Shenanigans

Boyfriend and I came here recently to have our first bar experience– and it was not disappointing. We first noticed the bar because of the stream of santas– yes, santas– coming from the doors. Once we got in we decided to come back for the night. We told the staff it was our first time so we didn’t really know what to order. They weren’t demeaning about our inexperience at all. They were very friendly and helped us stick inside of our budget (ah, college) while still serving great drinks. Had a great first time in a bar.

Came here on a Sunday night with my husband for some beers and fun. We got there in time for karaōke and it was great. Prices weren’t bad and it was a good atmosphere, not obnoxiously loud like some bars. All around a great time.

Have you ever been to a bowling alley with no bowling lanes? This is pretty much it. A time capsule of sorts. Managed by the same ideology as it did in late 90’s, or at least that’s what it feels like. Neon lights, ugly art figures, old rugs, and a wooden dance floor, all contribute to the overall forgotten feel. You can’t sit at the bar. There are no stools. But this giant place is full of tables and other designated areas to drink your cheap beers.
I’ve had their burger once. It was greasy and tasted frozen. You can also buy beer to-​go, $ 16 a sixer.
On a busy night, you might have to stand in a line to get your drinks, so plan accordingly.
There’s a patio, where you can enjoy watching the world go by behind metal bars.
The only positive things about this place is its location, pool tables, and darts. But you will have to put a $ 10 deposit for a cue ball or set of darts. And if some drunk person decided to ask for both, then you’re out of luck. I’ve even seen people play pool without a cue ball.
This is a place that needs to be on reality TV. Such potential, wasted…

The worst place in downtown. Wrongly accused my friend of previously fighting with people and kicked us out. P. S. which is never happened. Very bad attitude and customer service, not recommended.

This pub/​restaurant is right next to our hotel (Blue Horizon). We were looking for a casual place to have a quick meal and drink with our family at around six in the evening. To our surprise we were ushered out of the building, because children (people under the age of 19) are not allowed in. Obviously, it’s their own choice who they let into their pub. But if you’re a family, walk past this place :-). I read there’s a great kid-​friendly Italian restaurant nearby.

Been there 2 times. Both on Saturdays. First off, its a good place to just chill with a low key crowd (older folks, ESL, etc), The DJ does requests although I feel he should get the the patrons a bit more involved. The things I disliked was the way the «bouncer» pretty much kicked us out because someone did not have ID (thats fine we took a risk) however the attitude of the bouncer was very rude and he stated he «hated his job». then why work there?. There are other ways to tell parties you are not able to come into a establishment without yelling and being rude.

Had the appetizer platter with 3 friends. For $ 27, all of us left pretty full.
Chicken strips — a bit on the dry side, but overall okay.
Fries — soggy. For some reason they weren’t fresh?
Nachos — lots of cheese and olives, though quite lacking in the other toppings (tomatoes, green onions)
Potato skins — not as crisp as I would’ve liked.
Onion rings — irregularly-​shaped batter. There were only 4 of them them (3 of them were small). Difficult to share.
Bean burrito wrap — actually not bad at all. Don’t sit too close to your coworkers the next day.

i have loved and hated this bar for 20 years.
Mostly because they NEVER put money into this hole.
It was an ok place in the early 90’s for locals to groove to, but now it’s an eclectic mix of middle aged locals, street denizens, foreign students/​working holiday visas, and hotel guests, and on occasion some people you might swear are spies– a white guy who comes in in US mil. fatigues, trying to pass off possibly forged US bills, an asian woman who asks younger patrons if they’re into ‘software’.
Karaōke is Wed., which brings on an odder group of regulars who sing the same songs every week: an old hippie chick venting orgasmically into the microphone (seriously!) to an old Zeppelin song, a guy well into his 50s doing a laudible Judas Priest, a street busker singing beautiful blues, an elvis impersonator doing Roy Orbison, and a retired guy from Switzerland who nearly breaks his leg with his funky dancing.
Pool is only $ 1., but the tables are beaten up, the velvet a ratty rag, the cues close to the relics of a laurel and hardy film– same as the first time I walked in, in fact.
If you lose a ball in the table, one of 2 things are going to happen:
1) they’re going to say «sorry; too bad» and close it up for the night (they NEVER repair them, so the same thing will happen the next night)
2) you’re going to try a hustlers’ trick (lift the corner leg of the table) to get the ball yourself.
If you try the second option, be prepped for a powertrip– seems they suddenly want to claim «responsibility», where otherwise there was none.
There’s an old man who comes in, «sings» on the street to support his beer habit– never showers, and likely has bed bugs and who knows what crawling on him.
Food here is forgettable– if you’re hungry, and don’t want to get up from your beer buzz, you’ll eat here, and wonder that they couldn’t put SOMETHING into the food to make it more appealing. Best to walk to Steamrollers and grab a wrap on the quick.
Beer is cheap, and weekends the cover is $ 5. (includes coat check and $ 3. off first drink)
why do I come here? this place is deteriorating fast.

Ambiente muito legal, atendimento excelente e muitas opções de cervejas. Tem música ao vivo todos os dias! A comida tb é bem gostosa!

We were here on Halloween night for a quick beer before we head out.
$ 5 beers!!! I personally enjoy the Whistler honey lager, and they had it here for $ 5!
There is no DJ… but they spun top 40s + beats, at the same time playing that song’s music video on the TV.
The dance floor is right by the very stinky washrooms. The dance floor is actually one-​two steps high, so you could probably call it a dance STAGE!
The crowd here were decent. The people on stage in costumes (especially the banana guy) were HILARIOUS!!! The bartender that night was friendly.
We bolted after our beer though. There’s definitely better places to be.
We also enjoyed the silly lottery games by the door. We won a dollar!

A multi-​purpose drinking establishment. Watch sports? You can go there. Just want a watering-​hole? You can go there. Hit the dance floor? You can go there.
I have been to this place many times over the last few years, all for a variety of reasons. From birthday parties, to watching Game 6 2011 SCF :’(and the usual international student meetings. Personally, I’m not much of the nightlife type of person (at least not locally), so I can’t really compare to many different places around town, but all-​in-​all, it’s not that bad of a place.
Obviously the décor of the place needs an update. It’s like perpetually stuck in the 90’s, with the neon lights and colour schemes… but hey, if you’re too hung up on the looks of the place, maybe you should be hanging out at Ikea instead. Most bars/​pub/​lounges are dimly lit and this one is no exception.
The place is pretty big and no cover charge for most nights, thus it’s like the usual party spot for international students. You can easily throw a huge get-​together of like 20+ people and no reservation is required (at least I don’t think so).
The music… I think I went there with a buddy on 2 consecutive Saturday nights and I think the playlist was exactly the same.
The food and drinks… they’re decent. Mind you that you’re in a drinking locale, so if you’re there for the burgers and nachos, they’re fine. Nothing exceptional, but decently priced and portioned.
For drinks… they do have their daily specials, but nothing really special about those. Most folks just be ordering pitchers of beer anyways. As for that, I can’t remember the exact price, but if you want just beer, there are a few places nearby that offers drinks for lower prices (Ebisu off the top of my head).
The washrooms… as with anyplace with large quantity of alcohol readily available, they’re not the prettiest. Not saying that they’re disgusting, but about average.
Overally, it’s «meh», just like the ²⁄₅ stars description says. It’s a place that can accommodate everything and there’s nothing great nor special about it. Will I be patronizing that place again, most likely.

if i could give a zero i would.
i know this place is a shit-​hole. in fact i went there to have a few cheap drinks in a little crappy drinking hole on purpose. little did i know just how crappy this place is: the mice. i draw the line at open displays of vermin. this place is disgusting. the staff didnt even care about the rodents. the explanation i received was, not an explanation at all actually. the staff didnt seem to care as if it was expected. i paid for the two drinks i had ordered and left them behind darting out the door before my guest had arrived saving her on the street from having to enter this shit place.
get a grip. holy shit. its fucking animals living in a place where humans buy things they put in their mouths, it is not OK.
*VCH is now investigating*

Meh, we stopped in on Saturday looking for Karaōke which was not running that night, rather a bumbling DJ and a lot of very young hyper kids. We grabbed a quick beer and bolted sans our $ 5 cover charge. I’m sure I would have loved it when I was19. They did have a couple pool tables and plenty of seating for groups.

I had a friend call this place, «Hooligans» once! The most FUNNIEST thing I’ve ever heard.
Oh a more serious note: I personally love this place. I’ve had a lot of great memories with my Asian Friends from all over the globe! The ambiance was great, the bartenders were great, the location is right on Robson.
Keep in mind, this place is much more suitable for a bar setting rather than a dining experience. I’ve had a dining experience here for a birthday party, and they didn’t have any type of dessert-​like foods, such as cake (which we wanted to surprise our friend). They did their best to accommodate and suggested pizza instead!

Haha I am not surprised that this place has a 2.5 star rating. Pretty grimy. There were quite a few large groups getting into serious shenanigans here =). And what I think was a family intervention for the homeless brother going on at the next table over: old clueless parents, hippie siblings, semi normal interventionist person, and sad alcoholic homeless brother. It was strange.

Being close to my workplace, this is sometimes a destination for post-​work drinks. Unfortunately a couple of times I’ve left more stressed than when I entered.
The service is terrible, walked in and waited 15 minutes for service before going to the bar to order a drink. The pints are average in taste, but good for my wallet, a ‘mug’ of Granville Island will run you about $ 5.25 here.
The décor is questionable to say the least, and it’s very rare that this place gets even remotely busy.
I’d avoid going here at all to be honest. If you’ve got some good company go along, but I’d advise to make the walk to the bar yourself, it’s not worth the hassle.

If Uncle Willy’s was a bar… it would be something like Shenanigans. The décor is near the exact same — full with neon ceiling rails.
Okay — I must admit this was an old haunt of mine. The chapter titled ‘Chan-​nanigans at Shenanigans’. Cheap beers, easy parking, pool tables and my friends and I decided we had a FOB fetish at the time. Want to learn how to pick up women in Cantonese, Japanese, English and Mandarin? This is the only line you need to learn:
. 8% of the time… it works everytime.
After a few drinks around downtown in celebration, my buddy (who’s a relative newcomer to town) started asking me about ‘notorious’ bars around he hasn’t been to yet. Okay — he wants to meet some ESL students. No problem — let’s roll down to Shenanigans.
I can’t remember what time we showed up at — but it was pretty late and there was no cover for Friday night. Place hasn’t changed in years and we grab a cheap pitcher.
We settle into our beers and our hazy eyes adjust to the neon lighting… «Hmm… those girls on the dancefloor don’t look like students… hmm… actually… I think they older than us… quite a bit older… wow… they are really getting down to ‘Baby Got Back’»
Not sure if it was being of summer break, but looks Shenanigans turned into a cougar and cub meetup joint. Either that or this is how some people celebrate Mother’s Day… very inappropriately… in July.
But cougars of Van-​cougar, I thought we had a deal. You have Sandbar already — leave Shenanigans alone. But walk around the bar a bit and you’ll still find student groups and worn down older gentlemen.
A bit surprised by the flip in demographics — but still one of the cheapest places in Vancouver to buy a pitcher of beer and there’s pool tables, a patio and tons of seating as well.
For entertainment purposes, wager the bill on ‘which-​cougar-​boobs-​will-​pop-​out-​first’. Thank you flimsy satin top for the free beer!

Kind of surprised about the bad reviews on this place. I was visiting Vancouver from Seattle with some friends and while we were really only there to eat and have a couple of drinks it was good!
It was around 8 PM when we went here and there was plenty of seating. our food was pretty freakin amazing for typical «bar food» type. I had a burger that was to die for, my friends had the chicken wrap, cod and chips, and the quesadilla and everyone was raving about how good their meal was.
Only complaint was that the service was slow. It took a long time for someone to notice us and take our order, and there was no refilling of our drinks or even asking us if we needed anything more, and lastly to get our bill and pay our tab, but other than that great place.
I would try this place again and would recommend it to any of my friends who were going to be visiting the area.

Background: For the longest time this has been our go-​to place for cheap pitchers and funky crowd.
Food: The burger is juicy and fries pretty crunchy. That’s all I can say.
Ambiance: Pretty kitsch and carpets aren’t the cleanest. It’s full of foreign students and always fun to mix around with different people. It’s about as casual a watering hole as you can get in the area.
Service: Not that great but they get the job done.
Pricepoint: Cheapest pitchers in town. $ 5 for cover after 9, are you kidding me?
Overall: This place carries sentimental value for me precisely because it’s the ugly dog you can’t let go of… full of personality and aesthetically unique. The crowd is an international mix unlike any other in Downtown.

this place is huge!
the drinks are cheap, the service is good, the food is cheap and good.
had the green salad for 5 bucks. on the menu it just said green salad with slice of garlic bread. i didn’t expect too much. it was big, the dressing was yum, 2 big thick slices of cucumber, some chunks of peppers, carrot, red onion and it came with 2 big slices of garlic bread. great.
the quesadilla rolls are good although they don’t make them fresh. guess they buy them somewhere and shove em in the oven. but guess that’s what you gotta expect for 6 bucks. my friend got the quesadillas and they looked good.

Ha ha this place has hilarious décor! Very 80’s and kinda grungy. The DJ comes on at about 9pm and he looked like he had been doing that gig for the last 25 years. We played pool and I chose the bottled beer (based on another review mentioning the possible age of the beer on tap) while my friends had the long island ice tea which was on special. The funny thing about that special was that if you wanted to get a double, it cost twice as much. So strange. We also took a look at the food menu and it looked pretty good but we ended up passing on snacks. All in all it was a very interesting place.
New owners and a good interior decorater would really help as the place is huge and has a pretty neat layout.
I’ll go back for pool.