The Shire Bar & Grill — Restaurant in East Grand Forks

A gem that helps make up the crown of the River Cinema Complex. When you enter this unique and eclectic establishment, you are first taken back by the incredible 8 ft tall Xenomorph metal art sculpture glaring at you from outside the restaurant. An artistic marvel for sure. Above the mossy entry Gollum darts his beady eyes about. The aroma of delicious food greets you, as your eyes take in the dozens and dozens of different cinema memorabilia. A giant metal Predator sculpture towers above the room, wrist blades out and mighty battle axe in hand. From star wars, to marvel, to the original Universal Dark Universe, this restaurant has a piece of it.

The menu is something of pure comedy. The amount of time and effort put into curating the name of each dish to fit that of a movie character or dialogue line shows as you giggle to yourself (or put loud like I did lol ). I had The Ron Bourbondy Burger with onion rings. The wife had the Porky's pulled pork sandwich and steak fries.

The burger was perfectly cooked, juicy, and loaded with flavor. The Kickin Bourbon sauce is beyond addictive, but the goes for the rest of their sauces as well.... Their chipotle mayo/ranch has the perfect zesty kick to it. Their brown dipping gravy is thick and spiced like Grandma's famous pot roast. I recommend NOT dipping your fingers in the sauce to taste, as you might be missing fingers afterwards 😂. Use a piece of food instead lol. Their happy hour deals like BOGO tap beers and wells is a perfect match or be adventurous and try one of their film curated cocktails like the James and The Giant Peach Long Island Tea like we did.

I could go on for days about this place, but instead I'll let you find out just how incredible this place really is....

Walked in with girlfriend after a movie to find the place about 22% full. Sat in the first booth in direct line of sight from the bar. Behind which, sat two rumpled and unkempt young fellas chatting up a young lass opposite them.

After reading and eventually memorizing the menu, (which takes some time, they have a very interesting list of options from which to choose) girlfriend suggested I shimmy my way up to the bar to inquire as to why the disheveled waiter repeatedly passed by our booth without so much as a hello.

“Evening sir, is this a help-yourself type of joint?” I kindly inquire. “M’lady and I are famished and parched after taking in The Bullet Train, starring Brad Pitt.” The waiter, who slightly resembles Woody Harrelson depicting a downtrodden Roy Munson in the Farrelly Brothers classic, Kingpin, shrugs while grumbling “yeah, I’ll be with you shortly.”

Fair enough, I think as I head back to the booth. Munson passes our table for the fifth and sixth times before heading back to the bar, ignoring us yet again.

So we walk out. Game over. Darn shame, too. There was a lot of cool-looking stuff on the menu and the walls. Fortunately, there are plenty of choke and pukes (trucker talk, for those unfamiliar) in this town, so we strolled over to The Spud where we were promptly greeted and served. Things look...

The Shire was wonderful. My wife and her friend went there a couple weeks ago and loved it. Tonight we brought my daughter there and celebrated a good test score . The atmosphere was exploratory. Looking around you can see things from lightsabers to transformers and even a "precious" monster looking out of the ceiling tiles at you. They have movie trivia on one of the screens and it was definitely entertaining listening to the two young boys at a table across from us try to guess the answers. All the meals were delicious. My Scarface sandwich was very big and aside of chili made it great for a cold winter's day. My beautiful wife's hulk smash burger is her favorite and the only thing she orders when she goes there. My daughter had to Paramount bacon and ranch "really good".The ad says crafted and I have to agree, it's the first sandwich I've had in a long time that appeared to be put together piece-by-piece. The waiter was spot on with drink deliveries and gathering dirty dishes at just the right time. My wife said that the waiting staff have always been very helpful and entertaining on all her visits. Great job, this place is a great addition to...