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So Carlos Z mentioned the parking issue which I agree is a challenge (and a blessing), however, I just discovered the parking lot right behind the bar. It's designated for the therapy/doctor's offices during the day, but apparently it's safe for parking during bar hours.
The Monkey Bar is just OK to me. Not my favorite bar, but it's not bad. I tried the nowicki-sicle, a delicious lemony drink named after the owner (or former owner) that's no longer on the menu but you can still order it.
Their happy hour is really cool/dangerous. See Nina T's review. Sometimes the bartenders can be lame, but we got Naomi (sp?) last time and he was awesome.
Oh and the interactions between unsuspecting dogs (they allow pets) and drunk people are amusing ... if you're the drunk person.
Love this bar.
Small on the inside at first, but they have a great big lounge area in the back where you can relax and talk to your friends without having to scream over the loud bar chit chat.
Drinks aren't too expensive and every time I've been there they are pretty strong too. Either that or the bartender always tries to get me drunk.
One of the best bars in Sac.
Chillin' like Bob Dylan till it's time to start illin'
In Sacramento for work and the hotel bar just will not do. Jumped on the computer and decided upon the Monkey Bar.
Not much happening on a Wednesday night except for $2 well drinks till 11pm, I think. I was hammered, sorry. But happy hour does go beyond the usual end time because we got there after 10:30p and still got down. The jukebox is one of those digital ones that has errry song in existence which is a plus. But, you get charged 2, 3, 4, 62.5 credits depending on the song and it's order. Still, I had fun and would come back if I was stuck in Sac-Town again.
Parking does suck, but you shouldn't drink and drive so maybe this is a good thing.
Minus one star - no actual monkeys at bar =(
this place is great for it's happy hrs the bartenders are cool so are the doorman/bouncer. Great outdoor patio.
this place seams to be dead most of the time but its a great date place on wensdays and only for wensdays since its happy hour all day and all night on their well drinks
This is a fine middle-of-the-road type bar. If you're looking for a wild night, ask for the wicki-wacki-woo (probably misspelled... I'm not a Davis native), it's guaranteed to get the adventures flowing. They have a separate "play room", which is usually either empty or occupied by one couple awkwardly making out. Cool bartenders and interesting decor, and if you come with a group it's not a bad place to hang around, but it's not usually on the top of the list for the evening's stop-bys. But I will give it a little extra credit for having outdoor seating along the sidewalk. That's always appreciated.
My friend and I are home for break and we were looking for a nice little place to catch up. Thanks to Yelp, I found out about Monkey Bar's Happy hour (3-7). I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. $2 wells and beers with a nice little restaurant attached? Consider me sold. We were trying to get in as many drinks as we could before Happy hour ended. Guess how much wells are afterwards though? $3! Helloooo my new favorite place. Not to mention we got to stuff our faces with plates of fries (which were freaking AMAZING) and there is a quaint little patio area.
There are few negatives though such as parking. There weren't that many people there but we had to park a few streets away because the parking situation was shitty. Also, the bartenders weren't that personable. They weren't rude by any means, but I don't know- usually bartenders seem to be social with the patrons and these guys just weren't really into that.
However, these things are so minor it doesn't even matter. My friend and I had a blast so I am most likely coming back next time I'm in town.
Its a cool place, it would def not be my choice to go without someone I knew (due to the douche bag crowd that comes here on the weekends) but I can't knock the bar for who shows up.
I love their Gladiator drink, I get one literally every time I come here. Candy in a glass, who cares about the price.
So come here and get a Gladiator.
Some people view Sunday as a day of rest - not my brother (Yelper Rick K) and his crew! They believe Sundays are best spent drinking on the patios of various local bars. Occasionally I partake in the revelry, as was the case yesterday. We clocked about four hours at Monkey Bar -- drinking, smoking and eating away the afternoon.
The patio can get a little cramped, but it simply means that you're bound to make friends with the people sitting around you. At one point, everyone outside partook in a sing-along to "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison -- good times!
Despite the throngs of people, the service at Monkey Bar never seems to falter. The staff is friendly and very attentive -- clearing away empty plates and glasses, and always ready to bring out another round of drinks.
The food (which is prepared at the adjoining Cafe Bernardo) is always tasty - and on Sundays they serve brunch well into the afternoon. I foresee many more Sundays spent "resting" on that patio.
Are you a fan of day drinking? Well, then check out The Monkey. Sadly, I've had breakfast, lunch and dinner all in a day here. Pet friendly patio and the customers are a great mix of people that just wanna be social and hang out. Don't forget to ride your cruiser, so we can check out your wheels. Say hi to Carl (bartender) and ask for the Jumanji shot (sorry if my spelling is off). I lost track after 6 shots.
Dave is the greatest server ever, and I love him (platonically, of course, since I'm married).
The chorizo breakfast, calzone and chicken pizza are my favorites!
Happy Hour is 3-7 EVERYDAY!!
Happy Hour, how can you beat $2 beers and well drinks.... You can't!
You can order food if you want, they bring it over from Cafe Bernardo. If you come during happy hour, which ends at 7pm m-f, you get a downtown crowd that just got off of work that wants to unwind. The bar isn't slammed so you get friendly bar tenders that are willing to check on you when you need a drink. It's a bar so don't expect this huge place (It's a bar) During the summer out door seating is nice and they just opened up a back area where you can get a crowd of people sitting on the couches to relax. Did I mention $2 beers?
Its a great place to hang out with friends. Its kind of crowded on the weekends. I love the name. Its creative and hip. The drinks are good! The bartenders are friendly. I love this place
At least four well drinks, a dish of french fries, AND the House Made Fettuccine for $22 bucks during Happy Hour!?! You can't beat that along with Monday Night Football on the big screen with some friends! And this was good quality food too! Well for one thing it is from Cafe Bernardo so you can't go wrong with that.
I don't know what they do with their fries but they were damn good. They were so good that I didn't even need ketchup. And the Fettuccine tasted great too... just the right amount of sauce, spinach, and onions. I think I need to go here more for happy hour.
Clean , good choice for a meeting place after work .
Cafe Bernardo (through the cutout doorway) is some pretty damm good food for the money.
young people EVERYWHERE and this tells me a bunch , one of the greatest GOOD attitude bars in sac town.
THE only bad thing here is that BULLSHIT parking all around this place. you feed money at some ATM looking thing and it gives you a sticker to stick on your window,and you just very well may get a ticket anyway.
for this reason and this alone , i do not drink at the monkey.
Your average, trendy yuppie Midtown bar.
I had a great time there on my last visit, but more so because of the crowd that I was with then anything that the MB offered. It was a send off party for a friend and we only had one purpose for being there---to drink mass quanties of alcohol! MB fulfills that purpose well.
The doorman (who vaguely resembled Ving Rhames---but maybe that was just all the vodka I drank clouding my vision) was really nice and didn't pull that "I need to see your ID again" crap after he checked it once. He just smiled each of the forty million times I waltzed in and out from the bar to the patio. The bar itself is a virtual sardine can, with wall to wall people... that spills out onto the patio/sidewalk.
The bartender that was serving us was a bit annoying. I was ordering a mojito for a friend and got a lengthy lecture on the history of the mojito. WTF? Is this a bar or the Discovery Channel?
As Brian D. mentioned you do need some sort of cleavage to get a drink in this place. Our group being mainly guys, I got stuck going up to the bar to get our drinks, as it was much faster. I even had unknown guys handing me their cash and asking nicely if I'd place their order with mine, as they had been standing in line "forever." In return, they offered to purchase my libations for me. Sounds like a fair deal to me.
MB isn't on my list of places I'd frequent, as I'm more of a dive bar girl, but it's probably isn't the worst place in town to grab a drink.
Since I was feeling a little older than usual and dreaded the idea of spending another Friday night in my apartment watching reruns of Oprah and eating bon-bons, I agreed to go out with my friend Melody and Ally D. This, of course, was after we ended up picking up Ally about an hour late :P
First stop was decided upon after driving around endlessly due the the sudden vast emptying of the Memorial Auditorium. Perhaps it was something along the lines of the Dave Chappelle Block Party show, but suddenly, I was not in the mood for reggae and all the funky entrapments that come associated. "Hey, Beautiful" was not exactly the line I wanted hear tonight as with the groping hands of strange men on their way to the restroom. Ally suggested Monkey Bar, so away we went.
Parking was easy in this neighborhood, and as we were walking to the well-lit entrance area, the couple of door staff checking id's were tall, in black t-shirts, and sporting tattoos and earrings. A good enough sign for me. Then, the positivity flew out the door when a cheesy stretch SUV limo pulled up in the street and a couple of drunk guys yelled out:
"Hey, girls! Its my friend's birthday! Say hello!"
After the cutie staff let us in the back way, we went straight to the bar and had no problems obtaining our drinks. I ordered my drink of choice, a gin and tonic with Tanqueray priced at $3 approx. Melody had a very sweet and expensive $5 lemondrop. My drink was so strong (hey, I'm Japanese) I only finished about 1/4 of it. Ya, cheap date here, and already feeling a bit woozy. My contacts began to glaze over and everything started to glow in some warm rose colored light. We hung out for about an hour or so, catching up on funny bits of past history and current predicaments. But the minute the cheesy limo emptied its contents, did the crowd suddenly have a West Sac appeal and we decided to leave for another bar.
In retrospect, I'd come here again for the pseudo preppy and preppy-wannabe crowd. But probably not linger for the unexpected to show up and dampen my preppy spirits and arrogance :P
2 stars for the cool bartenders
1 star for the actual bar patrons
Nice atmosphere. Douchy crowd. Rad bartenders. Food is decent. I just hate corporations.
This was my favorite spot the year I was 21.
I cannot forget the good times...or a particular drunken walk home when a friend wrestled me into a leaf pile. (I woke up hungover with sticks and crunchy leaves in my bed!)
Back to the point, nowadays Monkey is crowded and not as laid back as I remember. I still like the place, but not so much on a Friday or Saturday night. The bartenders are always warm and personable. Looong happy hour- come here for drinks and food on the patio on a warm Sunday afternoon! The patio is very smoker friendly.
01.25.08
Was forced to come here again last night. I asked the bartender to make 2 shooters of his choice. He made this super sweet concoction that tasted like cough syrup. Then he charged me $12 for it. I'm officially done with this place and am changing my original rating of 2 stars to 1. This place sucks.
**********
Came here two weekends ago and for a Saturday night, the place wasn't too crowded. Interesting diverse clientele, ranging from Asian wannabe gangsters with sideways baseball caps and saggy pants to preppy white frat kids. Out of all the bars I've been to in Sacramento, the bartenders here make the weakest drinks. $4(!!!) for the DD's Red Bull and $6.50 for my vanilla vodka and coke. Sheesh. The best part about this place is the outdoor patio up front and the heat lamps. I may be back, but it won't be by choice.
A great place if you're looking for a a cheap, weekend Happy Hour. I went about 5pm on a Saturday afternoon. It wasn't very crowded and we ordered some food from Cafe Bernardo. The drinks weren't weak and the food was good.
Honestly, because it's connected to Cafe Bernardo, I was ready to trash this place with words- hard. You can imagine my suprise to find that the place is not too shabby. As a matter of fact, I may be found frequenting here during certain hours.
Initially, I've not had much interest in going there, due to passing many times, and seeing clientel I'd rather not associate or be associated with. However, a few weeks back they had placed an ad for their "dead rock stars happy hour" in one of the local freebies I read on occaision. "$2 pints and well drinks, what the hell, I'll give em a try." I thought. Not to mention it's in walking distance of my residence.
On my initial visit, I actually thought the place was closed. No one was sitting outside, or parked in front. But upon closer examination, I found the place was not only open, but inhabited by construction workers from across the street. So far so good!
Because Sacramento is nortorious for having the meter police appear out of thin air seconds after one has expired (I have four tickets to prove it), I asked the bartender about the meter feedings in front, and some quarters. Instead, he suggested I park on the sidewalk, in front of the window, which was a bit of a shock to have a non-biker bar/bartender to suggest.
Mid-afternoon, between the beginning of the previously mentioned happy hour, and 5:30, the place tends to be empty, or inhabitted by working stiffs wanting a cheap drink that isn't off the bottom-shelf. After that, the yuppies and hipsters will start wandering in (best to leave at this time).
Five stars for a great afternoon staff (tip well, they earn it), minus four star for the after 5:30 customers, plus two for great happy hour drink prices that aren't coming from the bottom shelf.
This place is horrible! Been there once and never going back. Me and my buddies went there one night just to get a drink and chill. I've always heard alot about this place, so I figured it was pretty big...wrong. The place is tiny! it was basically standing room only, and it would have been impossible to walk up to the bar and get a drink because it was completely swarmed. Fortunately there was a waitress walking around taking orders. So we ordered probably three drinks and just sat back. About 25-30 minutes later we just figured the waitress had forgotten our order, so we just decided to get out of there and hit up blue cue. We're walking out the door and the waitress comes running after us shouting "hey!" like we had just robbed the place. She yells at us "you didn't pay for your drink!" we were gonna argue that waiting half an hour is too long to wait for three d@mn drinks, but before we could about six or seven drunk douchebags started coming at us like they were going to fight us over these drinks. I guess in they're mind they were trying to "defend" the waitress. We just paid the lady and left.
How this place got to be so popular is beyond me. Pine Cove, Blue Cue, or Streets of London are all far better choices....and to the best of my knowledge nobody has ever been shot to death outside them either. I know everyone remember's when that happened to Monkey Bar about a year and a half ago...I was right down the street when it happened.
The customers at night are lame.
This is THE place to go for brunch on the weekends. The special bloody marry with the roasted-veggie puree' will really knock you out.
When the sun goes down people that show up are some lame peacocking ass-clowns. Just go during the day or weekends for brunch.
I have never had a bad brunch here. NEVER. For that they get high ratings. The night-scene keeps a 5-star out of the picture.
Man, I used to love coming here to drink with friends. The scene was chill, the drinks were well made, and the music was good to drink with. Not overly priced, even when I ordered martinis, this place is better than a local neighborhood bar.
But as I've been here lately, the crowds here seem less and less like the one that used to come to Monkey bar. The very fact that the bar is nearly empty on the nights I go makes me feel like this is a shadow of its former self.
This is still a cool place to hang out with good friends to get a cold one.
Ok, this place is a just a bar. This is not a fancy, upscale or trendy bar. It is just a good place to hang out with your friends. I come here with friends before/after dinner if we ate at a place where it is not comfortable to hang out afterwards.
Few outdoor seatings also make an attractive place to hang out if weather cooperates.
I used to really really enjoy The Monkey bar when I was much much younger, still smoked, and drank much much more than I do now. Ahh the memories of the wild young 20's. I never much liked the place after about midnight or so as it was too crowded. I do enjoy going here now and again on a week night especially in the spring or fall when the weather is nice for a happy hour drink and people watching. Not my preferred hang out, but the street side patio where you can enjoy a good libation as people walk by reminds me of many a pub along the Mediterranean. A warm breeze wafting buy with the low mutterings and laughs of other folk unwinding from the day. Come for happy hour, leave after it's over, as it only gets rowdier and more obnoxious.
This bar has won best singles spot and there is a reason for that...it is a lot of very social people which is awesome, but mostly from a 30 something's crowd mostly, so my friends and I felt a little young when we ordered our kamikazes at the bar but boy were these bad boys SUPER TASTY!!! So basically if you are in you 30's and looking for a place with pretty decent looking people who aren't afraid to walk up to you and say hello and talented bartenders, then this place is your new best friend. If you are my age, then I would say skip it and go to Club 2 Me instead which still is the best dive bar around heh
i loved this place! it was chill and not too busy. grabbed a big table outside and drank until we stumbled on out. the bartender was a moderate jerk with one person ordering more than one drink but it wasn't that big of a deal. i guess they had a little game room that isn't working so that kinda sucks.
overall, good place to sit and drink with friends without a bunch of nonsense.
Bla bla bla. That is the essence of Monkey Bar. Nothing new or exciting about this place. Just another bar for the young'ins to gather in and let their loins swell. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the place is just so... I don't know... unapologetic? Blunt? Basically, it's brutally honest in its failure at being a posh, upscale hangout, and it doesn't really try too hard to hide it. It's like, eh, whatever, ain't no thang but a chicken wang, we trashy! If this were the commonly accepted opinion of Monkey Bar I think I wouldn't have a problem with it, but because the majority of the clientele believes that they are chillin at the HAWTEST place in the 916, I require a large dose of liquid oblivousness before I even arrive at this fine establishment.
A decent place for a quick fix. They serve one of the coldest Fat Tire's I've had in this city. Time for a drink...
If you tipped the bartender well, you are bound to get great service. It is easy to blow $50 on drinks here.
I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about the Monkey Bar, but I like it. They just opened up the back room and people think it is a private room or something. Shhhhh!!! Lets just keep this in between everybody, but you can go in there if you like. The owner set up his NES with ExciteBike and let us play on one of the two plasmas in there. The drinks are decently proportioned and they have Big Daddy IPA on tap. Some may call this a bad thing after I have had a couple...
I love this place for the reasonably priced drinks and for bartender Anthony. Not a place for prepsters who are looking to hook up for the night, not at all a meat market type of bar. But very laid back vibe. It's like that guy in high school who was cool without ever trying.
Reeking of stale beer and filled with refugees from the Greek System, Monkey Bar makes me remember exactly how the college bar experience was never as cool as any beer commercial promised. Trendily decorated, it usually has some sporting event on- but if you want to actually get served a drink, make sure you 1) are displaying serious cleavage or 2) know the bartender. Someday people will come to their senses and stop coming here.
Let a crafty veteran tell you about the Monkey Bar. When I lived Downtown we used to come here a lot. Fond Fuzzy Memories. The KWOD kids used to hang out here on the weekend. Lots of shooting the shit, smoking and drinking. Pint after pint after... Fritz is in Cincinnatti and Barrett & Sarah moved to Florida to run some gambling scheme. Greyhounds or something. Good luck you crazy kids!
Altho it is part of the Paragary family and i hate to support an evil empire... it is a great place to hang out with friends on a Tuesday night or most any other off night but try to avoid it on the weekends when it gets over ghetto. That's not to say every weekend, it can be hit and miss. If you do go, ask for Karl! He will hook you up and makes killer drinks.
Monkey bar is ok if its not too crowded. Its nothing great but if your looking for a somewhat trendy bar and your in the area its an ok place. The drinks are good and the bartenders are usually ok. I guess there was just nothing that made me want to go back.
About the only thing good about this place is that Cafe Bernardo is next door. This place is way too cool for me and the drinks are overpriced. There really is no reason to go there, unless you are meeting someone and even then I would try to sway them away.
Three stars for the cheap drinks. The crowd can be fun if you are with the right group. but i wouldn't really want to go in by myself for a cocktail on a weekend night.... that said, can be a lot of fun if you are looking for a good starting out point for a night on the town.
Good place to chill but it can get awfully crowded on weekends. The drinks are cheap too.
Sacramento, CA
Category: Pool Halls
Sacramento, CA
Category: Cajun/Creole
Sacramento, CA
Category: Bars
Sacramento, CA
Category: Restaurants
Sacramento, CA
Category: Nightlife
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