Shenanigans

Love this place. Sexy B4 Dawn, the first Saturday of the month was total good times. People were friendly as heck, downstairs is relaxing, upstairs too get your groove on. Will be going back after my surgery on May 5^th.

Most places, if you’re in before they man the door to collect cover charges, they let you stay and don’t hunt you down. They figure that you’ve been in long enough that you’ve bought your share of food and drinks already.
Late afternoon, we stepped in just to eat and have a few beers. We weren’t aware that it was a UFC event or that they would be charging.
So we order, and between our food and drinks ring up a tab that’s a little over $ 100. Midway through eating, one of the girls comes around to collect a cover charge from us. We inform her that we’re not going to stay and watch the fights, we just want to finish eating and go. She then informed us that she would need to talk to the manager about that, and that it probably won’t be ok.
At that point, we were pretty much fed up. We asked for to go boxes and our check, and that we’d pay immediately and leave. Now, she tells us that it will probably be ok, but she needs to get approval first (I’m guessing she was worried about her tip). But no, we insisted on to go boxes and our check. It took forever to get our check and boxes.
We downed our drinks, put the rest of our food in the boxes, paid our check, and left. Yes, we did tip the waitress, since I figure she was just doing her job.
I doubt we’ll be going back anytime soon. And if we do, it won’t be on a fight night. If I was into UFC, there are other sportsbars that broadcast it for free anyway.

Did a show after a comedy thing. Killed it. Owner was bummed we werent there on a better night, but we still had a great night. Patrons were instant fans, which is a bonus to me, lol. But the drinks were on point and like i said, owner was a cool dude. Thank you Selekta Lou and Leaf The Comedian for letting «The Testerossas» in on a Thursday night!

Went here for lunch on a Tuesday. Walked in, and the place was empty and smelled like bleach. Maybe they just got done cleaning? The staff was really friendly, and talkative since I was the only customer in there. The food came out in decent time, but was just ok. The french fries looked and tasted like the frozen kind. The burger patty was way too small for the buns. Overall, just okay. I’ve had better else ware. Maybe Shenanigan’s is more of a dinner place, not lunch.
My meal total came out to $ 8 even. 18% tip is $ 1.44, I rounded up to $ 1.50 for a grand total of $ 9.50. When I checked my credit card, I saw that I had been charged $ 10. … 50 cents extra. Not a big whoop. Thought I’d call and see if they can fix it. I called three times, over three different days, and never got through to anyone.

We went here on Saturday night for the zombie walk. We had fun with the crowd but the place was kind of dirty. The beer selection is Horrible which is a definite negative for me. I ended up drinking vodka/​crans which were okay.
I thought the service was good for how many people were there. I probably wont go back here unless it’s for another event.

This was one of the few places showing the Mayweather-​Alvarez fight. Came here with a buddy and, understandably, paid $ 15 cover per person to enter. There was no seating for half the people in the venue, which was when I started questioning the venue. Buying a beer at the single crowded bar and paying $ 10 for two bottles of beer is when I realized that I made the wrong choice in coming here.
If I ever need to watch sports anywhere other than my home or at a stadium, I’ll probably choose somewhere else.

Their webpage advertises that they show all the NFL games on Sunday mornings. My friends and I walked over to Shenanigans from our hotel to watch a game and they were closed. We had made our plans based on their advertisement so then we had to scramble and find it at another location. We missed a significant part of the game. They should either change their webpage or do what it says on it

I’m all for a good dive, but Shenanigans: I call Shenanigans.
Went there recently for a burlesque show/​lingerie party. We’d never been there before but we assumed that kind of event would take place in a certain type of venue… not super fancy ultra-​longue, just maybe not so divey that I’d be worried about sitting on any given surface while not wearing full pants.
The venue is spacious– it even has a basement level– but has that classic divey stickiness to it. The clientele seemed kind of sketch… like, my scantly-​clad girlfriend and I saw some of the crowd standing outside the entrance and thought twice about actually going in-​sketch. (If you’re going to host a lingerie party, don’t have it at a place where women won’t feel entirely safe dressing as such.) The bar service was so slow that we ended up buying all our drinks at once, so we didn’t have to wait that long multiple times.
But my biggest complaint was the PRICE. Holy crow! $ 10 to get in ($ 5 if dressed up, I feel sorry for those who didn’t get the discount) and $ 30 for 2 shots and 2 mixed drinks? Geez. Guess I’ll be pre-​gaming in the car before the next time (if ever) I come back here.

Love this place for supporting the SacDerby Girls fundraisers!

This club is a definite hit or miss club in Sacramento, I’ve been to some great events here and some not so great. I stopped by here last Friday, and this place was empty, just a bartender, promoters and security.
Although this club had a bad night, they also have a lot of positives. For one the club is two levels, which allows for multiple DJ’s, extra dance room and two bars. The downstairs part can get quite stuffy when the club is packed, but overall its a decent setup. This place is no Vegas night club, but they do offer bottles service and VIP booths.
The times I have gone, the music is mostly if not all Hip-​Hop and R&B, my preference in music, so never disappointed in that area. And during the heavily promoted events you might see a Kings player or 2 come through. The bartenders are good too, they know how to make a good drink. The crowd consists of your average 21+ Hip-​Hop enthusiast crowd ;)
Decent club when they have a good night. They do have other nights for events but I’ve only experienced them on Fridays.

ONLY… I REPEAT ONLY… ATTEND THIS VENUE during their Lick Events! Whoo Hoo. They import the state’s best DJ“s. DJ Val G, DJ Lady Ryan, DJ Fusion. Hip Hop and Hip Funk! They have hosted Spoken Word and Body Painting Events! Always something different. Yay. The Lick, located inside Shenanigans (every month) is the only reason I visit this place, so I can’t comment on the other events held here… but I can tell you that when I drive by — if it’s not a Lick event — it appears empty! Family! This is it.
The drinks are too expensive and the parking sucks but if you want a mellow chill place to meet women! Check out the Lick events held inside Shenanigans.

I like this place for shows. Though I’ve only seen it ‘full’ a handful of times, it does have good bar service and lots of potential. My only additional gripes are that the sound upstairs is appalling and the security, in my opinion, doesn’t seem to respond to issues quickly enough. There’s always some asshole who thinks because they paid to get in, they somehow have the right to tell the DJ what they should play. And then, of course, the DJ tells them that they aren’t taking requests, and because their an entitled drunk prick, they try to get violent and make threats. Hasn’t happened to me but I’ve been present when it happened to someone else, and in my opinion, the security and management did not handle the situation the right way as the rowdy jerks weren’t thrown out.
Overall, I like the venue for what it is, wish they decorated it a bit more and fixed the sound upstairs, but it’s a nice spot to grab a drink and have a dance.

BWUAHAHAHA. I saw the bartender (aka OWNER) PRETEND to pour a fair amount of liquor into a drink right before closing (sorry dude, I hadn’t been drinking!) He literally poured a DRIZZLE of booze into a drink, but charged her full price. Um, really?! Don’t get me wrong, him and his bartender were as sweet as could be, very friendly and talkative, but I thought that was shady. That was POLARIS SHADY! SHADY LADY SHADY. lol!

My go to spot for pay per view fights. The place is usually filled with a pretty enthusiastic crowd that enhances the viewing experience.
Haven’t had a chance to teamsters any of the food though, it’s usually packed by the time I get there.

The name of this bar is very fitting to the experience I had coupled with about 15 other people for the Pacquiao vs. Marquez fight. After getting an invite from a friend promoting the event, I arrived to be greeted by America’s Next Top Ratchet at the door who informed us that she «was just taking the money» when questioned about the guest list we were told to mention at the door. Once we were done irritating her, it was quickly evident that the whole cast of misfits were placed to work wait staff because the average wait for wings was 45 minutes and that was if you could find someone to take your order.
This place is like a bad drug problem… it needs help.

Dead Hookers Ball Review @ Shenanigans
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My friend and I went to the Dead Hookers Ball at Shenanigans tonight. So fun! Met some amazing people, did some amazing things (!)…
Shenanigans put on an awesome event. Loved the Zombie stage with the make up bar, and the banana stroking/​eating/​whatever event. My new friend Claudia and I jumped in to participate at the last minute and had a blast. The VIP room was fun, food, private rooms with the most luxurious couches that were just meant to be lain all over. And there were people doing just that, along with some other interesting things. Not that we were judging, just observing ;)
An overall fun event, cool bartenders and bouncers, felt very comfortable there. Despite being dressed as a high class zombie call girl with her zombie pimp. Really.

Not bad, not bad.
I had never been to Shenanigans until last night. I am not surprised that I managed to miss this place. I came here to check out the awesome and awe inspiring band MAXXX. (our very own Clay W. is the drummer!)
The sound was decent and I liked how the stage was a little raised. The bar service was suuuuuuuper slooooooow, but c’est la vie… we weren’t in a rush. Overall the venue was a little bit weird, complete with a furry ape costume hanging in a stairwell. (I don’t get it and have no further or better explanation for that)
I would come back here again if I wanted to see a specific band… otherwise…

«The Hey Nows» Show Redeemed Venue
SITREP
Time for a review-​update:
Last week I attended the performance of my friends Larry and Roger of the «HEY NOWS» @ Shenanigans. It ended up being a rather decent night.
THE SET-​UP
In my prior review below, I had a major problem with the venue scheduling competing events in both the ground-​level venue and the adjoining-​downstairs venue. [I won’t repeat the specifics that are already mentioned below.]
SOUND
Let’s just say that in terms of music performance and appreciation, this was a far far better night in which the quiet acoustic sets by all the participants could be truly appreciated. The sound system was more than adequate to be meet the needs of the performers and enhanced the acoustics of the guitars.
LIGHTING
Not crazy about the lighting scheme. I found it way too dark for the «Hey Nows», and it took the wife of the 2^nd performer to complain to the systems-​staff to get some lighting on the stage.
THE LOWDOWN
Overall, a vast improvement of my prior two times here for shows and so I feel compelled to bump up the rating.

I’m much more a fan of Shenanigans as a musical venue than a bar. They have a great stage with a decent sound system and regularly pull in some local musical acts who may not get a lot of attention otherwise. I recently stopped in for an installment of Jazz on J, which if you like jazz music, is really the best gathering of jazz artists in Sacramento. But be forewarned ladies: most of the men are older, plumper and wearing berets.
As a bar, there is much left to be desired. First off, it’s inconvenient location makes finding parking difficult. There is nothing exceptional about the interior or the drinks selection. The food is your standard burgers and fries and takes a long time to come out when they are busy. In other words, it’s just an average dive bar.
If live musical acts are your thing, check in with Shenanigans for the latest on their schedule.

I heard there was a new sports bar on the block. They’ll have all the football games, not just the local stuff as well as big fights and live music on some nights.
I went during the day. It was quiet. I like it like that.
They have a full bar and food, a pool table, and TVs on almost every wall. There’s also a lower level, if you’re familiar with this place at all from the previous tenants. The bartender was telling me it’s mainly the first floor and they’ll have private parties in the lower level. (But, I’m thinking for big events– maybe it’ll all be open?)
I gave their bacon wrapped hot dog ($ 3.99) a try while I was there. It’s not wrapped in bacon, btw. It’s actually just bacon crumbles on top. The dog was charbroiled. part of it was black-​ish and it reminded me of backyard BBQ food.
Anyway, I like that there’s an actual sports bar downtown (not midtown) and unlike the deceiving names of places like Sports Corner that does not carry the NFL package and basically gets what you can get at home. makes Shenanigans a place to point people to.
The staff has been okay. No one I hate but I don’t love them either. so I’m sayin’ their okay. But because the job gets done and for what they offer, I’m starting off with 3.5 stars here.