The Old Shillelagh

Come here for the pregame before wings games which is usually pretty lively and then they have a free shuttle. Other than that the food is your typical bar food and they have some beers on tap that they always serve in a plastic cup which is cheesy but I guess understandable.

This place was one of the worst bars I’ve ever been to. The management and staff are a bunch of worthless pigs that have nothing to live for. It seems like most of them live off a diet of PCP, steroids and human flesh. The fact that this bar is still in business is astounding to me.

One of my favorite bars in Detroit! The entire bar is 3 floors and each one hosts a different atmosphere and music. In the summer they open the top deck and play dance music, it also has a bar.
The second floor is great tradiional irish music. Everyone dances and the band has a blast.
The seating is german style… so dont be shy! Great bar to go to for game day or an event. Plus it has a free shuttle that takes you to the game from the bar!

Why this place is so popular is completely beyond reason. It’s a dive bar with four-​star prices. $ 14 for a burger and fries? $ 13 for a sandwich and chips? Come on, seriously!!! You can get much faster service, better food, and a cleaner environment for half the price down the street. Old Shillelagh used to be home to college kids on a budget, now its just a dank, depressing pub for Tigers fans to burn money.

The place to be on St Patrick’s Day! Bar food is cheap & good! Staff huddles to help you! Cover to go in, no problem! But do not leave or you find yourself paying a whole lot more to return! They wanted $ 30 bucks to get back in when a friend wanted to be walked to her car. That was lousy! I made my friend come out!

Seriously one of my favorite places. When you’re here, you’re family. Unless you’re a drunk douchebag. Then no one likes you. Love the variety of crowds on every floor, and the food is good too! If you’re in Detroit, make sure to stop here. And you can take the free shuttle with Bob to major events downtown!

Typical Irish pub. Good beer selection, however every beer we asked for had kicked and the staff seemed kind of annoyed to have to replace the kegs. Also, an air conditioner was leaking right over the bar, causing drips of who knows what to fall on either side of us. Probably good on the weekends, but don’t expect much on a week day afternoon. Venue is nicely decorated though.

I must confess my sole-​experience here was just before an event. I expected service to be sporadic and slow, but it ended up being far worse than we could imagine. Food didn’t do much. Whoever was controlling the music was on fiyah tho, so, all in all, a decent experience. I appreciate the free shuttles to events. Exposed brick n shit.

Claim to be able an Authentic Irish bar. They used to be, not anymore. They’ve kind of forgotten what that’s all about. But hey, whatever makes money.

It’s a dive. No doubt about it… But, that being said, folks seemed generally friendly toward us and drinks weren’t overpriced. We didn’t have anything to eat, so maybe next time.

Terrrrrrrrible. Awful country music and a $ 5 cover charge. I thought this was an Irish Bar, I must have been confused. The employees are too concerned with one another and barely pay attention to the actual customers. So disappointed, I probably won’t be back.

Horrible service. Came in with a group of 7 guys while visiting Detroit. Bartenders were rude. We had one drink and left.

Irish band was cool but DO NOT ask for a Washington Apple shot here– totally disgusting! «Pre-​made» and comes out of a pop dispenser. I had to hold down vomit for minutes! Tasted nothing like a Washington Apple. Turned my stomach so bad I had a hard time putting down my beers after.

This bar is… odd. We stopped in to have a beer and watch a little college football. Service was hit and miss. Three different people asked us for drink orders and seemed confused someone else had been there already. The beers took a while to show up and we were one of the few people in the place. But, the wait staff were really friendly and let us switch TVs to the games we were wanting to see. As an aside, this is apparently a giant dance club on a couple nights of the week, which is strange for an Irish pub but whatever keeps the doors open. :)

GREAT SERVICE, great fish n chips ;) awesome break from the busy Monroe street. Love the service, quaint feel to it, friendly bar staff made us feel at home. To a of beer on tap, food was quick and good bar food :) would recommend for late night snack or great place to have some beers!

Fun Irish pub that is great before tiger games or other sporting events. It can get crowded and noisy but that is do to the jovial atmosphere of the place.
Have ordered food previous and this visit. Food was a bit pricey now it seems with average price on menu around $ 12 – 15 for sandwiches and fries. No specials posted on this visit which used to have all the time. Did not have energy to ask so got a burger which ended up being good just a bit pricy for after drink did and tip ended up over $ 20.
All in all still a good fun place more for drinking and not eating. So if looking for a fun place to have a drink definitely come here and have a good time.

The Old Shillelagh is a good place to go for a drink before or after a game. They have free shuttles to get to and from. Convenient to me and a really good business idea.
I have experienced the Saturday night version, when the bar turns into a club scene complete with a DJ. I think there are better options if this is what you are looking for, but I would say it was fine, and works if you are in the mood for it. The bathroom actually stayed fairly clean (at least the women’s) which is a bit of an achievement (or maybe it was a slow night?).
As for food, I’ve tried a sandwich here and it was fine, but not memorable. I would recommend seeking food elsewhere.

Came here during a Tigers game after searching Unilocal for a dive bar that was open in the afternoon and within walking distance of Comerica Park. The Old Shillelagh met our search results correctly but didn’t provide much else. We had fun here just because we made it an enjoyable time, not for much that the bar did.
Mind you I brought a group of 9 over which seems like a lot but given that were in around 3 in the afternoon, there were plenty of seats and staff to help since it had just opened. Even so, staff acted like it was the biggest inconvenience to help us at the bar. No food or menus were offered and no one received the waters they requested. The whole place had that fresh, dive bar smell of bleach and dirty socks.
We were told there is a patio outside when we attempted to sit down inside. Maybe they didn’t want to deal with a large group? In any case, we liked the idea of a patio but no one from the staff stood around long enough to actually point the way to the patio doors. They all were in the kitchen chatting. Once we got outside, we found that it fit the description of a patio but didn’t provide much else in décor or maintenance. The patio is apparently where they keep all their tall event fencing next to a stack of kitchen oven trays, the latter of which made us happy food wasn’t offered. I can hear John Taffers’ Bar Rescue voice in my head now– «Your gonna make someone sick!»
Still, beers were cheap and given that it happened to be sunny out, we all still enjoyed ourselves. This place is a dive bar after all and they don’t pretend to be anything else.

I’ll never go back. I went here for my gfs Birthday. We called ahead and asked if we could make reservations for the upstairs, we had 20+ people and wanted a long table or an area of 3 – 4 tables. We were told «we don’t take reservations, but just get here early and you can pull some tables together.» Well, we did…
What then was the problem? The bouncer/​bar back (little scrawny fella with absolutely no real authority) was a complete azzhat about the whole thing. He didn’t say «hey buddy, what are you doing?» or «you can’t do that» (Mind you I was just sliding two tables together, I wasn’t really altering anything), his reply was exactly this:
«Are we at your house?» I looked at him confused and said «what?» He repeated louder «ARE WE AT YOUR HOUSE!?» I looked at him confused and said «uhmm, no?» He yelled back «THEN DON’T REARRANGE MY F*CKING FURNITURE!!!»
If it wasn’t her Birthday and if we didn’t have so many people up there, I would have hit the guy, for sure.
This place rides on past glories, has absolutely no specials whatsoever, their food blows, their bathrooms are gross and over-​populated, and it takes forever to get a drink. Thank you doosh for giving me reason enough to pull entire groups away from your bar. Season ticket holder to Wings, Lions, and Tigers, big groups of pre-​game/​post game celebrations, and I will never spend another dollar there in my life.

When I was 21, this place was 4 stars. I’m no longer 21 and the Old Shillelagh is 2 stars at best. TOS is a rite of passage bar for people 21 – 25. You’re legal now and you braved the city from the burbs.
Little has changed and that’s unfortunate. Black Mist is still hocking the one all-​covers CD that they made almost 20 years ago and the act is still the same. FACT: Billy Dixon has been playing here so long that it was called the New Shillelagh when he hired in. What’s that, you didn’t know they have a CD? Then pay attention to the show because he plugs it between every song.
The place is far dumpier than it was 20 years ago. Seriously, this place is filthy. The men’s room here reminds me of restroom scene from Trainspotting. Dirty restrooms translates to dirty in other parts of the establishment. Therefore, I will not eat here. The original owners never let the place look like this.
The St. Patrick’s Day party always packs them in. However, it becomes a little too packed and crowd control is loose. Too many young bucks who can’t hold their pints getting lubed up and looking to swing while his one-​drink tipsy girlfriend keeps asking me for beads. No thanks.
It’s Greektown so parking is at a premium. Pay for it in adjoining lots or cheat Dan Gilbert out of spot at his casino garage.
The Old Shillelagh was an Irish pub but now it’s just another bar hocking overpriced swill. I’ll take my shillings some place else.