12/20/08

Great beer selection and excellent food

by ElBombero

After reading some of the negative reviews...I felt like I should post my recent experience at Monk's.

I felt the service was very professional. Both bartenders were pleasant & prompt with service. Perhaps some of the complaining customers are used to be coddled or having their rear ends kissed...but nothing I saw of the staff could have possibly construed as rude.

As testament to that...both bartenders were patient & professional even when putting up with with the obnoxious group of early 20ish lawyers seated next to me.

The atmosphere was very cool. It's dimly lit, really good music over the house PA...just a really cool vibe.

I ate at the front bar. I had the Lapin a la Gueuze (braised rabbit and root vegetables) and thought it was perfect. I couldn't have been happier.

Overall...I think it was an excellent experience and I will definitely be going back. A word of warning...it's not the cheapest bar in the city...beers I drank were mostly in the $7-8 range. However...the quality is definitely worth it and personally...I think slightly higher prices chase away the riff-raff.

• Pros: Great beer selection
• Cons: can be a little pricey

12/06/08

Best Belgian in the city!!!

by Joanne987

This place is a Philadelphia beer institution! Great atmosphere, incredible beer selection and awesome food! Love Monks!!!!

• Pros: Beer, Food
• Cons: none

11/19/08

Falling Faster than a Lead Zeppelin

by mattgay

Monks use to have good food and great beer with horrible service. Now it has horrible food and horrible service that makes me forget about the beer. The new owner has been making bad changes every day since he took over a few years ago. I won't be going back ever again since it's getting painful to see it's demise.

Most people I know go around the corner now to Jose Pistoles since the beers are $2 cheaper for the same beers and at least there you can get a burrito that isn't too bad.

• Pros: empty often now
• Cons: terrible food and terrible service

10/08/08

Monk's STUNK

by fermina25

I used to love Monk's cafe, but I have to say the last time I went there will REALLY be the LAST time. We sat in the back room where the bartender waited on us. He was sloppy, slow and tired and I kid you not we ordered 4 burgers and every single one was cooked wrong. I got medium rare and it had not a trace of pinkness. My friend got well done and it was pink. My other friend got Medium well and there was red liquid dripping off, forming a puddle on her plate. This was not a mix up in burgers, either, since we all ordered different types and they came with different toppings. We showed our waiter and he said they were training new staff in the kitchen which is why our burgers were royally screwed up. We did not drink beer, but instead opted diet soda, which was RC Cola, and as the bartender/waiter agreed, it was disgusting, syrupy, and flat. In fact, when the bartender/waiter came back to offer us refills, he said, sarcastically, "would you like some more of our EXCELLENT cola?". It would have been funny if we weren't trying to enjoy our dining experience. In addition, we ordered a basket of fries, and I don't know if the fries were always less than pinky finger size, but they are now, and dipping them into the sauce (the only good thing about the whole meal) was impossible because they were so short and kept getting stuck in there.

SO, what used to be great burgers and fries has turned into a disgrace. IF you go to Monk's, trust me, stick to the beer.

08/21/08

Great Beer - Knowledgable Servers

by belgianman

This always busy, neighborhood bar delivers the goods. This place has earned it's place as a Philadelphia institution. These guys started the Belgian trend in Philly. Amazing selection of beers from all over the world with an emphasis on Belgian & US micros. They even have decent wine by the glass. The burgers rock & the mussels are the best I ever had. Try the Ghent (bacon & blue cheese) or Thai Curry mussels. The dipping sauce for the fites is addictive - sort of a spicy mayo/remulade sauce. I think the service is great. They are very busy and the wait for a table can be long, so just relax over one of their 250 beers until its time to sit down. I usually eat there earlier in the week or late nites on weekends. Dining out during prime time on Friday or Saturday nite is not for me. The food is great and is a very good value. They do not proport to offer fine dinning. There's a reason they are always busy...it is a corner bar with a top-notch beer list & very good food. The servers/bartenders really are friendly and know about all those beers.

06/21/08

Good food, loooong wait.

by Rontu827

I decided to try Monks since my co-workers are always saying how much they love it there, and highly recommend the fries. I made the mistake of going hungry with my boyfriend, because after we finally got around to being served, our food took F O R E V E R to come! We after about 40 minutes we did decide to order an appetizer of fries, because we just needed to eat SOMETHING. When they finally got there, they indeed were delicious. But our food just kept taking longer and longer, and we saw people who sat down after us get their food and leave before we even got ours. So when it finally came, it was quite delicious, but for the price, I was expecting to be blown away a little more. I think I ordered a rabbit salad, and my boyfriend ordered filet mignon. Yes, it was tasty. But was it worth the high prices AND the wait? We still aren't so sure.

The staff did not seem too concerned with our wait. The waitress did not come to check on us very much.

• Pros: Food, french fries
• Cons: Service, very long wait

05/29/08

Horrible Service

by marketresearch

Bartenders are rude and obnoxious. Go to Eulogy, much better beer selection and way better service. Years ago this used to be my favorite place for good food and good beer; now, after multiple visits where i was treated horribly, I wouldn't go there if you paid me.

• Pros: location
• Cons: bartenders are rude

05/09/08

Great beer list

by ntunyeli

One of the best places to eat in the city: Food is delicious, service is quick and the beer is very flavorful (I would recommend the draft "Chimay" beer), except that the wait can be really long, so it's best to get there early in the evening, maybe around 7pm.

05/06/08

don't waste your time

by whitepony

i'm giving it 1 star because they do have a HALF DECENT beer selection. Eulogy has 300+ selections, plus waaaaaaay better food and service. Monks disappoints every time and we've decided last night was our last visit. the reason we chose Monks was because they serve food later than Eulogy... after last nights dinner at Monks, we joked and said we should have just grabbed a cheesesteak from Pat's.

• Pros: decent beer selection
• Cons: lousy service and 'just ok' food

03/28/08

best food and beer in Philly

by foodlurve

This is easily my most-frequented establishment in Philly. The food is phenomenal, the prices are reasonable, and the beer selection is unparalleled. The Monk's sour this year is a little weak, but there are plenty of alternatives to go with the succulent mussels and the best frites you'll ever have. Sometimes the wait is an hour, but it's worth it; have a beer at the back bar.