I really wanted to like this place. It's near our home and would be a great go to, but this is the third, and I'm afraid final, visit to Sheets Creek. The first time we dined here, we were seated on the patio and it had so much potential, but the stench from the nearby backyards (dog business) was overwhelming. The second visit was just fine, but this last visit was mostly bad all around.
First, we were seated right away, but it took quite a while for a server to make their way to our table. It was really busy, so that is understandable, and the servers were all very friendly. It is not a quiet place by any means and our table was directly between the side door to the patio (smelly and hot every time the door was opened) and the kitchen which was abuzz with activity and really noisy. There was live music on the patio but that was out of earshot.
We were served water and those glasses were kept full (thankfully because my son in law was dehydrated from attending the Wichita Open all day). Despite us taking a while to look over the drink menu, our drink order was never taken. We ordered a starter and got dill pickle bombs. They were fine. Standard bar food that we finished fairly quickly. We waited for 15 minutes for someone to return to take our entree order and quickly requested a couple things from the "specials" menu and a couple from the standard menu. We didn't mention drinks because we were eager to get the food order in, and after she left the table we said, "oh shoot. We didn't order drinks. Oh well she will be back." We didn't ever see our primary waitress again. People came by to fill water and to drop off our entrees. Then someone came to ask if we needed anything else and by then, we decided to stick with water.
The first entree was salmon and chips. Looking back, the description might not have been investigated fully, because my husband was surprised that the salmon arrived breaded as you would expect cod or haddock to be in a fish n chips combo. It was not very appealing, but the fries were good. The server had asked if he preferred ranch or ketchup with fries and he replied ketchup but proceeded to receive neither.
The second entree was a 6oz steak from the specials menu served with potatoes and a choice of vegetables. I requested green beans and both the sides were decent but did not knock my socks off. I ordered my steak medium rare and that is what I received. The flavor was good, but I can say without hesitation, it was the worst cut of meat I have ever been served. The steak came sliced and layered on top of the potatoes (probably to make it look more substantial since it was a smaller portion.) I had to ask for a steak knife because the table knife could not cut through any part of those slices. I got the steak knife, powered through some tendons and tried like mad to consume a small bit. I could not chew this steak. Until that day, I don't think I have ever spit out food in a restaurant, but I did not have a choice. It was either spit it out or swallow it whole.
My son in law ordered a Cobb salad and said it was great! Score! Nothing terrible or out of the ordinary to report.
Lastly, my daughter's meal might have been the most strange. Her entree was from the special menu and was described as a Shrimp Scampi Fettucine with garlic in a white wine butter sauce. At first bite, she immediately said, "Wow. That's really lemony." She kept eating (because thankfully she likes lemons) and gave her husband a bite. He physically retracted and said, "dang. That's a lot of lemon." She then asked me to try a noodle and gave both my husband and myself a fettuccine noodle. It tasted like the noodles had been boiled in lemon juice. The odd thing is that lemon was not mentioned in the description and the dish, upon further inspection, actually had lemon rind mixed in. There was no white wine butter sauce to speak of... just onion, garlic, and lemon with shrimp. It wasn't terrible. But that's definitely not in line with the description, and really not what she was expecting.
A member of the wait staff stopped by and asked if she could bring us a sweets menu. At no time did anyone inquire about the meal. We said no to the sweets and asked for the check.
My final assessment was that Sheets Creek is a nice place for friends to meet up and have drinks. They have live music and a nice atmosphere if you aren't looking for a quiet place to relax. The prices were not outrageous and had they been more, I might have complained. There were too many things to mention to staff and I would have come off as petty. Life is too short. Sheets Creek seems to be trying too hard to be unique and for me is missing the mark. read more