Shenanigan's Irish Pub

Shenanigan’s is amazing for both their bar and food. I visited here several times during my stay in OC and each visit was great. The food is very good and fairly priced. The staff and bartenders are very friendly. I was unsure about a drink they had (shillelagh) and they gave me a free sample and I ended up loving it. Great place, good food, and a nice Irish pub!

Surprise find on the boardwalk! Great value and generous portions with a fun dinner atmosphere. The Irish nachos, fried shrimp, and crab hamburger knocked it out of the park! Wednesdays are $3 off burgers which was a great deal!

I really enjoyed my food and drink. My family was not as impressed. I had an Irish coffee with a club on a gluten-free bun. The sandwich had a huge amount of turkey, and the bacon was nice and crisp. It came with a lot of chips. I needed to ask for mayo as it only came with a small smear of Dijon. One kid had the same on a pretzel bun and enjoyed his as well, but also said his was dry and added mayo. 2 kids and my husband tried the mac and cheese. They all said it was mid. It was explained as sticky and dry. It was not creamy at all. The crab mac seemed to have cheese on the top and bottom but not the middle. One kid said they tasted the crab in the mac, and the other one said they couldn't taste it at all. She barely touched her meal, and we came in hungry!

The thing that brought the rating down the most was my husband's meal. The ceasar salad did not have enough dressing to even speak on the flavor. The rack of ribs maybe had 2.5 ounces of meat. That "rack" was about as big as my husbands palm. It was one of their higher priced dishes and was totally disappointing. The barbecue sauce was an afterthought. It was smeared on and not even put back into the oven to caramelize. My husband also had some wine that he said tasted like box wine.

One kid had fish and chips. I tasted the fish. I thought it was pretty good. The batter could have been lighter. The inside was a little mushy. Kid didn't really eat his meal. He had half of his dad's mac and my chips. But that worked out. My hubby was able to substitute his lacking meal.

One kid had nachos. He enjoyed them and almost finished. This is from a kid who complains about nothing. A true gem in this world!

All in all, for the price, we felt "mom could do better." In fact, my husband said he could do better. In all fairness, I love being in the kitchen and have about 20 years of making things from scratch, but it hurts when we spend $250 and are not satisfied.

The service was great. Atmosphere was bar like. Food was only there to soak up alcohol if you had 1 too many drinks and had to beg the kitchen to turn on the fryer 30 minutes before closing.