Eddie V's vs. Chez Nous vs. Shoreline Grill...

My husband and I will be in Austin next week for a conference during which we%26#39;ll celebrate our wedding anniversary. I%26#39;m looking for a special place for dinner. We love seafood... so have narrowed it down to Eddie V%26#39;s, Chez Nous, or Shoreline Grill.

We were in Austin 2 yrs. ago for our anniversary and dined at Shoreline Grill. It was great, but the reviews I%26#39;ve read which are more recent make me leery of going there. Overall they seem to be not pleased with either the service or food.

Chez Nous sounds like a romantic, bistro feel choice with good recent reviews. Anyone have an opinion about Chez Nous?

Eddie V%26#39;s also has good reviews, so am in a quandary about which to choose.

We will be leaving on Tuesday, 14th, so any help before then would be appreciate! THANKS IN ADVANCE.

Eddie V's vs. Chez Nous vs. Shoreline Grill...

We love Eddie V%26#39;s for anniversary and birthday occasaions. Have you also looked at Aquarelle or Jefrey%26#39;s? Both are also excellent occasion restaurants.

Eddie V's vs. Chez Nous vs. Shoreline Grill...

I meant Jeffrey%26#39;s (need a spell checker!).

Thanks for your reply.

Have you ever eaten at Chez Nous? I am leaning that direction... as they have skate wing on their menu... which isn%26#39;t too common.

And also, have you eaten recently at Shoreline Grill?

Yes, I have read about Jeffrey%26#39;s. Will ck. out Aquarelle. I think they are quite a bit more expensive than the others I%26#39;ve mentioned.

Another option for a seafood restaurant would be McCormick %26amp; Schmicks www.mccormickandschmicks.com/ on Congress. True, it%26#39;s a chain but they get rave reviews and the food is delicious with professional service.

One other thought is Bess on 6th St. www.bessbistro.com/ The atmosphere is very romantic and they have several seafood entrees. This is the restaurant partially owned by Sandra Bullock.

I wouldn%26#39;t vote for the Shoreline Grill. Food can be good but service is very uneven.

Please give us a review about your trip when you return home?

Welcome to Austin!

Thanks, yankeetransplant... I, too, am a Yankee transplant to the Dallas area... from Indiana. We love Texas!

Have YOU been to Chez Nous?

It%26#39;s not a chain so is somewhere I couldn%26#39;t try here in the DFW area.

I%26#39;ve eliminated Shoreline Grill...

We also will have a second night to eat out, so may choose one of these as an alternate. The first night will be our ';anniversary'; dinner so wanted someplace intimate and romantic... with good food and wine!

THANKS again...

I%26#39;ve been to Chez Nous. It is locally owned, small restaurant -- the owners came from France, so there is a bit of French attitude. It%26#39;s Austin, not what I would call ';fancy'; but it is a neat place. It%26#39;s off 6th St, in an older building, so just keep your expectations in line. I%26#39;ve only ever had the Menu du Jour, but have been very happy with the food.

You will not get a shiny, new-looking, cookie-cutter restaurant, but it is a very special place.

We haven%26#39;t been to Chez Nous. It%26#39;s always mentioned and then we wind up choosing something else.

Still one more idea. . . . .

Since you%26#39;ll have a car ----what about Hudson%26#39;s on the Bend on 620? hudsonsonthebend.com Probably the best restaurant in Austin, very nice atmosphere. Not especially seafood though, but the seafood they have is excellent!! Everything we%26#39;ve had there has been out of this world and we%26#39;d go more often but it%26#39;s definitely pricey!

I don%26#39;t see where you%26#39;ve looked at Trio at the Four Seasons. Outstanding. And very much a special occasion place to go. Within walking distance of the convention center (you don%26#39;t say where you are staying, but if it%26#39;s for a conference and you%26#39;re looking downtown).

http://www.fourseasons.com/austin/dining.html

You won%26#39;t be disappointed with Eddie V%26#39;s. Especially if you love seafood! If you are looking to start out with a fun, reasonable happy hour I highly recommend the Roaring Fork.

Thanks for all the suggestions...

We ended up at Chez Nous on the 14th, the night before our anniversary, and at Eddie V%26#39;s on the actual anniversary night.

Quite a contrast between them, but we enjoyed both. The atmosphere was quieter at Chez Nous, and at Eddie V%26#39;s, we were with three other people who were also attending the conference, so it wasn%26#39;t a romantic, cozy table. We were also positioned right by a long airvent pouring out very cold air, which made the evening less comfortable for me, as I can%26#39;t enjoy my food to the fullest when I am freezing! I put on a jacket and they even brought me a shawl (!) but it was still rather uncomfortable. They DID bring a wonderful chocolate dessert for our anniversary and the food itself was quite good. I had the sea bass while my husband had a bacon-wrapped scallops. After a taste, I found his to be the better choice.

At Chez Nous, I ordered the skatewing, which was wonderful! That is one of the reasons I wanted to go there... I was a bit disappointed in their rather mundane and unheated bread, which I expected to be good at a French restaurant, but the rest of the meal was very tasty. My husband%26#39;s lamb chops got a hearty thumbs up.

Our final dinner in Austin was spent at Sullivan%26#39;s, where our group filled a back banquet room. We had excellent service and our steaks and sides were excellent also.

All in all, we had several positive dining experiences.

I enjoyed lunch at Guero%26#39;s on South Congress before leaving town. The chicken enchiladas with fresca (avocado sour cream) sauce were much enjoyed as I watched tortillas being made while I sat at the lunch counter.