The Hungry Monk — Restaurant in Chandler

We met friends here for lunch and drinks on the day after Christmas, we hadn’t dined here before and we weren’t disappointed.

We were greeted by a sign to seat ourselves when we entered, it’s always nice to be able to choose your own spot. They have QR code menus on the tables and we were also brought hard copy menus. Some newer offerings aren’t in the online menu and there is also a lunchtime special menu with a wide selection of items for $12. I was super impressed with the selection of food overall and the quality was decent for pub fare. As an example, we asked if the boneless wings were essentially chicken nuggets and the waitress said they make everything from scratch in the kitchen, they don’t get frozen wings and deep fry them. We ordered the wings and the Bavarian pretzel with honey mustard as appetizers and they were both delicious.

When the time came to order our meal we weren’t sure we needed any more food! But we caved and ordered the smash burger with sweet potato fries and the grilled cheese sandwich. Our pals ordered the burger and the tuna tartare salad, they both were very impressed with their choices. They didn’t ask how we wanted the burger cooked (we prefer a medium rare burger) so it was overcooked for our tastes. My grilled cheese sandwich was fun, their take on it with tomato and arugula is a good version. My sweetie wanted to try the Mac and cheese so I ordered that as my side, honestly that was disappointing, it had panko and bacon and I’m a bit of a purist so it wasn’t for me.

The service was outstanding in a way that deserves special mention. We were helped by no fewer than four people who checked in on us, all with engaging good humor. I’m sorry I don’t know your names or I would give you a shout out, you all deserve it for making our lunch (and a reunion with our pals) memorable for all of us.

We all enjoyed a beer while we were there, they have a huge selection and were quick to provide samples.

The restroom was clean and well stocked. It was also clear where they are located.

I highly recommend this as a place to drop in for drinks and a bite, you won’t regret it and the service in particular will knock...

I’ve been to the Monk many times in the past, spent many good times with good friends, and a lot of money there. I have never been treated more poorly at any restaurant than I was tonight. My wife and I walked in to a mostly empty restaurant and headed past the vacant host stand to take a seat at the bar, as was our normal procedure. A short, dark haired waitress approached us and began scolding us for not heeding the “please wait to be seated” sign that has been standing by the front door for the 5+ years that we have been going there. We told her we were just going to grab seats at the bar, but she ushered us back to the hostess stand so she could ask us where we wanted to sit and apparently then walk us there. At no point in my life at this bar or any other have I ever waited for a hostess to escort me when we were a party of 2 and our destination was seats at the bar. If there is a host or hostess at the stand, I will always greet them with a smile and say that I’m going to grab a seat at the bar which would always be acknowledged by a “the bar is open seating”. Until tonight, that acknowledgement has always - 100% of the time - been accompanied by a smile and an unspoken gratitude that I’ve come to give them more money than the service they’re about to give me is worth. If there is not a person at the host stand - as was the case tonight - never have I stood and waited to tell someone I’m headed to the bar, so the person can then watch me walk to the bar... because that doesn’t make any logical sense. But tonight it was more important to this girl that we be made aware we violated their sacred “wait to be seated” policy. It was more important that we knew she was in charge than for the Hungry Monk to have two happy, paying customers who escorted themselves to seats at the bar. Because we were both in such utter disbelief, and because we have too much self respect to be treated like inferiors, we left and had a delightful meal and drinks at The Local in downtown chandler. At The Local, we walked right past the “please seat yourself” sign, grabbed two seats at the bar, and were greeted with smiles and treated...

HORRIBLE FOOD, SERVICE AND OWNERSHIP CONSTANTLY GETTING FOOD ORDERS WRONG!! If I could rate a -5 I would. Walked in and the owner,managers, and waitress were having a social hour apparently none of them even acknowledged me when I walked in and was in clear view standing 10ft from all of them. I awkwardly waited for 5min as they continued their conversation acting as if a paying customer was not even there as if to say “just ingore his presence until we finish our meaningless banter” then Tiffany, a waitress that has spent over 10 years working at this restaurant finally decided it was convenient for her to find out why a customer(me) had been awkwardly standing there for 5 min. She can’t find my order on the screen so I tell her the order I had placed. After she put her 10 years plus experience to use and finally found my order five minutes later I repeated the order back to her trying to reassure they put everything I had asked for in the order. She says yes so I imagined with all these years she’s put in she knows how to complete an order.... WRONG! Got home and missing sauces when I specifically asked for them three times! undercooked dry wings when I had asked for extra sauce on them just a horribly wasted $30... Before the epidemic the service dining inside had steadily became worse and worse ordering your food after 20min just sitting there then seeing the servers retreat to the back never to be seen again to the point we started ordering take out only. Multiple times they have totally messed up the orders there too so this was the straw that broke the camels back.. Will never return and hope a new ownership or restaurant can replace them with someone who gives a damn about the customer or the food which is now down right horrible compared...