Shades Café & Steakhouse — Restaurant in Middlesborough

Went to meet a friend to get lunch today… overall, staff and manager/owner were a little pushy from the moment I sat down and barely had time to glance at the menu, which made me uncomfortable to begin with… I tried the lunch steak, ordered medium rare, but it came out medium well, so I pointed it out to staff to see if we could do something without having to waste it (it was very obviously overcooked, I wasn’t just trying to cop a free meal…) I did not want to send the food back as I am extremely sensitive about wasting food and am relatively new to eating meat in-general. It is a very emotional thing for me and I wish they would have just listened. I wanted to see if there was an option to discount it or something because the food was simply not what I ordered/was paying for. That probably would have been cheaper for them than throwing away and replacing it anyway… I was very clear that I did not want a new steak IF it meant throwing my current one away, as that would make me far more upset due to the waste. I even said this multiple times. The owner/manager was extremely pushy about “wanting (me) to be happy with my food” and just would not listen. I tried to send someone after him to stop him but they were not hasty at all. He clearly didn’t listen, as he came back with a new one anyway and took the first one back. This was just extremely triggering to me for some reason, maybe tying in to the bigger picture of often feeling unfit and unheard as an autistic woman, in addition to wasting an animal product and food. Not to mention, the second was not much better than the first... Despite after seeing how upset I was and me explicitly stating I did not want to talk about it, he squatted by the table and kind-of drew more attention to me in this embarrassing moment anyway. That was a bit infantilizing and did not help me feel better. I heard his explanation the first time. I guess replacing miscooked food would normally be good practice in a restaurant, but I was very clear and specific and just felt ignored like I always do as someone on the spectrum. I don’t know how I could have been more clear. It was very unaccomodating and rude. I was not asking for anything crazy and I was clearly not trying to just get out of a bill. I just wanted to see if there was an alternative option that would make us ALL happy. Now I see how that was not practical because, ironically, businesses will not generally step out of guidelines in place to protect their image in 99% of cases that mine did not fall into. I regret speaking up about it. In general this was not a good experience at all. I don’t think I’ll be back here and I once again simply feel disgusting about eating meat. Maybe I don’t belong at...

This is my fifth time eating here and only once have you got my order cooked hot and delicious and that was made correctly I ordered loaded baked potatoe soup with chopped green onions and a loaf of bread with 2 cups of butter during my phone this girl snickered the whole time while I was speaking to her I am sick and I am also deaf in both ears my left eardrum has damaged nerves causing complete hear loss and my right ear is deteriorating because I have to strain my ear drum to hear and I have lost a significant amount of hearing there so I kept asking her to repeat herself because I couldn’t hear her where I am sick and it causes more strain on my eardrum.now I don’t know if my meal was on purpose because I asked about the ingredients in the soup and requested a hot loaf with plenty of butter. I got cold soup that was like had chunks of red onions in it and cold hard bread to eat with my cold butter I paid 9.01 for what I just explained above along with no eating utensils no napkins 2pks of crackers. This was my dinner because I am sick and no I didn’t leave you a tip because how you acted over the phone every few seconds when I asked you to repeat yourself I let it slide in the store because I didn’t want to interrupt anyone’s dinner with their family what few were in there but if this is how you treat people just remember I tip to workers that are generous kind and make sure that the customer can eat the food they leave with in case they are not going home.and don’t make fun of those that have hearing loss it’s already shameful to me enough to have to ask you to repeat what you said. But in a new perspective hopefully you can learn to grow from this and learn people like there food hot and fresh not cold hard and a bite so big you can’t swallow it to enjoy the food...

Excellent and Enjoyable lunch! My partner and I have been planning to visit Shades Café for quite some time. We have been hearing great reviews from friends who have visited prior to our visit. I am happy to report neither of us were disappointed. All of the great reviews and kind words about Shades are accurate. In my opinion, you will not find a nicer restaurant, especially of this caliber in Middlesboro nor the immediate surrounding area. Located in the heart of downtown Middlesboro, Shades offers a really pleasant, relaxed atmosphere, perfect for small or large parties. There is also outside dining available adjacent the dining room. The vibe here is laid-back and the patrons observed represented a wide age range from young to mature, and everything in between. The menu is very diverse, offering a large selection of choices; steaks, fish, chicken, salads, burgers and sandwiches. My partner and I both ordered the Cheeseburger and fries, which was an excellent choice. However, there are many different menu choices I want to try on future visits. Pricing is moderate here, especially on the steaks and dinner entrées. However, we both were pleasantly surprised to find the lunch menu very reasonable. Our total bill was just $20, plus tax and gratuity. Very reasonable for two very large Cheeseburgers and generous portions of fries. The service was excellent and efficient. In fact, the Manager stopped by our table to make sure our lunch was prepared properly and thank us personally for visiting! My partner and I highly recommend Shades Cafe. If you desire a more pleasant dining experience with excellent food in Middlesboro, Shades is definitely the perfect place for lunch and/or...