Pirate’s Den

It’s a nice place to go watch live music, plenty of tables & seats & a large bar on each side of the place & a huge dance floor. However I’ve seen many people get sloppy slobbery falling down drunk here on several different occasions. I know people are responsible for their own actions and choices, but it seems like the bartenders would be a little more diligent about cutting people off when they’ve had enough. Also if you go here, don’t take anything of any value inside & ladies keep your purse close to you at all times. Had an experience just last night where someone tried to steal my friends coat and then the young «lady» denied it and got very belligerent and nasty with my friend when she confronted her about it. None of the employees came over to see what was going on or intervene. It seems like members of the younger generation who come in and don’t know how to handle their liquor are allowed to be loud disruptive and disrespectful to other patrons and nobody seems to care.

Came here on Saturday for the Battle of The Bands and it was packed at 730! The only table we could find was outside on the smoking patio. There were no servers on the patio so we had to go inside to order food and then come back to pick it up. The bar staff seemed very overwhelmed and took a long time to make even a simple drink. Once I received my «sampler» appetizer I was very disappointed. Small portion and the fried pickles were mostly just breading and hardly any pickles. Definitely not impressed and will not be coming back.

This place is hit or miss. I’ve had one of the best chicken sandwiches there but the next time it was a completely different recipe. You can order from Empress chili next door, though. There are two bars but never enough wait staff. They have several taps but few local beers. The place is too large. too loud and too cheaply decorated (and not in a fun kitschy way).There is often a cover charge. You’ll have to walk through a cloud of cigarette smoke to get in. Maybe I’m just too old to go to places like this.
I do like that they have an old fashioned shuffleboard game.

More of an older crowd. No craft beers. It’s more of a place for 40 year olds to drink bud light and see a less than stellar cover band.

I was very surprised that Pirates Den would have great food. I got a black n blue burger (which was wonderful), and I could hardly finish the whole thing it was so big. Very affordable prices with lots of tv’s. Great place to watch games

More like a den of broken dreams, booze hounds, and people who look like they want to beat you up. If you, for some reason, find yourself in this place please order a drink so the staff doesn’t accost you, drink it as fast as you can, pay your bill and flee.

Pirates Den is a great venue for live music and a great atmosphere all around. The drink and food prices are budget friendly and the staff is great. I highly recommend it to locals and out of towners.

Places like the Pirate’s Den aren’t really up my alley but every time I have went I’ve had a blast.
When you walk in the first thing that you notice is that the place is huge!!! There are 2 fully stocked bars on both sides of the room, again that are huge!!! It’s never difficult to get a drink and most of the bartenders have a strong pour. Up front there is a big stage that can accommodate at least an 8 piece band. There is a nice size dance floor that’s never empty no matter what band is playing there. If dancing isn’t your thing, like it’s not mine then there has to be 50 televisions all around the room with every game that’s being played on and other random shows. There’s almost always somewhere to sit and just chill if that’s your thing.
the crowd is very diverse, everything from 20 somethings to 50 somethings and everyone seems to get along. I’m sure they have their scuffles like everyone else but that’s why the bouncers are there.
If you’re looking for a place on the westside to see a good live band or dance this is the place to go!

Arrr! Pardon the pirate speak but this place has become a great place for my friends and I to dance, drink and just plain ol’ party. BTW, if you want to read the absolute best pirate speak review, check out Mike’s review
sooo funny. Anyways, yeah, this place has plenty of space for groups. There is plenty of parking as well (and yes, it’s free). Drink prices are typical for the west side. You might have to pay a cover, but it’s a reasonable one, and heck, become a regular and they might just wave ya inside.
The performance stage is large and can accommodate a large band and the occasional «middle aged wannabe 20 something that had a few drinks and thinks she can dance like Britney». Ha ha. The dance floor is large and allows one ample room to try out the moves they have seen on «So You Think You Can Dance». Not that I speak from experience on that last part…
The bathrooms are clean and have, my favorite, Xlerator hand dryers. Man I love those things.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend my dad’s extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins) made plans to meet at the Pirate’s Den on Saturday night for dinner, drinks, and entertainment from the Rusty Griswolds. In 2010 this west side watering hole moved from their location for as long as I can remember to a nearby strip-​mall anchored by Big Lots. I’m not a fan of the location change (though I never went to the old Pirate’s Den), it’s just that locations like these seem so stale. Though something must be drawing the bar crowd in, as Champions Grille has also relocated to just a couple of doors down.
We arrived to find some of our family members already occupying four or five high top circular tables. My family all sat down at one of these tables and decided to order some buckets of beer. This seemed to be the way to go, and the server even offered to hurry the order in so we could get happy hour pricing. I’m not sure if she forgot, or if they were really that busy, but it took a solid fifteen minutes for our drinks to arrive. Once they did we decided to split some appetizers between our group. We ordered nachos, chicken tenders, and a combo platter of cheese sticks, poppers, more tenders, and potato skins.
It didn’t take as long for the food to arrive, and my disappointment was immediate. The nachos ($ 7) were the first to show up. This consisted of a relatively small offering of chips covered it melted cheese that I wouldn’t call cheddar, and then topped with the worst lettuce I have seen, a few tomatoes, along with onion, black olives, and jalapenos. Normally ordering nachos at a bar will provide a heaping plate of food that can feed a small army. And even though there was so little flavor here, my family of six managed to gobble them down in no time at all.
The fried food was better than our nacho experience, but fried foods are pretty hard to screw up. The fried pickles that we weren’t supposed to get as part of our combo platter, but were given anyway, were the best items available. The chicken tenders weren’t bad either, but weren’t anything special either. I guess anything was better than the nachos we were served. Or at least I though that was true until I saw a salad that one of my cousins ordered. It was the $ 3.50 house salad, and was a pile of the same lettuce we had on our nachos, with tiny amounts of tomato, onion, bacon, and cheese. I would at least expect some better lettuce as it is the foundation of a salad. I wish I had a photo of the salad, but the room was so dark it was hard to get many good shots.
I would suggest sticking to the drinks at the Pirate’s Den and stay far away from the food. Though later in the night I did see a lady walking around taking orders for the neighboring Empress Chili. So rather than ordering from the Pirate’s Den menu, grab a couple of coneys from Empress. The availability of chili inside really makes me question the food from the Pirate’s Den more than I already have.

This place is kind of like the Jefferson Hall of the West Side! I couldn’t believe it when I walked in. Talk about a transformation from their old location.
I, being the barfly that I am, ended up going here on both Friday and Saturday last weekend. First to see the Naked Karate Girls and then looking for a close place to drink. (Yes, there was a cover band playing and they were quite good, but I have no idea who they were.)
Both nights the place was busy, but not packed. You didn’t have to wait long for a drink and there were plenty of tables to go around if you wanted to sit. Yes, it was ridiculously loud– that is why I compare it to J-​Hall. This is not a casual sit down and hang with your friends for a chat kind of place. Expect the band to be loud and the music between sets to be even louder. But, if you are looking for a place to dance on the West Side, this is about it.
Drinks were very strong and reasonably priced at $ 6 for a tall rum and coke. The bartender even gave us some free shots at closing time. (Yes I promise we had a DD.)
Yes, you will pay a cover to get into this place if there is a band playing. No different than any other place with live music. Its only $ 5. Clientele is kind of a weird mix. There are a lot of middle aged people there… and a lot of 20 year olds with not much in the middle. But, everyone was out to have a good time, so no complaints from me.
Great place to go if you live on the West Side and don’t want to trek 30 minutes out to downtown or Newport.

This bar has moved to a new location in the trying to be «Restaurant Row» for the west side. It is in the same parking lot as Big Lots and Bally’s off of Werk Rd. Or Glenway, depending on how you enter!
Okay, now that we’ve covered that, let’s begin!
I have to admit, the snobby girl inside of me never ventured to their old location. It seemed kind of scary and dark and seedy tucked away with old signage. But the new, hip, adventurous girl was ready to try their new location. The fact that it was shiny, new, clean, with tons of outdoor lighting might have helped too!
We had driven by it a few times to check it out and had heard from some friends that it was a great little new bar to hang out in and the west side definitely needs more of those! Plus, I started seeing some of my favorite Cincinnati bands posting that they would be playing at the new Pirates Den. It was hard to believe that the west side could attract cool bands, so I became very intrigued!
So, finally one day when we were having one of those, «where do you want to go?» «I don’t care, where do you want to go?» type of conversations, a light bulb went off!
«The New Pirates Den!!»
It was a Saturday around 3pm when we ventured in and we were immediately greeted with smiles and a couple of «how you doin’?» nods by all the patrons sitting at the high tops. And then we looked around and this place is HUGE! It was definitely designed to be a music place with their huge stage, lighting, and enormous space I’m assuming left to dance! It has two bars and high top tables every where, with TV’s spaced through out and minimal pirates décor.
The server immediately greeted us, brought us our CHEAP beers and chatted with us a bit. I spied a popcorn machine and made a beeline to snag some free popcorn. Cheap beer and free popcorn. Already a winner!
We sipped our beers and ordered some nachos off their newly developed menu. I guess old location served no food. Okay, some bad news when the nachos came out. Old, really cheap chips, covered in chili and shredded COLD cheese. Not melted, but just shredded and thrown on top. When we asked her to please melt the cheese, she thought that was very bizarre. I always thought nachos had warm, melted cheese. Am I wrong in assuming this?
But she quickly brought the heated nachos back out and they were mediocre at best. But I still had my cheap beers and popcorn to keep me happy.
I will have to come back on a music night, because I hear that it gets slammed and filled to capacity and the restrooms turn disastrous as the night goes on. Wait, why do I want to come back on a music night? :)
So, although food wasn’t a winner this trip, I will be stopping here again for a plop my butt at a bar type of day!