Shelby’s

Shelby’s is, by far, the best restaurant in Orinda! It is always our go to spot for a GOOD meal in our hometown. Sure… The other restaurants might seem more trendy or kid friendly but none serve such consistently top notch food as Shelby’s. And as for being kid friendly… Shelby’s has a fantastic kids menu… burgers, pizza, pasta… and crayons to color with. Their menu has standards that are great but also has seasonally changing specials that are amazing. The Mexican Sea Bass is my new current favorite!

Shelby’s is awesome. Without their delicious catered lunches, I would be eating cereal at my desk (again). Instead, am having seconds on pasta with creamy tomato sauce, chunks of chicken and bacon flavoring every bite. Spring mix salad with balsamic vinaigrette…

Great service for the three times we’ve been there. It’s now one of our local Go-​To restaurants for a number of reasons:
1) First and foremost is that they serve ORGANIC beef! Yes! Their burgers are awesome! The best burgers always start with the best beef. Try the blue cheese on your burger if you like blue cheese. OMG good. At least for me.
Not that thrilled with the potato fry’s so I opt for the salad instead. Better combo — especially from a PALEO perspective, which we embrace to various extents.
In addition they have Organic mixed greens an heirloom tomatoes.
2) Great outdoor sitting area on warm evenings, but can be a bit loud on Friday, Saturday, Sunday since Table 24 is across the patio as well as another restaurant located on the other side. So be forewarned if you are seeking a quiet outdoor setting. Inside sound isn’t super loud though. Nice ambience.
3) GERMAN PILSNER! OMG again!
They carry «Rothaus Tannenzäpfle» or simply «Zäpfle» known as a «cult beer» throughought Germany in supermarkets and kiosks, as well as in various nightlife establishments. They do sometimes run out which is a disappointment for me as that’s one of the big draws in addition to the Organic faire.
It comes in at #3 on the list of German top-​rated Pilsners at
Aromatic, light, refreshing, exceptional mouth feel, complex AND bursting with flavor.
The Rothaus State Brewery of Baden brewery was founded in 1791 by the Abbot of St. Blasien Martin Gerbert and is located in the Southern Black Forest. It is one of Germany’s most successful and profitable regional breweries.
From Wiki:
«The labels of the bottles are printed with a likeness of „Birgit Kraft,“ a blonde girl in traditional dress for the region, bearing two glasses of beer. Birgit’s name is something of a pun; in the local dialect of Alemannic German, „Bier git Kraft“, („Bier gibt Kraft“) means „beer gives strength“.[2] The specific variety of fir cones named as Tannenzäpfle grow upwards from the branches instead of hanging from them in spite of their depiction on the bottle; this is commonly explained as a reference to the position of the bottle while it is being consumed.»

Walked in at 7:45 tonite Sunday and was told they were closed. Advertised as open till 8. Not a good practice. Once we left they posted closed sign.

I know it was a holiday weekend and, boy did the staff make it clear they had no interested in working. We arrived at 2 p. m, were given menus and then ignored for about 20 minutes until one of our group got up, walked over to the bar and informed the waitress we were ready to order. Once we ordered, we waited until 2:45 for our food, even though we were the only ones in the restaurant. Twice, we considered leaving and going somewhere else. I shall say that once we were served, the waitress did check on us and even refilled ice tea and water and brought us our check saying there was no hurry. Well, not quite true, at 3:15 p.m., we were advised they were closing and we had to leave. Really???
Two of us had the ½ chicken melt sandwiches; one with greens, and sweet potato chips (which were crisp on the edges and soggy in the middle), and the other with greens and fries (the best thing in the entire meal). The third person had the mango salad with avocado which she did enjoy even though it was mainly greens. One person had the Paradise ice tea which had a very strong flavour. We were also given a type of bread stick which was underdone in the middle and with a spice on the ends which burned the tongue.
Suffice it to say that this is NOT a restaurant to which we will be returning.

Love shelbys! The food is always really good and their iced tea is perfection! Although I do understand why they have some bad reviews because the servers are kinda… Weird. They’re rather slow, including the kitchen staff. The tuna melt is what I usually get but last time I decided to get a burger and man I was happy! So much flavor especially with the grilled onions on it.
Definitely one of my favorite Orinda spots!

This place has gotten awesome. The salads, the salmon, every dish I had so far is outstanding. You can taste the freshness of the ingredients and the preparation is well done. For some reason it doesn’t seem to have the same «coolness» factor as Table 24 — but the quality is infinitely better! Service continues to be very friendly.

One of my favorite spots here in Orinda. I love the menu, always something new, typically a European dish that you have never tried before.
I have tried just about everything here and have been here close to 75 times in the last several years. Great service too.
Make sure you get a table that has views of Loard’s Ice Cream! People watch from a distance…

We loved this restaurant. Excellent waiter helped us make great menu choice decisions. Husband loved beef stroganoff I adored my ox tail stew pot pie! Delicious! We will go back to try many more of their dishes. Cute ambiance. Loved it!

So Disappointed!
Not the first time we have eaten here. Previously we have been treated and eaten very well.
It was Sunday morning and there were four tables in the restaurant. We were told the soup was pork with vegetables-​one of our party does not eat pork so she did not order it. It arrived-​Squash soup, good-​but not what we ordered.
We ordered two breakfast entries and I had a Croque Monsieur. The eggs in the Benedict were a little over done – very little runniness left. The meat in my sandwich was cold-​not lukewarm, but cold.
We kept trying to get the waiters attention, but no return visit – so I approached the kitchen. «What’s wrong with it?» I told them it was cold – no comment other than an outstretched hand…
I had a salad with my sandwich but could not eat-​no fork on the table.
We had to keep asking for water.
When we got the check, we asked to split, 1/3−2/3-to which the waiter stated «Um how much is that I don’t do math!»
I realize that these might sound petty-​but when you add them up it was too much and the last comment was the topper. Other items could have been chalked up as mistakes.
We’ll try again, but a repeat of this will remove it from our list. Too bad.

Cute little restaurant that has nice ambiance and gets a lot of sun :) nice brunch spot and I love their sweet potato fries and NAPA MELT. fresh chicken salad with little grapes so cute and tasty. I would definitely come back for the salads and sandwiches.

It’s a very good place, but the reason I gave it four stars is because it’s a bit pricey,

We decided to try Shelby’s after looking at their menu. Most had breakfast but I decided to go for the lunch options and had the bratwurst panini. It was DELICIOUS. It was perfectly cooked and flavored. They serve the panini with a simple salad, which I liked bc I didn’t feel overly stuffed as I would had there been fries. My sister had the Huevos Mexicanos which were very flavorful. They could have packed a little more heat, but that’s just how I like it.

My future goal for 2015 is to eat everything in Orinda. Sounds weird but I’ve been pretty impressed so far and I’m not stopping until all is consumed.
This particular lunch venture was a goal to try Shelby’s. I’ve wanted to try it on the weekends with my husband, but we love a good cocktail and they do not have a full bar. Which means I have to relegate to a lunch option during the week.
I was a party of one and was served promptly and efficiently. They have an abundance of fresh flowers and the place smells wonderful.
My entrée was the Chicken and Mango Salad with Avocado. Holy Salad Batman! The chunks of Mango and Avocado were giant. You definitely feel you get your moneys worth. Everything was served to me at the peak of freshness. Salads can be «meh, its a salad». This salad was better than most.
The chicken was an after thought compared to the enormous amount of Mango and Avocado. If I was vegetarian Id take the chicken out and be incredibly happy with just those other two ingredients.
I thought the art for sale on the walls was a bit how you say «1990’s» feeling. But that was just an observation I had.
Regardless of the décor I really enjoyed myself. This is a perfect work day location to take a client. Great service, open air and well lit and the fresh food are perfect.

Shelby’s is one of Teddy’s favorite restaurants. Shelby’s is located in Orinda’s Theater Square. It has both indoor and outdoor seating, so, of course, it is very Teddy friendly. The restaurant is very basically decorated. The service is great — Apollo, one of the waiters, always seems to be working when we stop by Shelby’s and he is excellent and friendly. He always remembers to bring water for Teddy, too. We’ve been to Shelby’s many times since our first brunch visit and we’ve tried a bunch of different items on the menu, including: eggs benedict, huevos mexicanos, vegetarian omelet, breakfast burrito, pancakes, vegetarian chili, tuna melt, caesar salad, grown up grilled cheese, and the palermo pizza. Everything was delicious and well made. Will be back again — still haven’t had a chance to try out their dinner menu yet!

It’s a pretty good place! Went for lunch with a group and the outside seating area was pretty. The puff pastry twists before the meal were pretty good, a little dry, but better than your average restaurant bread. Their water is orange infused, which is a nice touch. I ordered the beet salad and it was pretty good, the goat cheese was fried which was interesting. I wanted the eggplant salad, but they were out of eggplant. Next time, I would try the open face sandwich combo, because the sweet potato chips seemed really good. Other members of my party ordered that and they enjoyed it.

Three words: Chinese Chicken Salad. Unless I’m STARVING, I can usually save enough for a lunch the next day (order w/​dressing on the side). We order these to go all the time — so delish!
And everything else is great too. Love their salmon, burgers, and salads.

So we like to try out the dinner locations before catching a movie and today we went to Shelbys.
We had a Pasta dish and the asian ribs. Both were quite bland and somewhat off tasting.
Service was nice, however for the price they charge, I’d go over the street to Table 24 anytime. I’ll not come back.

We stopped here while out for a Sunday motorbike ride. It was quiet — not a good sign for a Sunday morning. But, we didn’t want to wait at the restaurant next door, so off we sat.
Initial service was good, but as others have indicated, it drops off. WHile there didn’t seem to be a lot of diners, it took a looooong time for our food to come out. It was hot, so I suspect its not the wait service, but something going on with the kitchen and timing.
It’s too bad — the food itself was pretty good, but the service made it difficult to be satisfied. Given the delay, we probably could have been at the busier restaurant and gone earlier.

If I could give a zero, this place would warrant it! The prices for what you actually get is borderline criminal!
I, like an idiot, decided to give this place a try –even though every time we have walked by it was deserted (never a good sign). Just one of those rules like, never eat at a Chinese restaurant that is full of white people… (the food is gonna suck)
We got our 5 year old a ‘traditional’ breakfast that came without toast. i wonder if the puff pastry twists that came were in lieu of any toast… Ya can’t dunk with puff pastry like you can with a piece of toast. My son was miffed.
My hubs and I ordered ehhs benedict (not a typo) that was just gross and honestly, stomach churning.
Afterward we were thinking about getting some real food, but the mess we were served at Shelbys put us off anything except a nice coffee from Starbucks.
PASS ON THIS CLIP JOINT– give Table 24 a try.