Cafe D'Mongos Speakeasy — Restaurant in Detroit

Unfortunately, I didn't spend enough time here, but I'm really looking forward to returning. I've spent many times Downtown on a Saturday afternoon but have failed to get in here because they don't open until 7pm. That's my biggest complaint. Literally sat at Queens Bar down the street the last time and watched the clock until it was finally time for this place to open.

This is what I'd call an eclectic dive bar and it has a rather strange lay out. Lots of strange knickknacks hang and sit all over this place. There's a double bass that's hanging above you on the ceiling (look at my pics). You could spend hours just looking around at everything. It's divided into two sections with the bar on one side and tables on the other. I sat at the bar side but took a peek at the other one and there was live music playing which was cool (didn't have enough time to enjoy it though).

The 1/2 hour that I was there saw a rush of people come in as soon as they opened and I can only assume this can make for a lively night if you so chose to spend some quality time there. It just has the kind of atmosphere that demands you to have a good time.

Not sure what their beer menu is like but I assume it's rather small. They have a signature drink which is Captain Morgan and Faygo Rock & Rye. It's quite tasty. The bartender stated that she filled it about 3/4 of Captain's and 1/4 pop but I'm not so sure about that. It was not very strong. Not weak, mind you, but not what I was expecting by what she said. The only food they serve is a grilled cheese sandwich. Which I wish I had tried but we had already ate. Too bad because you could smell it walking toward the bathroom and it did smell good!

Speaking of bathroom...smallest one ever - I think. A very thin wall separates the men's room from the kitchen/back room and you can hear the conversations that are going on back there. As this is a dive bar, it of course has writing on the walls. Not a complaint really.

Looking forward to returning and spending at least a few hours there. Atmosphere is key with me and this place has it to spare! Just open a few hours...

Well, I was very excited to go to this place last night after all the good reviews and thinking it was a local Speak Easy. Downtown was busy, Friday night at 9p, Red Wings game, mild weather, lots of people Downtown, tough to find parking. Got to the bar, hostess asked how many (2). She said there were no tables for 2, but we could get a drink and walk around until we get a table but she didn't take my name. Live band was playing, sounded great. Place was very busy, not packed, not full. Waited at the bar for 10 mins to get us drinks. The (2) bartenders were too busy making drinks for the bar and the tables to even acknowledge us. The other thing I noticed right away, the place stunk like burning grease/butter, maybe from the grilled cheese sandwiches that I heard they serve, but it stunk badly. I walked around and on the other side of the bar, I found Four empty (4) person tables. I asked the hostess why there are 4 empty tables and why can't we sit at one. She said that they can't seat only (2) people at those tables. Ok, I have a huge problem with that, there were NO (4) person groups waiting to be seated. There were several (2) person groups that were standing around. Why not utilize the tables and either seat two (2) person groups if they ask us, or just seat US or someone else rather than leave them sit empty while people are waiting to sit and get waited on? I will NOT be going back. So we left and went to The Sugar House and had a great time, way better and awesome staff. And, If you want to go to a true Speak Easy, go to The Relief and...

TLDR: Don't go here if you're the DD or sober person in your friend group.

We came in with a group of 6 people total. The bartender (older lady) approached us and I asked if they served food and she ignored me of tell me about her "spiel " : because they don't charge a cover fee, they have a minimum of a 2 drink order per person that you have to buy upfront. The other 5 people in our group all ordered 2-4 drinks each plus 3 shots. I told her I'm sober and she acted like she's never heard that some people don't drink lol and then I had to repeat myself 2 more times that I don't drink alcohol. She said I still have to purchase 2 drinks (lemonade or pop). I told her I only drink water. She said she has to charge me for water which is fine I understand that business supplies cost money. But she ended up charging me $12 total for 2 cups of tap water in red solo cups. If it was bottled water or even $1-2 per cup of water fine I understand but $6 each is ridiculous. She also never told me it would cost that much. We also brought this to the owners attention and he said yes this is their policy. Every other bar in Detroit/surrounding areas have free water. We won't be back.

We did not tip on our receipt because the waitress was rude and tipping is for good service ONLY. Our receipt total was $26.46 and we checked our account today on 4/29/24 and they actually charged us $34.46 so they charged an unauthorized amount. We are disputing with our credit card company. Definitely...