Shire Tavern — Restaurant in Dalton

UPDATED March, 2025 The new direction Matt and his team are taking Shire has been worth multiple visits for us lately -- to sample excellent and inventive dishes, experience a renewed commitment to thoughtful and attentive service, and catch a whole new vibe taking shape.

There is still a great atmosphere (rustic brick factory, lots of varnished wood, historical photos on the walls, etc.), a decent variety of quality spirits at the bar, and plentiful parking out back. But there is a new energy at Shire the we've felt at every visit -- and it keeps us coming back.

A few thoughts about the food....Many of our favorite dishes from the old menu are still available, but an innovative new menu is taking shape that has been fun to explore. The fresh selection of gourmet pizzas, for example, offer interesting and tasty toppings and sauces (the Fra Diavlo is one I really like). There is also a seafood and sausage grits dish with beautifully balanced flavors -- I've ordered this as a starter at each of my recent visits. Even ordinary sounding dishes like fish and chips or chicken and waffles are above average in their updated flavors, preparation, and presentation. My wife, who is always in search of decent fish and chips, thinks Shire's new offering is the best she's had in the Berkshires.

One cool thing for me is that Terry (a skilled new addition to the kitchen and former owner of Biggins Diggins in Lanesborough) is committed to delivering gluten-free options for nearly all of these delicious dishes -- and with exceptional quality.

Those who have seen Matt at work know he has always had vision, but now it feels as though Shire finally has the quality staff in both the front of the house and the back to help collaborate around that vision with creativity, enthusiasm, and consistency.

We hope Shire Tavern will succeed, and so far we think it is definitely charting a...

The Shire has it all and is, as they say, the real deal. Fantastic Food. Atmosphere. A stellar line of a variety of beer. Friendly staff. And an occasional open mic night to benefit charity.

The brewery and restaurant are located in the lower level of an old factory, called the Stationery building. There is plenty of parking behind the building. Entering through the large glass enclosed staircase head downstairs and through the carved door. A nice detail that would make Bilbo, Frodo, and JRR Tolkien proud. The space is long and open. One never has the sense that we are on the lower level. The tables and bench are made from the very wood that used to be part of the floor. And the long wooden bar comes from a tree harvest just a couple of miles away. Details like these say a great deal about the care that must also go into the beer. And based on our tasting, we believe that this is true. Although there are many beers and different varieties to choose from, we went with a flite of four IPA. And they were all exceptionally good. We even tried the double ipa with 8% alcohol and were surprised at how smooth and drinkable it, and all the beers are. Defiance had a slight grapefruit taste Joey sighting was nice and smooth Rancor (the double ipa) had a grapefruit taste and was surprisingly drinkable most beers at 8% or above struggle to keep the flavor forward - and here rancor delivers where most other fail. Space Turtles - great flavor with a slight effervescence - my favorite from this stellar sampling.

We opted for tacos, really delicious fish tacos that were accompanied by a slightly spicy sauce, as well as the vegan tacos that were flavorful as well.

Our only regret having visited the shire is that we live more than ...

edit: gave it another shot, here's the update.

Excellent! Service was quick and friendly, the food was delightful (try the chicken cordon bleu mac, it sounded pretty good but tasted even better! very slightly salty, but that could very well have been the excellent beer messing with my taste buds) and the beer continues to amaze. It's a lovely space and quite lively on a busy night, but didn't seem vacant on a quieter one. Great selection of beer and yeah absolutely try the Embarassment if you're into sours. Absolutely delightful, I won't be able to shut up about it for a hot minute.

(previous review below) To be entirely fair, I think we caught them on a bad night. The upstairs venue was hosting an event and they were understaffed like basically everyone is lately, and I think we arrived right when the event rush peaked. That said, we waited for half an hour or so before a host even spoke to us and almost an hour after ordering before our food arrived, and we had to ask for silverware. The food itself was excellent, and the Embarrassment sour beer was absolutely not an embarrassment, it was amazing. We'll definitely be back, but probably on a...