Monkey Town Brewing & Restaurant - Dayton — Restaurant in Dayton

Nice little brewpub in a small town. Had a few beers that were pretty good. The menu is a bit bland and uninspired. i suppose for locals it's more than enough, but the place seems like it has more potential than that. Food was standard for a pub but nothing to rave about, a solid B. Food took a bit too long to come out, so I would have been displeased if in a rush but instead enjoyed the time to talk and knock back another beer. For the location/price I was pretty pleased....But I think they can definitely take it up a notch.

Update: 3 years later, I dined in. Didn’t stay away because I didn’t like it, I don’t live in the area. Was visiting Dayton so decided to try again. Was pleased by the status of the food. Good quality pub food, good portions and value. Nothing fancy but not pretending to be. Just good comfort food and done well. I really appreciated that the burger, which at first glance I thought was a thick patty, was actually two thinner Patties, I really like that as it packs in the grilled flavor. The beers: excellent. I started with a flight of their oatmeal stout, barley wine, triple hazy ipa and their dessert coconut milkshake ipa. All were very impressive I am a big craft beer drinker and there were not just quality but were unique. Not so much the stout but was still very good. Ordered another triple hazy because it was so good. Almost like a blend of New England and west coast as it had that full bodied hazy fruit but also a big hit of grapefruit and a shot of bitterness. Their brewer is doing a great job. Would love to pick their brain as to some of their methods.

The one area my experience lacked in was service and decor. We were seated in a side room that looked straight out of a late night diner in the 80’s. It felt very detached and although it may have been in an effort to give us a quiet location away from the bar atmosphere, it felt more of a place diners were relegated to to keep them out of the way. Our server was friendly but she was not very attentive. I would have easily added another brew to the tab if she had been to the table more. Something about how far from the main area we were no doubt.

Overall, was pleased. If I was in the area longer I would have stopped in several times to fill a growler with some excellent brews if you’re anywhere within driving distance and are looking for some wonderful craft beer,...

We stopped in here for a bite to eat when we checked out Dayton, TN as a possible place to relocate to after retirement. We got there about 30 minutes after opening and there were a couple other tables already seated, but we mostly had our pick of places to sit.

Our waiter, Zach, was friendly and answered all of our questions, including the ones that had nothing to do with the restaurant & its food.

First up, Hubby and I split an order of House Chips with ranch dressing. Usually I find house chips taste a little burnt & dry, but these were 💯 perfect! (The photo was taken after we had started digging into them). We ate almost all of them, because they were so addictive, but there were so many of them that it really affected our ability to finish our lunch!

Speaking of our lunch, I had the cheese quesadilla (though there were plenty of other options I could have chosen from!), with the tomato basil soup. The portions were huge! The quesadilla had to have been made with the biggest tortilla known to humankind. It was about the size of half of a 12" pizza! And it was SO OOEY GOOEY, CHEESEY DELICIOUS! 🤤 It came with sour cream (so fresh it looked like fresh ice cream!) and salsa. The tomato basil soup was topped with grated cheese and had big chunks of tomato & lots of visible flakes of basil in it. So flavorful and tasty. It came with saltine crackers.

Hubby got the" Cubano" sandwich. Being from Florida, we weren't sure if Tennessee was up to the task of making a Cuban, but they did a really good job. He got it without the pickles (he does not like pickles for some strange reason... It has something to do with living near a pickle plant and learning how they're really made), but he said it was just as good as what we get in Florida. That's saying something.

Unfortunately, neither of us could eat all of our food, because there was so much! Next time we may just split a meal, but we never would have been able to experience all this delectable food if we'd done that this time, so I'm glad we didn't.

The atmosphere of the place was very enjoyable. It had photos all over the walls of the Scopes Trial, which happened in Dayton in the 1920s. So it was educational AND nutritional all at the same time.

We will definitely be back again the next time we come back to Dayton, and we one thousand times recommend it to anyone visiting the area! Ask for...

I hate saying this but the only reason this place is getting good ratings is because its basically the only bar in town and the locals seem to not know any better. Worst service EVER. I have been to loads of breweries and restaurants and never complained once but this place.. Upon arriving I should have taken the first hint of unwelcoming after our first initial interaction with a waitress after seating, I asked "What are your house brewed beers"? and the response was in a very fast, boring tone while looking in another direction “Numbers 1 and 2 on the board?" Let me remind you I was sitting near the window in the front entrance of the bar, the board is at the far end of the room behind the bar area. I have good vision but I'm not super woman. Since she refuse to tell me I had to get up and go read the scrambled beer board in the back of the bar. We weren't ready yet so she left and basically didn't come back. She didn't bother to stop and ask what we wanted, she past by and we had to get her attention as she was walking. She just shakes her head and keeps trucking. So it was 1 whole hour before first beer arrived. Waitress Shelby forgot to ring it in. (Surprise) Not even a “Sorry for your wait” Then 1 whole hour before food arrived (not exaggerating). We stopped the waitress and asked about the food situation after about 45 min, she says while walking away and no eye contact "Theres nothing I can do about that". So 2 hours in my first impression of the joint is out the window. Food arrives, finally and once again the waitress is no where to be found. I got the chicken avocado wrap and the chipotle ranch should have a warning on it. I can handle hot but this made my lips swell. We told the waitress and she literally said, while holding a clip board over her mouth "Sorry" rolled her eyes and went to the next table. Not a "Can I offer you another glass of water?" or "Can I get you something else?" Just her over all demeanor made the experience worse. She clearly didn't want to be there. She didn't ask if everything was ok there was no checking in on the table she drops the checks off and bounced. I left Monkey Town Brewery hungry, dissatisfied and very uncomfortable. My guest and I felt very awkward sitting there for nearly 3 hours. My 40 minute trip from Chattanooga just to try this place out was a bust....