Shelby's Bistro — Restaurant in Four Corners States

This visit was really a mixed bag for us today. We were first seated outside at a non-shaded table, which got far too hot. It would be useful for each table not under the main canopy to have an umbrella. It's the Sonoran desert.

We left and came back and still no shade outside, so we sat inside where we were largely ignored. Table after table was seated, served, and cashed out as we waited. We finally enlisted another server who found our food and brought it out to us.

The food itself was excellent, with fresh ingredients. I got the spicy burger that was well-prepared with outstanding flavors, and not overly-hot. My partner got a gluten-free turkey sandwich prepared to perfection, and the turkey tasted like it was just sliced from the breast. We both had extremely good sweet potato fries.

I take exception with the mandatory 4% upcharge for credit cards. Processors charge between 2.3%-3.3% for restaurants. If they are being charged 4%, someone should set them up with a better processor. And 50¢ for each condiment is also a little egregious. With a burger that costs $18, I would expect a few condiments to be included.

In summary, the food itself was outstanding. Is it worth very bad service and all the up-charges? You have to decide. The restaurant business is difficult. Extremely so. But somehow, I think it's incumbent on every restaurant to not make customers feel like they have to suffer. Fortunately for most Tubac restaurants, people will take it. In Chicago or other major cities, they would be decimated.

UPDATE We've been back here a few times since that first review, and I am happy to say that now EVERY table that could be set up in the sun has an umbrella. Service is much improved from our first visit, so we'll chalk that up as an anomaly. What hasn't changed is the food - it's still delicious and worth a...

My GF and I stopped by Shelby's for our second time yesterday. We had been to Tubac a couple months ago, and Shelby's had been recommended by friends.

We arrived around 2PM on a September afternoon and it wasn't too busy. Service was quick and friendly and both our lunches were extremely well prepared. She got a shrimp & avocado salad ($17) and I got a burger. Good presentation, very tasty and we both said we'd get those things again.

Our second time, we arrived about 1PM. The restaurant was a little busier, but not bad. Probably less than half full. The GF ordered the same salad as last time, and I ordered a bistro Greek salad. Both orders came out together, within five minutes.

The shrimp and avocado salad seemed to have a decent amount of shrimp, but it wasn't the same quality as last time - or it had been cooked too long (like rubber). It was also grilled the last time, with a nice clean seasoning. This time, it appeared to have just been boiled. Additionally, the avacocado was sparse, like 3 pieces on the entire salad. But the biggest issue was that there was a LOT of water in the bowl. Like the lettuce had been rinsed but not allowed to drain. Every forkful of lettuce had water dripping off.

My Greek salad wasn't too bad, but it had the same flooding issue.

We each finished about half of our salads before giving up, because we were hungry. (Waitress never came back to see if our meal was OK).

My GF finally walked up to the front counter to request the bill and ask to speak to a manager, but was told that only the owner's daughters were there, so she advised them about the states of our salads. We weren't looking for a comp, but the staff appeared not to care that we weren't satisfied with the quality of our lunch. No excuses, no apologies, simply blank stares.

Looks like it's time to hit Tubac Jack's next time...

The service at Shelby's has never been great, but the quality of the food made up for it ... Until today. Despite ordering loudly enough to be heard over the live singer/guitar player, my husband's burger arrived covered in mushrooms. When he said he had order it without them, the waitress replied, "I didn't hear you." No kidding. She took the plate back, and returned it quickly, with the mushrooms having been scraped off, leaving mushroom juice and detritus behind. The meat was ordered medium, but was rare to raw in places. My salmon was so dry as to be inedible, and both meals had wilted lettuce - one the burger and under the salmon. We flagged down the waitress to ask for the check, and she seem unconcerned when we told her our food was not good (as was obvious by the majority of my salmon still on my plate). The majority of what would have been her tip went to the musician, who was at least good at what he was doing. Give this place a miss, despite the...