Shenanigan’s Pub

Tuesday night 9:00 pm.
It’s really sad when an old friend lets you down. I’m 42 years old. Been drinking and eating here since I was 19 (blush). I used to order a «Schnellenberger» and a Guinness (one of only places in town to get it at in the mid 90s). These days I get here every couples months. Tonight, the food was bad. The bar keep was in a furious rant about some personal matter. The onion rings read on menu «large thick slices of sweet onion…» Nope. Frozen purée that were soggy. Yuck.
The Guinness was great.
We declined to order anything else and went down the street to get some good food. It’s the Highlands for God’s sake.
How shameful?!!
Admittedly, I’ll be back in summer for wings and beer outside, but meanwhile it’s just sad to see a one-​time great pub reduced to a chain restaurant feel where nobody cares. :(

We’ll definitely an off day. Waitress said there was a tremendous party last night and she was felling it/​certainly prophetic. Service was slow-​I can’t say how good tasted because a hot meatloaf sandwich and crinkle fries certainly don’t taste right at below room temp. I’m talking cold as could be!
Not a good experience. Funny because you could wave at the cook-he’s at the end of the bar. I doubt the good up was on his end-​he seems to take a lot of pride in what he serves up.
Look-​one bad experience won’t put me off this place-​but that was a major goof!

Don’t use a credit card on a busy night… you will get charged for 9 shots that were paid in cash. Always get screwed by bar tenders with credit CARDS — ALWAYS use cash!

I met my friend here for happy hour on a cool Tuesday afternoon as it was right down the street from her house. Being the highlander she is, she loves this place and suggested we meet here when we realized our original destination (which shall remain unnamed) didn’t open until 5:00.
This place is truly a hole-​in-​the-​wall local joint with lots of locals, and enough off the beaten path of bardstown road to feel like you’re somewhere else. The bar is bit dark and sectioned off to feel like you’re in a maze, with lots of history in this place so at least you’re going to find something cool if you get lost inside!
Patio area is a nice plus, happy hour specials are alright, and food is even better. We had the jalapeño poppers and buffalo chicken dip, and both were amazing. If only I could figure out what goes in that raspberry glaze, my life would be complete.

Sehr unkompliziertes Eckkneipe.
Essen ist OK, Biere sind kalt. Sport laueft staendig im Fernseher.

Shenanigans is fantastic if you understand what it is. It is a neighborhood bar and, when ordering, you should ask yourself, «is this something a neighborhood bar does well?» If the answer is yes, it’ll be awesome. Bud light? Check. Fried pickles? Check. If the answer is no, then it’ll suck. Breakfast? NO NO NO.
There is one other condition for enjoying Shenanigans: don’t go to Shenanigans if you’re in a rush. The service is slow; the kitchen is slow. (The one caveat: beer service is great. You might be hungry, but you don’t be thirsty.)
Shenanigans is great for football. They’ve got lots of TVs and a laid back atmosphere. I’m a Baltimore transplant and even found other Ravens’ fans there. Awesome.
The fried pickles are something I get every time I go there. They’re amazing, even if the breading is a bit much for my taste. They’re always fried well and come with a nice ranch-​ish dipping sauce. The fries are always perfection: crispy, hot, and awesome. The Philly cheesesteak and club are also big portions and good food.
What do these things have in common? Good bar food!
Outdoor seating is also very nice and dog friendly, but see my note re: slow service.
Did I mention the breakfast is abysmal? It’s slow, greasy, and awful.

I love Shenanigan’s Pub! It is a great little neighborhood bar. It’s not fancy, they have rickety outdoor furniture, it’s dark inside, and sometimes smells like stale beer BUT the food is great and service is friendly. Ask for the Loaded Waffle Chips — they aren’t on the menu but they are TO DIE FOR (if you like greasy bar food). Give it a shot, order something fried, and drink a beer — or a pitcher — you won’t be sorry.

A true neighborhood pub. In fact, you probably wouldn’t find it if you didn’t know where to look. But you should seek it out. Enormous sandwiches, great appetizers and really fun outdoor seating on a quiet neighborhood street in Deer Park.
Service is good, the crowd is laid back and friendly and there is plenty of room inside and lots of TVs. If you love a real neighborhood bar that’s totally unpretentiousness, you’d be hard pressed to find a better one than this in the area.

Shenanigans is a lovely neighborhood bar, a great place to meet up with some friends for some beers. It’s no frills but that’s part of its appeal. The beer is cold, the service is decent and the food is passable. The standouts on the menu are definitely the potato skins (sooo cheesy!) and all of their burgers are pretty yummy. All in all, Shenanigans is a nice little place!

This is a neighborhood bar, so it helps to be from the Deer or Tyler Park neighborhoods — you’re likely to run into neighbors. The bartenders are always very nice, willing to give drink advice, and have the next in front of you before the last was empty. Billy, in the kitchen, is one of the most underrated cooks in the city — the food that comes out of the kitchen here has won «Best of Louisville» awards. Just get a burger or Philly cheesesteak, and you’ll understand why. For a small bar, it is packed with tvs, so it is a great place to watch a game, as well. Try the Petrino or Highland burgers!

Wow. People crying because the bar doesn’t specialize in White Russians or some other trendy drink they saw on Bar Rescue.
Cool little spot. Cheap pints of Irish beer and decent prices on Irish Whiskey.
The burgers here are giant and good. Loved the Irish chips.
It’s like a hole in the wall meets Irish pup meets sports bar.

Nice neighborhood bar. The beer selection is great, and the outside seating is great. The food is above average, and the prices are better than other pubs. The service always friendly and good.

Shenanigan’s is great for some things — NFL Sunday, CHECK! Discounted beers, Check! Friendly customers, CHECK! Food-​wise though, it is hard to rate it as one of the best, especially compared to other bars in the neighborhood. Highland’s bars are notorious for having absolutely phenomenal bar food. I would have to say the food at Shenanigans was decent. Just not amazing.
I would still definitely recommend Shenanigan’s! Especially on game day.

I’m going to have to side with those who think it’s absurd to be miffed when certain drinks aren’t served here (although I see no problem in making an inquiry and wouldn’t expect to be treated rudely if I were just wrong about where I was). I have never been treated rudely here over possibly 100 visits in 5 years time, and that includes by the customers, of whom there are many.
That aside, in my five years of residence in the Highlands I have seen Shenanigan’s continue to consolidate its outdoor area with interesting plantings and decorations that really do make it both blend and merge into the neighborhood. That I am not near enough to it to be disturbed by any noise conceded. Inside, I just enjoy and feel at home in this pub.
As a sports bar, the lines of sight in this place are above average in my opinion. If you noticed that isn’t what my original review stated then consider that now resolved. They have tons, and tons, of screens here at every height and over each shoulder. It’s as well done as any sports bar in town, most of which are flashier and more expensive to frequent.
If you want to really get a slice of life in Louisville at an establishment that continues to extend its own metaphors welcomingly (Irish pub, Kentucky pub, Bourbon haven, sports bar, neighborhood bar), then this is the place. Because of all that they have a solid following and many of these folks know one another. Conversation with strangers goes easily here.
Because Shenanigan’s has a way of executing & updating itself, it doesn’t really qualify as a dive. In my view, a dive is a bar and some drinks maybe a jukebox and literally no effort to improve, whereas, Shenanigan’s is lively and engaged, has contests and drawings on Monday Night, sometimes has live music, is always a great place to follow local sports teams, etc.
The pub food here has continued to be solid over a number of years. I was there on Oct 15, 2012 for the NFL night and they had chicken nuggets, they were calling them boneless wings, for $ 0.50/each). So, I ordered 12 with cole slaw, potato salad, and soda (I don’t really drink, sorry, but I will occasionally have a beer at Shenanigan’s) – for $ 13.69 plus tip.
That’s probably as healthful as the fare here gets (I did mention it’s pub food). Earlier the same week I had chicken salad sandwich on rye with fries and got out of there for $ 10 plus tip.

I really like this place. It’s a great place to watch the NFL (yay NFL package!!!) and have some cheap beer ($ 2 Bud bottles, thank you!) and delicious pub food. Fried pickles, wings, and burgers are A+. Just keep in mind that it IS a local, dive-​y sort of bar. If you’re picky, stuck up and/​or want a foofy pink drink like a previous reviewer, go somewhere else.

The service and food were great. They even brought out water for our dog. We use to go all the time, and missed the place. So, we went for old times sake. That said, there were more flies than people. The problem extended from the outdoor seating to the restrooms. We left well before we had intended as we could not tolerate it any longer. That may not be an easy fix in the summer, but you should make an attempt. Your better than this.

In search of the best fried pickles in town and these are in the top 3. Went here for a few drinks after work and stumbled onto some amazing fried pickles. Bardstown road pub feel just slightly off the beaten path. Been here once before years ago and remember it being a good time. Tons of specials throughout the week and live music.

I just had one of the best nights in recent memory here. Granted I love neighborhood dive bars, so call me biased, but there ain’t nothin’ wrong with cheap pitchers of beer, live cover bands, and an awesome staff.
We relocated some tables to open up a dance floor and proceeded to dance for about 3.5 hours straight. The band didn’t let up, the bar didn’t either, so neither did we. Strictly locals and fun, what more can you ask for? Finally, legs gave out, we could dance no more, but the band kept rollin’ out the classics even as we pretended to leave and come back for one last shaky booty shake. Good times.

Cheeeap pitchers and live music. Sold. I had only been here for a quick beer before last night and I must say when I walked in the door I seriously debated walking back out. It was PACKED on a Sat night. Not that we have to have a table, but we had a group of 10 or 15 coming and I was a bit nervous as to where we were going to fit! But we squeezed through to the back and a nice group of men that were hanging by a table told me they weren’t using the chairs if we wanted to drag them over to the edge of the bar that was relatively open. We slowly packed in and went straight for the $ 6 domestic pitchers. I love my good beer, but at that price, sure, I’ll revert right back to my college days.
The crowd was an interesting mix of college kids and men in their 40s and us (and a few more young professionals dispersed throughout). But very open and welcoming, never once did I feel like we were the outsiders since we weren’t regulars.
The live music was great fun, took requests, played mostly upbeat music. We started dancing (just a few of us) and the management came and moved a table for us and then it became an awesome dance party. Spinning twirling, a little dirty dancing. Other than one guy who looked irritated by it all the crowd was great, some people came and danced with us, and the guy that worked there gave me a high five on the way out. Not saying every night here will be legendary, but it certainly has the recipe for… yup, you got it: winning.

I feel like I have a moral obligation to give this 4 stars, so let that be a warning. As a Bellarmine student, this place is our haven –where we go to watch games, to celebrate birthdays, St. Patty’s day, or a rough week. I have countless memories here and will forever associate with my college experience.
I will say that I was a bit miffed when the $ 5 pitches went up to $ 8, but thankfully they are back down to $ 6. All is well in the world again. The pitcher is kind of a standard. The beer selection is vast and delicious. The food is pretty good. I’m a fan of any of their cheeseburgers or an order of fried pickles. The staff is always on point, never had a bad experience or a surly server.

Oh how I wish I remembered the helpful guy’s name who was kind enough to assist us three out-​of-​staters who stumbled on this neighborhood pub asking not for beer, but bourbon. Not only did he do an excellent job of describing which bourbons we might like to try, but he brought us all cups of water, ice, and a variety of soda’s in case we thought it was too strong! Haha. What a guy. We asked him all kinds of questions about Louisville and the neighborhood and he was very informative. To top it off, when we called our cab who couldn’t seem to figure out where the hell this Shenanigan’s was, Helpful Guy took the phone and got it done.
Anyhow, the three of us (a californian, and two virginian’s) had a great time sitting outside for an after dinner drink. The neighborhood seemed pretty cool and the others, probably regulars, seemed like fairly young and hip people.
I wish I had a cool pub like this within walking distance of my place.