Gimmee Shelter, or at least lunch.... 

On a gorgeous, sunny fall day we were in need of a quick lunch before we prepped for a dinner party we were hosting that night.  We shot over to The Shelter Kitchen & Bar a new restaurant on Coleman Avenue in Mt. Pleasant.  Rarely do I eat a hamburger, but I had been craving one all week and couldn’t wait!

The Shelter Kitchen & Bar is an open space with a large outdoor patio.  They have definitely taken advantage of the space.  Who knew that sitting on the patio watching cars go by could be so much fun?? The interior looks as if they took a page out of the play book of The Triangle Char Bar. It’s very open, with a galvanized metal covering the walls.  There’s not much in the way of décor but the atmosphere with the openness of the attached patio felt great. 

The menu has some traditional pub food with many items having “a unique twist”.  We started out with the Fried Pickles + Okra.  These crispy, salty, crunchy, spicy Southern treat were served with chipotle-ranch dipping sauce.  Delivered in just under six minutes they were terrific.  Oh, so briny and complimented nicely by the dipping sauce. We placed our order and waited for our lunch, just watching the cars roll by. 

Fried Pickles + Okra

At the twenty minute mark, our lunch had not being delivered and we were watching the clock since we were  bit pressed for time.  But then… out came our lunch! My husband’s Fried Green Tomato BLT was served with baby mozzarella (sic)- note the unique twist, bacon, romaine, mayo, fried green tomatoes on Texas toast.  The side that my husband chose was onion rings – nothing healthy at this table, that’s for sure!!  The sandwich got rave reviews but it was only toasted on one side. So when you picked it up to eat it the texture of the toasted bread and the untoasted bread was a bit odd as you held it.  But the flavor was good and the onion rings were delightful. 

Fried Green Tomato BLT

And then… there was my burger.  Ordered medium it was served very well done.  And the fries were a pile of oil, soggy and undercooked.  So I asked if I could get another burger and some “extra crispy fries”.  I insisted that my husband eat his lunch as the bartender said that it would be out in a flash. 

Basic Burger

My husband was long done with his sandwich when I inquired about my burger.  At this point I had waited an additional twenty minutes and as I mentioned we were on a tight time frame. I told the bartender to forget it, we had to go.  He took the burger off our bill and as we were signing it about 5 minutes or so later he said, “your burger’s back there should you want it”.

The restaurant wasn’t all that busy and to wait just another 20 minutes for a redo was unacceptable. Although the bartender tried his best, it appeared that he had forgotten about us for awhile and at no time did we see anything even remotely resembled a manager. I get the fact that mistakes happen.  To me, it’s how a restaurant skillfully recovers during an episode such as mine that makes all the difference in the world.  Not so much at The Shelter.

So much for my burger jones.

We gave The Shelter 2 out of a possible 5 plates. 

Read the original on: Dining Around Charleston