Shenanigans Irish Pub and Grill

Our favorite spot in Wilmington for Sunday Brunch! The bartenders are friendly and knowledgeable ( and make the BEST bloody marys in town) and they serve a surprising selection of craft brews.  

The feel is divey and clean (exactly what you are looking for on a Sunday morning after a long night!) and you are always greeted with a warm hello! We often meet here when friends are in from out of town because it's located right next to the train station. A trip back to NYC isn't complete without a "Shimosa" or a Bloody Mary ($3 during brunch). The place is also covered in flat screens so it's ideal for football Sundays. I also hear they attrack a pretty good lunch crowd from the local businesses.

The pub food is excellent and very reasonably priced.  I usually opt for the scrapple/egg/cheese on Texas toast (don't miss out on the home fries) and my fiance loves the wings.  We also come here to watch football and for dinner some nights - their burgers are great and there grilled cheese, yup grilled cheese at the bar, is to die for! I am a BIG fan a fries so plenty of options to choose from here!

Overall a great neighborhood pub with a great staff!

I was stranded with my boyfriend in Wilmington because our train was delayed. We decided to make the best of it and go to the nearest bar. Shenanigans was WONDERFUL!
Everyone was so welcoming and friendly even though we came in bedraggled with all our luggage. The bartender and the patrons all sympathised with our plight and the surpising variety of craft beers soothed our travel anxiety. They even helped me charge my phone, and offered advice on hotels if  the train got cancelled for good. Soon, we didn't really care if the train showed up or not! I highly recommend this bar...and from now I plan to leave myself EXTRA time before any train out of Wilmington so I can stop in again.

We hit this place up before a show at the Queen, using a recent Groupon that I purchased to check them out.  I drive by the spot every day on my way home from work and was curious to see what it was all about.  

First impression was great.  The staff and patrons were friendly and the bar had a divey feel, but was well lit and clean.  We liked it.  We took some suggestions and ordered the Shenanigan wings (Monday special was $.40 a wing), and some sandwiches.  I chose the reuben, based on the other review, and was told that they bake their own corned beef in house.  Love that!  He also recommended the irish stew, which I would have tried had I not been going to a concert afterwords.  

The wings were the best that I've had in Wilmington so far.  Crispy, but not breaded.  Not sinewy or fatty, and the Shenanigans sauce was a thin but sticky, sweet and spicy one.  They were really, really good.  The reuben was delicious at first bite.  Really good corned beef, nice bread, good distribution of ingredients.  Unfortunately, it was very, very greasy.  the bread was completely saturated with oil or butter and it really became the primary focus once I finished my first half.  I passed along most of the second to my husband.  Fries and onion rings were good, but also very greasy, and my partners liked the burger & chicken cheesesteaks.  

Now, I want to define my 3 star review.  I will totally go here again given the wings, the reasonable pricing, and the vibe.  The first star was lost because of the greasiness.  This meal really sat with all of us for the rest of the night.  The second was because of some weird upcharges.  I ordered my sandwich and he mentioned that they had Gaelic fries, crab fries, and regular.  I assumed this was a choice and selected Gaelic.  My husband also ordered his sandwich and then asked for the onion rings (listed on the menu as $1.50 upcharge).  When our meals came we each had fries on our plate, plus a large side each of onion rings & Gaelic fries.  I mentioned it and he said something along the lines of that the sandwiches all come with fries.  I shrugged it off, but we were charged $7 for the Gaelic fries & $5 or 6 for the onion rings.  If we didn't have a Groupon I would have asked for them to be taken off the bill, but didn't want to be "that person".

Overall, I will definitely go again but will order much differently and be a little more careful about what I add to my order.  I'm too much of a sucker for good wings to not give them another chance!