Axl Rose is howling about serpentines and sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-knees, as I take a bite of my New York strip. The steak’s juicy, tender, peppery. It’s around noon on a recent Friday at Shagnasty’s Grubbery & Pour House. Most of the illumination’s from neon beer signs, cold gray natural light and a TV playing classic music videos, including “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses.

For a couple years, service industry and musician pals have raved about the steaks at Shagnasty’s, located on an unglamourous stretch of Jordan Lane off University Drive. Opening five years ago, Shagnasty’s quickly filled Huntsville “rock bar” void. They’ve brought in notable touring hard-rock bands like Buckcherry and Dirty Honey. The Shag’s also the place to catch top local bands, like Hunnivega and 53 Judges. The outdoor stage behind Shagnasty’s is a fun, sweaty, endearingly trashy place to see a rock show.

But steaks, really?

Really. Over the last 10 plus years, I’ve had excellent steaks, mostly filets, at upscale local gems like The Bottle, Cotton Row and Nick’s Ristorante. But my strip, cooked medium-rare as requested, at the Shag can match any of ‘em in flavor and texture.

As nice as white tablecloth dining can be for special occasions, and as much respect I have for the chef skills there, the expense and preciousness isn’t my regular jam. At Shagnasty’s, you can wear a Metallica shirt, faded jeans and sneakers and fit right in.

The Shag’s steaks are served on cheap oval plates that look like they were ganked from a Shoney’s buffet. If you care love steaks and could care less about plates, this is your place.

The value here also flips the steak script from fine-dining to comfort-food. Shagnasty’s does “Steak Day” each Friday, when a couple bucks are knocked off the prices. My strip with fries was like $20. They also do a ribeye, porterhouse T-bone and sirloin. You can get a side salad, baked potato or loaded potato if you don’t want fries, but mine were crispy, golden, salty planks of oh-yes. I’d get fries again. Beyond beef, signature menu items include a French dip sandwich, bone-in porkchop and turkey club sandwich with bird roasted and sliced in house.

Married couple Louis Grant and Trena Grant own and operate Shagnasty’s. About a week after I had my steak, I phone Louis, who’s out riding motorcycles with his son when I reach him. He takes a break from the road to chat.

Asked what goes into Shag’s steaks, Grant says, “I basically just started doing the steaks the same way we did them in the backyard. We use a couple of different seasonings, and we don’t ever change up on him. And every cook has been trained to cook everything a certain way. You know, to try to get the temps right, to get the grill marks right. We buy the whole loins, we cut them ourselves and trim them ourselves. It’s just kind of a little extra love and care.”

Shagnasty’s vibe is refreshingly laid back. Most of the other guests when I ate there were blue-collar workers on their lunchbreak. A 10-top table of friends behind me were enjoying a few Michelob Ultras as they caught up and swapped stories. You can smoke inside the Shag, but it wasn’t ‘80s arena-concert-murky in there.

Shagnasty’s vibe is gritty rock & roll. The dude who cooked my steak, kitchen manager Randall Lee, has tattoos on his head and could be an extra on “Sons of Anarchy.” That doesn’t mean the staff isn’t warm and welcoming. They are. At the end of the meal, bar manager Bonnie Hartfield (if you’ve had a few at a few Huntsville joints over the years, you know her) brought the check for my New York strip and Diet Cokes. We talked for a while about bands we liked. She beamed about taking her teenage son to a Pantera concert. (Cool moms, here’s to ya.)

The name Shagnasty’s is a shortened version of the nickname the Grants had for the O’Shaughnessy Avenue area of Huntsville’s Five Points neighborhood. That’s where Louis was residing when he and Trena first met. “We dropped the ‘O’ because we didn’t want it to sound too Irish,” Grant says. The Grants still reside in Five Points, which is where Trena grew up. Louis is originally from Miami. His mom was “an awesome cook” he says.

As a young adult, Louis lived in the Seattle area during the rise of the ‘90s grunge music from there, and he’s remained partial to bands like Alice in Chains ever since. In the Seattle area, he cooked at local Mexican restaurants before joining the Army. After getting out of the service, he got into the construction business.

At Shagnasty’s, Louis mainly oversees back-of-the-house, while Trena, who previously worked in the legal field, handles front-of-house and bookkeeping. Louis says, “We control everything, every aspect of it, and it’s a beautiful thing. We’ve been married 14 years and haven’t killed each other, so it seems to be working.”

Before starting Shagnasty’s, the Grants’ loved to have friends over at their house on weekends. “We were always cooking for football games and having parties,” Grant says. “The problem was we got tired of cleaning it all up afterward. Trena was like, ‘You know, we need to own a bar.’”

Shagnasty’s Grubbery & Pour House is located at 1117 Jordan Lane. They’re open 10 a.m. – 2 a.m. daily. Menu, music calendar and more info at shagnastysgrillandbar.com.

MORE ON LOCAL FOOD:

Thirsty Turtle, iconic Huntsville bar and lunch spot, has reopened

Huntsville’s next great burger place is already here

The special story behind a rising Huntsville restaurateur’s next place

Huntsville taco truck to relocate inside local brewery

Can this program change the future for Huntsville restaurant workers?