I've lived within walking distance of this place for years now, but my relationship with Shadowland is a bit of an abusive one. Sometimes it treats me oh-so-nice, with delicious food and some friendly service, but most of the time it treats me like shit. Two quick anecdotes: 1. It's 10ish pm and we realized we hadn't eaten for a while. Aiming for the closest spot we enjoy, I end up at the bar at SLand asking for a food menu. The bartender apologetically tells me that it's Happy Hour now, and they don't do happy hour food to go. Okay, so I'll order off the regular menu. No, they are ONLY serving happy hour food now, and the full menu isn't available. But they'll make a deal with me: If I pay the REGULAR menu price for the HAPPY HOUR items, they'll put them in boxes for me. Yup, for an extra $1.50-$12.00 an item, they'll let me take the food out of the establishment. I ask if I can just order the food on plates, tell them I'm full or had a family emergency and put them in a box, and they said no. To his credit, the bartender was pretty apologetic about the whole situation and understood when I laughed quite loudly and left the restaurant. From the way he spoke of it, this is either a stingy management or bitchy kitchen staff issue. Either way, ridiculous. 2. The scene is today, 20 minutes after the Hawks finished whooping up on the Cards. I'm hankering for some of their delicious Pho (see? Abusive relationship) so I mosey down the street and snag one of the five open spots at the bar. It was a pretty mellow vibe, so I'm assuming the game traffic had cleared out. I sat for about 3 minutes while the bartender flipped channels on the two TVs, trying to find another game. No sweat, I'll check out the menu. She then speedily heads over to the kitchen area, comes back a minute later and starts fiddling with the TV again. I've memorized the menu by now. This process repeats one more time, with her even making eye contact with me once, as I struck up conversation with a guy who showed up a few minutes after me who also hadn't been served. After 10 minutes pass (yes, exaggerations suck so I made sure to check the clock on my way out) without a greeting of any sort, I remember the dark side of my affair with SLand, and head back out into cold to find a more accommodating place to eat. Food: 4 * Service: 1.5* Ridiculous managerial(?) policy about to-go food: 0* Sorry, Shadowland. We really tried to make it work, but I don't think you have any intent on changing your ways. I'm taking the kids and the dog and leaving you once and for all, for someone who appreciates me and doesn't act like it's such a burden to take my money. read more

I love this place. They make some great cocktails and the dinner menu is pretty good. Brunch however is fantastic! The chicken fried steak & eggs are phenomenal. read more

Always a fave! Service is always top notch and the food is just as good. My sister has a list of allergies so she typically has to order vegan dishes and then add meat. Here, she can actually order right off the menu, so that's a definite plus! read more

I love Shadowland! Great menu- love the variety of food choices. They use ingredients that aren't found everywhere. Not your average burger/salad chain. Also, they have a great happy hour. It doesn't include cocktails, but can't beat a $4 dinner. Best Mac and Cheese in West Seattle now that Blackbird Bistro is closed. They have also made a special vegan dish when I came with a group- we called ahead and asked. Also, love the booth seating for a more intimate feeling. read more

One of the BEST Happy Hours in the Junction!! Great food and Drinks, The Bartender (Andrew, I think...) was super friendly funny and fast. will definitely be back for more good times!!! read more

Hands down our favorite bar in West Seattle. Good beer selection, and the food is surprisingly good for a small-ish sized bar. Yummy crab cakes. We now have an 18-month old daughter who is not allowed inside I believe due to the state law of the physical bar not being separated from the dining area, so it's a bummer we can't go as much as we would like... thank goodness for the family-friendly Elliot Bay Bar down the street. read more

Moscow Mule for sure. Legit copper mug. Mid-week dinner with an Amazon Local deal. Seated immediately but waited a bit for someone to come with menus and water. Cuban and fries for me; chicken gyro for him; Green bean fries to start. Super delicious dill-y ranch-y sauce and the garlic aioli to dip them in. The gyro looked like it was tough to eat since the pita was somehow toasted and shaped like a boat. More like a knife and fork deal. Couldn't tell if it was topped with the dill ranch or tsatziki sauce but it made for a good leftover the next day after softening up. Sandwich was good and just what I was expecting, though it could have spent a little more time being pressed and griddled. Fries were piping hot and good - not too hard, not too squishy. The other half of my sandwich toasted up mighty fine the next day on the Foreman. Not a bad place, but made even better with the $15 off. read more

I wanted to recognize Kendall's incredible care for her tables. This girl is the epitome of awesomeness. Thank you for caring for our table and being connected to everyone and ensuring they are all cared for. Thank you for being so tender and caring. Breanna read more

rude a$$ bartender/server. asked us to leave at 1:50 and requested that we bring our finished drinks to the bar for him. very bad service. drinks are decent but negated but this bad server. read more

Most super awesome Trivia EVER. I love coming here on Tuesday nights for the trivia. They have cheap eats and reasonable drink prices. Everyone is always in a good mood and I have never had a problem finding a seat. There is not a very big selection of food though and they put pickle juice in my bloody mary... BLECK! So, lesson learned but I'll keep going back! TRIVIA!! read more

Brunch was great with goat cheese Omelet and the typical bar crowd. There were a handful of folks watching the game and the waitress was attentive and helpful. The Omelet was fantastic, tasty and everything you'd expect at a nice restaurant. All in all, it's a great value and not bad. I wanna come back for drinks at night! read more

On a day when a hangover was in full effect, we decided to eat at Shadowland after visiting the farmers market. I wasn't very hungry due to the previous nights drinking, but ordered the feta omelet anyway. Im glad I did. The vegetables were so tasty and fresh, and the goat cheese was of perfect consistancy. The coffee was served in a mug/jar which was a nice change of pace and our poutine was a nice reminder of England. I recommend checking this place out for brunch. I had a great eating experience! Pluse there are a lot of cool paintings on the walls. read more

Excellent late-night happy hour! If only they were on my bus route home.

Came out with a disappointment. I thought happy hour was fab but it was not I ordered chicken wings (it was interesting to taste with Chinese sweet sauce). And a order of fried chicken (came with not-so-yummy mashed potatoes). And ordered margaritas and it was horrible. I would not come back again. read more

Pork belly is back on the menu though its getting overcooked a bit

Nice little place for a quiet drink. Had the boysenberry pie, which was just OK. Planning on trying their brunch next weekend. Whether or not the food is exceptional, it is still a good neighborhood place for a drink, which is just as important. read more

Great place for Brunch. Good (stiff) bloody marys, awesome food. The huevos rancheros is highly recommended. I love that the tortillas are fried and crispy rather than just sitting on the plate like a wet paper towel. Adding chorizo to it is awesome. The staff are extremely friendly and very cute. This place will be a brunch staple for me and my friends. read more

Poor service...every time, rude servers, utter laziness. Typical food, I mean if your going to have horrible service you should at least have good food, the kitchen is disgusting, unsurprised nobody has complained about illness. I love all things West Seattle, so many choices so don't waste your time with this one. Keep walking! read more

Shadowland remains one of the best and most low key bars in town, or perhaps anywhere. They go out of their way for me without even being asked. Shout out to all the amazing employees who seem happy and relaxed, who even deal with a veritable tsunami of drunks looking to buy two dollar Rainiers with grace. Thanks guys! Keep being awesome. read more

Our "go to" spot for a great cocktail. Tonight they confirmed their awesomeness to us when after just leaving a horrible dining experience at another restaurant, where my husband didn't get to eat and enjoy his steak, we decided to ask if they could make him just a small steak ( which wasn't on the menu).The chef came out and even spoke to my husband about how he liked the steak cooked, and they were more than happy to try to turn our horrible evening around. Sure enough, the steak was cooked to perfection and tasted lovely. The wait staff here are always super friendly and helpful. Always loved this place, but love it even more after tonight. read more

Le Sigh. How many gastro-pubs does the world need? My husband and I visited here for drinks and decided to get some food. He had the hamburgers with American kobe beef. If you're working with meat that nice, why char it so it tastes like nothing? He was really disappointed. I had the hummus, which was pretty blah I have to say. I dunno, I wasn't impressed and I probably won't return. The pretension factor was high and the quality was nill. Not a good combo if you ask this reviewer. read more

Consistently great and happy hour prices and options are delicious! Service is great as well, very friendly and genuine staff. Great date spot especially late night when you're looking for a great spot! read more

The wait for drinks seemed longer than I'm used to. If you have a tab open with a server they wont let you order drinks at the bar, or pay your tab. Bar tenders are lazy and rude, servers seem new to serving. There are plenty of other places in west seattle that are more deserving of your business. read more

The stars I gave were because the food here is actually good. I came in for brunch w some friends and sat at the bar. When we finally got greeted and ordered drinks (we waited 10-15 minutes to even be acknowledged and the restaurant wasn't busy) our drinks took another 15 minutes. Then our drinks got dropped off and the bar tender didn't take our order. Another 15 minutes or so passed and we finally got to order food. The food came out fine and was delicious, however, we again didn't get talked to for the rest of the meal. When finished we tried to give our cards as soon as we could because we were getting completely ignored and the bar tender came over, looked at our visible cards and proceeded to tell us that she had some drinks to make first. LITERALLY 20 more minutes passed before we could actually get our tabs. So disappointing. It's hard to find places that are worth it in west Seattle and unfortunately, due to the service here, we will not be back. My advice is to sit at a table if you go. read more

We went to Shadowland for drinks with friends last night and had a great time. The place was pretty empty on a Tuesday night but filled up a bit more by the time I left (10pm-ish). All my friends enjoyed their drinks. The food was a little disappointing. Decent prices but very small portions. My friends ordered the macaroni and cheese with broccoli (comes with bacon too) and they thought it was the best mac & cheese they've had. Will go back. read more

ok so now I have tried Shadowland for breakfast. We stopped in for a quick bite of breakfast and the place was empty except for the two of us, the bartender and our server. We each ordered something very simple. At first it took a bit to get coffee and our first impression of our waitress was that she had a long night/early morning the night before and was still suffering the wrath of a good party. We've all been there but as it turned out our conversations with her ended up being the best thing about our experience. No gripe about the over all price points. Pretty average but when my bacon showed up still dripping in grease making it literally uneatable...I was bummed. Once again, I would have to say my experience with Shadowland has been consistently inconsistent. sorry to be a party pooper. It's just the way its been for me. read more

This rating is based on brunch only. There are so many great places to get breakfast in West Seattle, there really is no reason to go to Shadowland. The two times I have been for brunch, the place has been empty, but still the servers cannot get it together. This past weekend, the coffee was kind of like pond water (murky and full of grounds)--we sent it back once, but didn't bother the second time. The food is fine, nothing special. Again, so many other places to get good breakfast, no reason to try Shadowland. read more

Iv been for the bar. Brunch. Date night and out with the girls. Every time its been enjoyable. Thank you guys for making good food consistently and for making even better drinks. Love the live music and fun atmosphere. read more

I've been here multiple times in the last few months. In fact, some friends and I have started a monthly breakfast club and go here. Examples: Lunch (French dip with horseradish and clam chowder) was excellent. Happy hour is a favorite, especially the mac & cheese and the Thai port lettuce boats. Service is good (especially at lunch), friendly and attentive without being intrusive. A five! One bad experience with slow service, but that's not the norm. Waitress had not expected such a large group right at opening, and her help was late. Management seems concerned to fix issues like that. read more

Awful customer service. If they get busy the waitress gets snappy. Eva I think her name was. i saw my drink sitting on the bar for 5 minutes she is talking with the bartender. I come up and ask her if I might just take my drink to the table 10 feet away as she is grabbing another set of drinks. What was she on a smoke break I wonder as she stinks like that or is it pot I am not sure. Maybe she smells a bit like pot. She says "no you have to wait like everyone else". Okay I said. Sat down. Told my friends the drinks will come and we wait another 5 minutes as she chatters with the bartender again. Then she brings everyone drinks and points to me says which one is yours? I told her which was mine and thank you and she says to the table "he is cut off". Referring to me. Wow. I was totally sober just hoping for a drink within 10 minutes of ordering it.. She looks at me and smirks then walks from the table to take my drink back to the bar. I was in fact completely sober. Apparently I just set her off. Truly horrible treatment for what was actually supposed to be a nice business meal with new work colleagues and she thoroughly and unnecessarily embarrassed me such that for all the many times I had eaten there that was the very last. Right on! Why does the management tolerate such nasty or high wait staff? This waitress seemed smug to have cut me off and I was sure a little surprised at the wait for drinks but does that mean I'm drunk or just that they are not so efficient bringing drink orders. Apparently I was just cut off for complaining about the wait. If she thinks you're in any way troubling her that means she is going to relish in her personal world of rudeness despite she relies on your business. That action towards customers obviously buys reviews like this one for shadowland and will result in people never returning with the friends and family I might have otherwise because of the HORRIBLE vibe I got. From her. Don't go there if you expect the customer to be treated with dignity. At least one server has a power trip and abrasiveness possibly a smoking problem that will throw your night if you expect shadowland to be as efficient as anywhere else with drinks. What an unfriendly sort. I'm pretty sure I heard she was Eva or Ava and she is sending decent customers like us away forever just to show who is boss. Her actual boss should ask bartenders how often she cuts off customers without so much as a question whether they are too drunk or just frustrated about her particular slow service. And what is with the smell? read more

I've gone twice for lunch and there French dip sandwich has been awsome. There mushroom poutine was really good as well. My wife got the Shadowland burger and she really liked it. Service was varying the first time was Awsome and the second time not so much. I can't wait to try them for dinner and a show read more

Bar tenders mostly clean and ignore you. If you want food or more than one glass of water. Forget it.

I really enjoy going to Shadowland for their happy hour. Their wines selection is good and they pour it generously. Their food menu is enjoyable (even within normal hours). Definitely for me it is a prime location to hang out with friends read more

I went here for dinner and we had great service & enjoyed the food. I went for Sunday brunch and we had to wait a long time for our food, but there was only 1 server in the whole place and she was still pleasant and the food was good. Good Bloody Marys too. read more

I go here once every couple of weeks for lunch. Love the pork lettuce bowls. But I'm always a bit cold when I go in here. Otherwise chill atmosphere, good music and friendly service. read more

Good drinks, when the staff is paying attention. If you sit at the bar you have a better chance at being served. But it's still a bit iffy. Food is decent. Be prepared to wait if you go there. You'll find a seat, but the staff disappears or ignores you. read more

Food and service is always great. Love the multiple happy hours! Lettuce boats, green beans, hummus plate, fries, burger, Rueben... In no particular order. read more

Very good food and drinks, one of the best local spots in w seattle, so chill out and enjoy yourself!

Waitress - Quite friendly and helpful. Drinks - Horrible. The huckleberry special cocktail tasted like Cough Syrup. The lemon spritzer tasted...well...bad. Even a basic Cosmo was messed up. The virgin mojito was the only bright spot. Dessert - Passable. Nothing inspired. Atmosphere - Nice. read more

I like Shadowland a lot. I consider myself a regular, for the following reasons: They have great food. The menu has great variety and the food is creative and tasty. Had the Reuben last night - they make theirs with Gouda instead of Swiss cheese - and it was the highlight of my week. I love Gouda. Any of you purists have a problem with Gouda over Swiss, I'm right here. Anyway, their sliders are great, I hear the poutine and the mac and cheese are both great, and the Happy Hours are from 4 to 6 and from 10 to midnight. Awesome! The bar atmosphere is very relaxed. It's dark, with dark wood and orange lighting that really sets it off. It's clean and casual, while still feeling upscale. They have a great bar, Manny's on tap, nice wine list, and it's always full of people out to have a good time. Shadowland is a top pick in the growing number of bars and restaurants coming to West Seattle. As a live music venue, Shadowland is one of a kind. There is a great community of musicians in W Seattle that play consistently in this place. Patrick hosts a great Open Mike night on Tuesdays, and the bar hosts full shows most other nights. In this regard, Shadowland benefits from a number of factors - it's a quieter part of California Ave, but not to the point where they need to turn down for the neighbors; the bar is consistently full of people, but not to the point where you can't find a place to sit or a server to take a drink order; and it's a young crowd of nice people who play good music, but the atmosphere doesn't feel like it's pandering to any hot trends. It's a very complex simplicity. To sum it up, Shadowland makes great choices across the board. The people who work there invest a lot of themselves in the place, and it's become one of my personal favorite bars in Seattle. I recommend it to everybody. Seriously, I will debate anyone re: good Reubens. And I love a good wedge salad, but they do need to add chopped tomatoes. Comes off a little salty without them. But props for having a wedge salad in the first place. Every restaurant ought to serve a wedge. read more