can only go so far.

Best table in the house! Love the concept of an open air bar/​restaurant on the edge of my favorite neighborhood.
Brand new, sparkling clean version of the aging original in Ballard. Sunny roof will also look great under stars and rain. Open seating on all bar stools and a wait for all other tables. This day was hot and crowded, making for several bump and spills… which made sense for strollers and babies. WTF people?!?
Monkey shared:
AVOCADO FRIES– waste of time & money
OLMSTEAD MARGARITA– good on a hot summers day
BALLARD OLD FASHIONED– bourbon over big ice cube. taste great but kicked me in the forehead after
MOJITO CHOPPED SALAD (sm) — great salad, perfect dressing
SPAG & BALLS– the hole in the noodle slows slurping, promotes gas. Good house made meatballs
CUBANO & FRIES– I forgot, but it was last, heavy and didn’t finish
3 stars because it was fucking loud as hell, while it felt like we were cooking in a infrared roaster. That table saved our lives. and our hearing. Monkey shall return, inevitably, on a less popular evening, for that table.

I really like what Shelter Lounge has to offer, but I think it’s pricey for what you get, so in reality this is more along a 3.5 star review.
We came in the day after the Grand Opening and sat at the bar. Since it was a sunny, summer Friday by Green Lake, I was expecting this place to be packed at 5pm, it was close, so I think we were lucky to snag seats by the bar, by 6 it was pretty much standing room. The space is really cool. It’s mostly skylights throughout, with the exception of the back area, so it’s bright and inviting.
We were STARVING, and everything looked good! But we stuck to 3 dishes which we shared. The sticky wings, the spinach and apple salad, and the Loco Moco burger. I have to say all 3 food items were good!
Sticky Wings ($ 11): 3 (only 3) wings. They were the 3 S’s: savory, sweet and sticky. My feedback is that they should serve these with wet naps, or you can just lick your fingers! These were the best thing we had, but for the price, I expected more like 5 – 6 wings.
Spinach & Apple Salad ($ 7): Really fresh, and the apple slices added a nice crispness to the salad. Of course, the bacon vinaigrette and candied walnuts were a nice bonus too!
Loco Moco Burger ($ 15): Ginormous burger with sriracha mayo, onion gravy, bacon, and topped with an egg! My hubby loved this! Me, not so much, individually I love all those things, but altogether, there were just too many flavors competing and it was messy!
Of course, it was Friday so I had to have my bourbon, while hubby had washed down the food with draught beer. Their selection of liquors is pretty impressive, they featured several local distilleries (Westlund, Woodinville, etc), and the bartenders were on point!

This place is incredible. I’m here on the first day, very sunny out and it really makes this place look phenomenal. There are a lot of windows on the roof and around the front part of the building and it really helps the natural light flow in. The layout is very similar to the Ballard Shelter too. I will definitely be coming here on a regular basis.
Update: I had the chicken wings per request from the bartender. He said they were similar to Pok Pok’s famous fish sauce wings. Now, I’ve never had Pok Pok’s wings before but I highly recommend these chicken wings from the Shelter. I also had the albacore and chicken tempura tacos. They were very small but very tasty. You get three of them and honestly, they are probably the size of one regular hardshell taco.