Mirkwood & Shire Cafe

Delicious food and unique restaurant and bar. I love that there is a restraint with so many Vegan options in this area! If you go to Mirkwood, make sure you get the Fries appetizer… I can’t remember what it was called but it was awesome… It’s almost like potato wedges but better

This place has an amazing atmosphere, great food, and great music. The «Reign in Blood» habanero Bloody Mary was the greatest drink i’ve ever had, and it was only six dollars!
It should also be noted that they DO have a pool table, the information on the side bar is incorrect.

This place has an interesting atmosphere and Trish, the bartender/​waitress was great but aside from her personally this was the absolute worst service. We got there about 530, service was slow, and I mean ssssllllooowww, finally got a drink, and ordered two breakfast burritos, it took an hour to get dinner. My friend ordered dessert and by the time we got to be dessert (to go) it was almost 800. I have been here before and hoped that the slow service was a one time thing but it happens EVERY time. There is however a great place for tattoo and piercing, I’ve had piercing done there and the work is great. Ben Lynch (piercer) does great work.

It took at least 10 minutes for the waitress to come over. We asked for information or their vegan options multiple times and did not get a helpful answer once except that «anything can be made vegan.» After we ordered a vegan chicken burger we waited at least 30 min to get our food… she brought it over with ranch on the side and I asked if it was vegan ranch and it wasn’t. Then we quickly realised the rest of our meal was not vegan or even vegetarian… it was a beef burger with cheese. Since the lady was so terrible at her job and never asked how we were or refilled our drinks we had to go to the kitchen to ask if our food was vegan which it wasnt. No one once apologized for their mistake or offered us a free meal… needless to say we will never go back.

I really wanted to like this place. We were given a voucher for joining the Vegetarians of Washington group and the menu looked extensive. I commend them for providing vegan/​vegetarian options for most of their food. Unfortunately, the food wasn’t very tasty and came out cold even though we were the only ones eating there for lunch. I had the chili burger with vegan chicken patty and my wife ordered a veggie pesto burger. Neither was great and the fries were just ok. It took a long time to get the food, and while I normally view that as a good sign that the food is being freshly prepared, since it came out cold, I wonder if there was some issue.
The ambience also wasn’t for us since it mostly looked like a bar, even upstairs, but the server was nice and friendly.
Overall, it’s nice that they provide a lot of veggie options, but the food and ambience disappointed.

I’ve tried this place a few times hoping it would get better, but no. I was excited about the vegetarian food, but I’m pretty sure it’s all microwaved. The place is decorated like a giant college apartment. Sometimes a good band shows up but usually they’re terrible. I’d put up with the food for family karaōke night though. Very entertaining.

Great atmosphere. Service was excellent. Food was good. I had the burger, for a place that doesn’t specialize in burgers, it was good. At least they are health conscious by service cage free, organic foods.
Love the stage set up and the band selection. Seating is at a premium later in the night since most people stuck around to watch the bands. But plenty of room to roam.
Definitely plan on going back.

The food and service were decent but the place itself wasn’t that exciting. Nothing about it really seemed lord of the rings themed besides the name which was a little disappointing. We did however make the huge mistake of going on a comedy night.
Amateur standup/​improv would have been tolerable but nearly everyone who got on the stage was drunk and half of them hadn’t even prepared routines. My friend and I were eating quietly in the corner and got singled out early because we weren’t laughing which then turned into a never ending barge of harassment and increasingly violent demands that we loosen up and recognize how funny they were. We felt uncomfortable enough to leave without finishing our meals and I would’ve said something to the staff if I didn’t suspect that everyone put on stage was a friend of the management.

I was instantly turned off by the dingy dive bar atmosphere and loud rock music, but I was so hungry and they have a great menu with vegan food options.
We found a table as far from the speakers as possible. After a minute of sitting on the hard wood bench seating. I felt like the music would give me a headache so we abandoned the place. We found a quiet greek café in Marysville that had vegetarian food options instead.
Note: it was Sat night, so maybe at other times it’s less noisy. Also they had an outside picnic table so that might work in nice weather.

Live Acoustic Band playing this Friday night August 7, 2015, «The Ghost Flyers». I’ve seen them several times there before, I give them 5 stars!!!

First time at this funky little place. Didn’t know until we got there that it was 100% vegan. Well, that’s okay, I enjoy great food with or without meat. So, was this great food? Uh… NO! It wasn’t quite as bad «nasty» as one reviewer suggested, but it was definitely boring, bland and uncreative. I had the pesto garden burger; very little pesto flavor but lots of chewy, tasteless «garden burger» and bun. Next: dessert. How can you screw up ice cream? The ice cream in my «sundae» was so warm and runny, I had trouble telling it from the whipped cream! I will give it this though: there were a lot of walnuts and whipped cream on it.
Overall, The service was good. We thought it funny in this «Hobbit» themed place that our server had not seen any of the movies! But, she did a good job of attending to our needs, and was pleasant and worked hard to keep our orders straight. It was a bit of a wait for our food, but nothing to complain about. Beverages were served promptly.
As we were leaving, the band was warming up. Perhaps things get better with live music. But, I doubt it.

I love the food.
Being vegan I was so excited to have a 100% vegan meal. I got the enchiladas. Sooooo good!!!
We didn’t have to wait long either. I think we only waited ten minutes for our food.
It was nice to seat ourselves.
I did a 4 star because it could use a face lift lol but I’d definitely eat here again.

Love love love this amazing family owned restaurant. It has become the location for my family to hang out and catch up. We really appreciate the amazing service and hard work.

I am a vegan, Snohomish-​county-​dwelling, live-​music-​loving Tolkien-​enthusiast so I really, really, REALLY want to like this place, but I just can’t. I’ve been to the Mirkwood four times and my experiences have varied from mediocre to plain ol’ nasty.
Food: 2 stars. It’s alright, but it only came out hot one out of four times. The menu is so promising, but nothing tastes as good as it could. It’s really just vegetarian bar food with flowery descriptions. Some accurate adjectives: mushy, greasy, burnt, bland, and tepid.
Live Music: 1 star. I am so glad that there is a venue for local bands, but if there is a particular band you want to see, and then you go in and pay cover to see them, chances are you will be disappointed because they’ve either played earlier than advertised and you’ve missed them (and the staff, of course, failed to mention it when you paid cover to get in) or there is an entirely different band there. False advertising isn’t cool.
Atmosphere: 1 star for displaying local art. It would be 0 stars if I based it on the cleanliness of the bathrooms. Definitely not Tolkien themed and certainly not anywhere near quaint. There is a distinctive «dive bar» vibe, which doesn’t appeal to me at all. It’s dark and dingy inside and just looking at the cloud of smoke surrounding the outside diners may have given me sympathetic emphysema. The atmosphere simply doesn’t live up to the name… you’d more likely find an orc eating here than a hobbit. I think a better name would be Mordor’s Tavern. In fact, I don’t know why they call it a café. It’s a bar.
Service: 0 stars. Maybe negative stars. I see all the positive reviews about the staff, and I find them befuddling. Did I happen to go on four days when the evil doppelgangers of these friendly servers were working? I never received service with a smile, or even decent manners. Service was aloof at best, rude at worst, and always, ALWAYS, unapologetic about the long wait for food.
Overall: Such a promising name. Such a promising menu. Such a promising venue. Such a great disappointment.

Awesome people awesome food stop on in and get a tattoo too :) Its a great place with a nice atmosphere and my favorite place to rest my spurs and relax with a drink.

I’ve been here two times for lunch. Service was okay, nothing to write home about. The food was terrible. The first time I ordered the Pear Walnut Salad and the dressing had a weird after taste. I figured it was just off for that day and decided to try them again. The second time I ordered a grilled cheese and it was not grilled at all. I think it was microwaved. Yuck. I would not recommend this place for eating out.

Came here this afternoon with seven adults and two small children after visiting the Kangaroo Farm just up the road. We ordered drinks, two appetizers, as well as lunch for everyone. Our server was also the bartender, cook, and busser — she killed it. All of our food came out hot and at once!
They have a variety of infused vodkas, kid friendly, dinner, breakfast, and dessert. Vegetarian and vegan options that you almost never see in North Snohomish County. I was very impressed. We also noticed they have live music on Friday & Saturday nights.

The Mirkwood was interesting… The boyfriend and I came here last Friday night to see a band that knows. The ceilings are tall, the décor is pretty cool, the music is loud.
Cover was 5 $
Chocolate Panette 8 $ to share
The Panette was ok. Curbed my chocolate craving, but not anything I would go back for. The inside tasted like a chocolate cake with a cinnamon dough covering. I think the chocolate center was too much. We ate around it.
I would like to go back and try some regular food. Bilbo’s breakfast sounded pretty good.
The seating is either up front, or in the back blocked by the sound booth. You have to stake out a place pretty early if you don’t want either of those places.

I had heard about this place and was looking forward to trying it, since I am a Tolkein fan, interested in vegetarian fare, and a lover of old architecture. I was disappointed on all counts.
The old church that had been «renovated» was dark and uninspiring, with no apparent creativity applied to the space. The atmosphere did not read as Middle Earth at all, it just came off as goth. On a beautiful sunny afternoon I did not enjoy sitting in a dark bar with curtains over the windows.
The lunch menu was mostly just different variations on their veggie patty. I liked the flavor of the chantrelle mushroom swiss «burger» I ordered, but the patty was mushy and soft. With the white potato fries and pickle on the side, it looked just like typical pub fare.
Maybe their forte is more about the live music on the weekends. But I think they’ve missed the mark on providing a cheery café atmosphere reminiscent of the Shire.

As you might have guessed, the Mirkwood & Shire Café is devoted to places of Middle Earth from J.R. R. Tolkein’s books.
The building is multitextured in different ways that make the place fun and unique. Upstairs is Mordor Tattoo. The steps and walls going up to the place are dark and implying a sinister tone to getting ink perhaps. Also upstairs is a sign that says Rivendell hair so apparently there is a beauty salon upstairs as well.
Downstairs is a restaurant and concert stage. The menu is exclusively vegan and the food here is delicious! I got the Enchiladas with Green Sauce along with their homemade salsa and sour cream. Steve got a vegan burger which was very tasty. The food was great!
This place seems to be a labor of love for the people that run it here. They are constantly adding new things like having a carnivore menu in the near future as well as a remodeled kitchen.
The atmosphere is fun, funky and kitchy in the most adoring way possible! Steve and I did not seem to have much reason to stop in Arlington until we heard about this place!