Shenannigan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant

I love it. I’ve been in Southie now 20 years, and I was at shenanigans before they put in the windows. Regardless of the environment, however, the food and drink have always been reliable. It’s a great place to hang out with friends and have a good time. They have a great reggae night, too. You know what you get if you go to Loco, or the Lincoln, so if you want to over pay for food and drink? Have at it. You want consistency and a great Guinness pour? Go no further than shenanigans.

We stopped in for a late lunch on a Saturday afternoon. The bar was fairly busy and had a nice welcoming interior. It seems like a nice place to grab a couple drinks on a night out.
My husband had the shenanigans chicken sandwich. It was mediocre and he said he probably wouldn’t order it again. The chicken is breaded in-​house and not frozen it appears, but there was not much flavor to the chicken or the fries. It was good not great.
I went with the Brasata which was a slow braised prime rib on mashed potatoes with a side of veggies. The veggies were SLATHERED in butter to an almost unhealthy level. The prime rib was again ok but not flavorful and came with gravy NOT the red wine Demi glaze the menu said. Overall, very mediocre.
The service was very friendly and quick which was nice. I will probably come back for drinks and skip the food.

I love the Friday nights here as they have the best reggae band in Boston, Conscious Reggae. Just love the band. Also the bar tenders and bouncers, entire staff is very friendly and sweet. Simply love this place.

The food is fine. The service is generally not good. The female server (Erin) seemed more interested in sitting in the booth next to me talking to patrons, or talking to her 3 friends over by the door, or talking to her co-​worker in the corner, than she was in doing her job. The last beer I ordered took almost 10 minutes to get to the table, though it wasn’t all her fault as I saw her doing nothing for 5 minutes and then go to the bar and hand the slip to the bartender who was also doing nothing apparently. Somehow it still took another 2 minutes to get to the table. It wasn’t busy, so they wouldn’t be able to use that for an excuse.

Stopped in for a quick lunch and was pleasantly surprised, food was better than expected and atmosphere was cozy and comfortable, prices were good and service was the same don’t know about the nightlife but would do lunch here again.

I’ve dined at shenanigans once and ordered take out from there another time. When I ate there, I went on a Thursday night with a friend and we both got beers and sandwiches. I ordered the turkey panini that had avocado, pepper jack, tomatoe, and a house condiment with a side salad. It really hit the spot and the turkey tasted fresh. My friend ordered a philly cheers teak and enjoyed it but thought it was a bit dry.
When I ordered take out for 4, we got the appetizer sampler to split that came with wings, tenders, potatoe skins, mozz sticks, and cheese stuffed mushrooms. I got a chicken wrap with avocado, corn, cheese, tomatoe, and a spicy sauce with rice on the side. My friends ordered the house country chicken sandwich, buff chicken wrap, and the Gaelic burger. All were happy with their orders!

Best Sunday dinner around!
Desserts are delicious.
Plenty of Draft beer selections
All food I have tried on this menu is delicious.

I feel like this place is super underrated, at least as far as the quality of the food is concerned. There isn’t anything on the menu that I’ve tried that I haven’t enjoyed. Fish tacos, steak tips, chicken sandwich and quesadillas are all A+. Nachos are legit — come fully loaded. Chicken fingers are very respectable. They may not have the cache of some of the newer places opening in the area, but for consistently good food, I’d strongly recommend you give them a try.

My fiancé and I were staying in Boston for a long weekend and our host recommended this place. We went for lunch and had buffalo chicken pizza and garlic stuffed mushrooms — both were AWESOME! We sat at the bar and the bartender was super friendly and attentive. Later that night we tried going to a restaurant down the road, but after waiting an hour for a table we left and went back to Shenanigans. This time we had the sweet chili calamari and surf and turf (steak tips and shrimp). We both agreed the shrimp would have been much better if it wasn’t fried, but the steak tips and calamari were so delicious, we didn’t really mind the so-​so shrimp. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area.

I haven’t decided what was worse the service or the Lobster Roll Sliders. The lobster roll description should have read diced celery with minced lobster meat. To be fair the celery wasn’t diced big at all I just want to give you a better idea of the size of the lobster meat. Since I’m being fair I’ll also say that 2 out of 6 sliders did have extremely small pieces of cut up tail. I’m also not a fan of lobster drowned in mayo however when it is so dry you begin timing your waitress in need of a drink to wash it down it says a lot. Onto the service or should I say lack of. After being served our meals the next time we had contact with our waitress was about 15 minutes after we were finished and asked the bar tender if someone would bring our checks. I noticed our waitress begrudgingly pulling herself away from her lunch. I’m assuming she wasn’t eating lobster rolls.

I remember when this place was an old school restaurant on one side and a dive bar on the other. It’s come a long way since then. The value for what we got was superb. I took my mother out to dinner here and we had a beer, martini, an app, and two dinners. Tab, $ 50. There are few restaurants that offer comfort food anymore. Just what you need after a rough day.

So many wacky shenanigans occur at this fine establishment! Make sure you keep your head on a swivel or you could suffer a sports injury!

The service was horrible. Although, they seated us quickly and at a requested booth, the wait staff continued to pass our table as if we were invisible for over 10 minutes. I had to yell out for service. WTH! The guy who was waiting on all the tables in our area sent over another girl and continued to ignore us. This isn’t a welcoming establishment, unless, maybe for locals. I should have left. Instead I put my feet up and forced them to serve me. The food was ok — not great, not bad.

I had a margarita and it was delicious! The stuffed mushrooms were awesome too, but most of all the service was spot on. Our bartender, Carolanne (I think) was very accommodating. We will definitely be coming back.

Where is my 2010ish review for Shenanigans???
I, too, was part of a bar crawl crowd that was kicked out for shenanigans at shenanigans once upon a time.
I don’t think any of the other reviewers actually defined these shenanigans, but I remember them well. It was STOP 2 on the bar crawl, which means nobody was drunk. We were just telling stories and taking selifes and that was a about it. Sure, maybe an hour later people were getting «iced» (if you dont’ know don’t ask) and shots a plenty were had. The crowd ran wild. Way way way way way after leaving Shenanigans.
That review, left me with one star.
Recently, however, I had lunch at Shenanigans with coworkers. The ham sandwich special would have been mounds better were it served on the sour dough bread it was alleged to come with, however, I was starving so I ate the rye.
The beer selections is good. The fries are crispy.
For work lunch: solid choice.
For bar crawls: skip ahead to the next place.

This place could be amazing if the service wasn’t horrible all the time. I live close so I frequent shenanigans often. Reggae night is fun. Their food is great but service is painfully slow and no one is friendly.

Came here after a work event with a big group on the recommendation of a colleague, and definitely was not disappointed (even though I was skeptical about the name of the place). It took us forever to decide on food as it was a bit loud in the restaurant and there are so many good choices on the menu to choose from, but our waitress Kate was very attentive and patient– even when we asked for 6 separate checks for expense account purposes.
I got the buffalo chicken nachos as my meal which were top-​notch, but my co-​worker that ordered the beef skewers won the lottery for the night. They were the most tender and perfectly cooked skewers I have ever had.
Food and service = 5 stars
Acoustics = 3 stars

Great place for food and/​or drinks. I’ll come here often for some after work beverages and apps. It’s conveniently located on West Broadway so easy it’s a quick stop off of the #9 bus or approx. 10 min walk from Broadway Station. They have a daily specials menu that usually has some great options that always taste great!
Weekends– I’d much rather head here than somewhere like Stats or Lincoln. Aka where everyone who just discovered Southie between the ages of 22 – 30 are. Plenty of TV’s around and usually plenty of seating. Great place to go for dinner or with a group of friends for a game. Reasonably priced, too. Overall, no complaints about this place!

Bartenders and waitstaff are great! Their nachos and burgers are yummy. Tv’s everywhere if you want to watch a game. I do wish they had authentic irish coffees though. Still trying to find thee place for that.

Friends and I were looking for a casual place to grab a bite to eat before meeting friends in Seaport for drinks. We weren’t looking for anything fancy so my buddy suggested we go here because their food is always solid. It was fairly early on a weekday so we were one of the first sets of patrons to arrive. As the name suggests, the atmosphere is very irish pub-​ish. A huge U shaped bar commands the room with some scattered tables off to the sides. This is the type of place you saddle up to the bar.
The draught selection was impressive offering Irish import favorites to local brews from down the road. The true standout surprisingly wasn’t the beer though, it was the food. It’s simple bar food mixed with some traditional Irish dishes and the three of us were impressed. One had a burger, one the steak tips, where as I opted for the Shepard’s Pie. Hands down the best Shepard’s Pie I’ve had to date. The gravy was life changing and had a good mix of meat and veggies. Over the top was a thick layer of mashed potatoes whipped to perfection and then put back under the broiler to give the whole dish a lite crispy crust. This dish is an absolute must for any visit.