Shanahan's - a restaurant

Shanahan's is impossible to miss as it looms over the intersection of I-25 and Belleview. At first glance it reminded me of the old Cooper Theatre on Colorado Boulevard with it's round, rough-hewn exterior and a neon "Shanahan's" emblazoned on its facade. You can say whatever you want about this architectural monstrosity, but you have to admit that Mike has great penmanship.

That penmanship is also on display inside this cavernous place. There is even a "Shanahan's" etched into the handle of every steak knife (a set of four can be had for a mere $55). But back to the word cavernous. This place is huge and, more impressively, it was filled to the rafters last Saturday night. We walked up to the maitre 'd station, actually to the four computerized stations the place needs to keep track of what must be seating for well in excess of 500 patrons, mentioned our 7:45 reservation and were directed to the bar by one of the blond bombshells passing out menus. Since it would have taken at least fifteen minutes to work our way through the 30ish throng and their charged conviviality, we decided to wait by the door. Luckily, Shanahan has an impressive collection of Mike's memorabilia on display in glass cases lining the walls. There were his three super bowl trophies(we suspect the real ones are still safe within the confines of Dove Valley and wherever the 49ers' office is). There were pictures of Mike hobnobbing with Presidents Clinton and Bush. I suspect the Clinton photos were put up precisely so flaming liberals like me will not be so turned off by W. that we storm out and go someplace more democratic.

After a fifteen minute wait one of the lovely young ladies - they all looked like they had just missed a shot at Bronco cheerleader - led us through a maze of tables and rooms to our spot in the back corner of what would normally be a room for private parties. Menus were delivered promptly and a waitress stopped by and tried to explain how everything worked while competing with the accompanying din in that overfull room. We somehow communicated our drink order and by the time it arrived we were ready to order dinner. An interesting side note here is that at Shanahan's drink orders arrive with alarming speed. The same can not be said for non-drink related wait staff.

I started with east coast oysters on the half shell which were beautifully presented - everything is beautifully presented here - and not too bad. Katherine had an excellent onion soup whose only fault was that it was too big. That's another thing about Shanahan's, everything is too big presumably to match the gargantuan appetites of the area's jocks who, if the size of the shoulders on some of the diners is any indication, are already flocking to this manly eatery.

We both had too big and overly dressed salads and then came the main event. I ordered a porterhouse because that's always what I order in a steakhouse, and Katherine had a rib eye. Both of these steaks were perfectly cooked and uniformly excellent. My only complaint is that the menu proudly boasts that all of Shanahan's beef is corn fed! Maybe Mike hasn't read OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA, or maybe he is making a right-wing conservative statement about all those tree huggers out there who do the politically correct thing and search the internet daily looking for sources of grass-fed beef, but it seemed strange.

The thing is that most of us love corn fed beef. That is what we have grown up with for the most part and that is what makes us happy. On the other hand, I'll take a grass fed cowboy steak from Marzyks on 17th and Clarkson any time.

We were too full to partake of an impressive dessert menu, so we asked for the check. Shanahan's is Mizuna expensive, but not Mizuna perfect. The bill WITHOUT a bottle of wine (I like drinking Stella at steak houses) was right an $180. I'm just glad we had a $150 dollar gift certificate.

Shanahan's is a beautiful place and an interesting experience. If you are in the mood for a steak, corn fed or otherwise, you could do worse. As for me, I won't be back unless someone would like to treat.