Crimson or Shoreline Grill?

J

jimmyjazz

2,500+ Posts
My wife and I have been blessed with a chance to go out tonight sans kids, so we're going to try to do it right. We've narrowed down our restaurant choices to either Crimson or Shoreline Grill. We like the latter quite a bit, but haven't ever been to the former.

Can anyone offer a comparison? I tend to stick with either steak, pork, or chicken, but my wife likes all of those and some seafood as well.

I'd rather not get into an argument over other restaurant options. We've discussed most of them and decided that these are our top two for tonight, as we love Shoreline Grill and have been intrigued with Crimson since it opened. Thanks in advance . . .
 
Didn't much care for Crimson. It was okay, nothing special. Shoreline Grill has never dissapointed and I like the atmosphere a little better.
 
This is not even close...Shoreline Grill for sure. Crimson is nothing to get excited about. Quite honestly, Gilligan's was much better, and that is saying a lot, b/c Gilligan's was never great..
 
Food is many times worse than Shoreline Grill. If it had to stand on its own(meaining if it was not in the Warehouse district), it would not last long. If you are craving that genre of food, Moonshine is a much better choice than Crimson.
 
OK, thanks. I know this -- Shoreline is just about as close to a "sure thing" as it gets in Austin. We always have a good dinner there.
 
I agree about Crimson, the atmosphere is blah and the food is okay. Much better as a lunch option. I also thought the food selection was quite limited -- although some dishes were somewhat interesting.

I'd go to Shoreline if the choice were just the two of them.
 
FYI, the reason we have narrowed it down to those two is because we're going to an art opening on 6th street and thus want to be in the area, and we have a PassBook card that covers both restaurants (along with La Traviata, but we're not wanting Italian tonight). Normally I wouldn't worry about sticking with the PassBook, but when you're already dropping $60 on a babysitter, it's nice to knock one entree off the price of an $80 - $100 dinner.

Anyone who hasn't looked into those PassBooks needs to. They pay for themselves MANY times over and they're for a good cause. Right now they're $10, and still good for 6 months or so:

PassBook
 
thanks for the heads up, I'll have to check that out... only $10???

My wife ran our first quarter budget numbers and we were embarrased about how much we spent eating out -- I'd like to cut that cost with as little in behavioral change as possible
smile.gif
 
tropheus, in addition to having a zillion coupons for fast food places like Taco Bell, Domino's, etc., it has discounts on movies (matinee prices in the evening) and services like dry cleaning, oil changes, etc. But the restaurant "punchcard" list was what sold us:

Hudson's On The Bend
Shoreline Grill
Paggi House
Mezzaluna
The Clay Pit
Saba
Crimson
Bitter End
West Lynn Cafe
Peony
Romeo's
Alborz
European Bistro

are all 2-for-1 entrees with very few restrictions. (You can only use the card once per restaurant.)
 
jimmy...

yes, Shoreline is the better restaurant in all aspects. I think the opinions of Crimson on this thread are a bit extreme. I'm guessing mostly because it's being compared to Shoreline.

In and of itself, Crimson is a good restaurant. It's not even close to great, but the food is interesting and unique, and the atmosphere is what you would expect in the wharehouse district.

Personally, when my wife and I go out for dinner we like to try places we've never been. If I were you I would give Crimson a try. Add to the fact you are using a Passbook coupon and in the end if you're not satisfied you haven't paid full price.

my $.02
 
I am not a fan of Crimson. My thursday night happy hour just moved there and I dislike the food to the point where I am eating before I get there or when we go to the next place. I think they tried to jazz up the food too much and it doesn't really work in my opinion.

Alborz is a great place for lunch. I just saw it in that list and I was just going to mention it to spread the word, so to speak.
 
Well, Shoreline was a little bit of a disappointment, but only because they typically set the bar so high. Dinner was still very good, but not quite as good as usual. I ordered a seared prime ribeye with "King Ranch" potatoes and veggies, and my wife ordered the scallops with polenta. I asked that they cook my ribeye medium, and when it arrived, it was on the thin side and definitely cooked a shade past medium. I'm not big on bloody steaks, so this didn't bother me TOO much, but it was a bit on the tough side, especially for prime. The flavor was wonderful, though. (I was surprised they overcooked my steak -- restaurants usually err on the rare side.) The sides were perfect. My wife said her scallops were a bit "fishy" tasting, too, but loved her sides, with the exception of the polenta, which the waitress cheerfully replaced with saffron rice. (My wife had only tried the polenta at the encouragement of the waitress, with a "swap" guarantee if she didn't like it.) Our desserts (bread pudding & creme brulee) were outstanding. So was my Macallan 12 YO single malt.

So, it wasn't amazing, but it was very good. We sat outside, which we had never done before, and the scenery and weather were beautiful. Service was friendly and efficient -- they had no complaints when we accidentally knocked over a partial glass of wine, and quickly moved us to another clean table and brought out new wine. They didn't even charge for that glass, which I had offered to pay for.

Ultimately, I ended up skipping the discount card because the staff was so accomodating. It just seemed wrong to drop a "free entree" on them, even though I would have tipped on the full fare. Dinner totaled $135 with tax and tip, which is definitely on the very high side for us, but worth it if for no other reason than to get out of the house alone.

Thanks for all the advice . . . we'll try Crimson soon.
 
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