The Hoppy Monk — Restaurant in El Paso

The atmosphere was great. Service... not so much.

I recently moved here and am looking for establishments to spend my free time. I was excited to try The Hoppy Monk. I walked in and sat at the bar and noticed the impressive selection of brews and liquors, so I asked the bartender for his recommendation on something to drink.

"Uhhh... IPAs?" was his response and he went back to cleaning. No house favorites, or explanations of featured drinks. Now, I've been working in the service industry for nearly fifteen years, and I know that recommendations and upselling goes a LONG way. If I've never been to an establishment, I always ask for a recommendation and will typically take it.

So, when I placed my drink and food order, I asked for the Pineapple Ahumada (SP)? and the Blue Fox Burger. He didn't acknowledge the order, so I double-checked to see if he understood what drink I was ordering because I BUTCHERED the pronunciation.

I asked for a taster of the Melted Cookie Dough brew. He started to ring it in and then seemed irritated when I asked if there was a charge for it. (Some places charge, some don't, I get that) I cancelled the taster order because of his attitude, but I would have been more inclined to follow through if he had been forthcoming or gone into detail about charges.

My drink was delicious, however, an order of empanadas came out during my meal... because he said he thought I asked for empanadas when I was asking for the drink order, which is why I double checked because he didn't repeat the order back to me.

Nonetheless, I told him that I wasn't going to eat it, which prompted a swift removal of the empanadas and an irritated sigh. I felt super un-welcomed and I was ready to leave after that. He also seemed to be frustrated with the other patrons closing out/ordering at the bar.

Although there was minimal concerns for checking back, the burger had great flavor, the aioli was superb, and the presentation was gorgeous.

I think next time, I'll just sit somewhere else, or come back during the day. I get we wanna go home when it's later in the evening, but it was nearly two hours before close when I showed up, and not busy at all.

Props the other bartender/bar back for having an endearing personality and checking back on me. That's why I'm leaving two starts...

My husband and I went there for their Oktoberfest event and it was just disappointing. It started out great where we stayed outside for the first half of our visit listening to music, playing bean bag toss, and dancing a little. My husband decided to get the giant mug filled with an IPA and it was filled to the brim and he was quite happy with the size of that thing! We later decided to go inside and order food where my husband ordered the bratwurst burger and I just got the bratwurst hotdog with a separate order of fries. This is where it got disappointing! We understand they were busy and we don't mind that as we have been in the restaurant industry for a long time but when your menu clearly states that a $13 burger comes with fries then you need to honor that! Don't allow your employees to mislead your guests into ordering such an entree of that price if the fries do not come with it. When my husband went to pick up our food at the window he asked where the other fries were but was told "Your burger doesn't come with fries- fries are separate." But it was printed on the menu! I have actually worked at a burger place where the sides were a la carte but it was best to inform your guests PLUS our menus weren't printed with the sides listed. Then my husband decided to get me a beer from inside since we were already seated and got me the Oktoberfest boot. So the bartender brings him the poured beer and told him "You can get the boot, but I can't fill it up." So I got my $16 boot half filled! What kind of nonsense it that?! What's the difference between ordering inside vs outside? If you are only designating specific beer for those two souvenirs, then you need to ONLY pour those beers. Again, don't allow your employees to mislead your guests! My husband was sweet enough to get me the boot because it was a souvenir but let me know, "We're never coming back." And I agree! This was our first time visiting and we'll...

We have been to Hoppy Monk three times. The first two times we went, everything was great. Both the food and the service. This time, our waitress was working her first ever shift on a Friday night, which makes no sense. We asked her which cocktails were part of the happy hour and she said she didn’t know. I asked her to find out. She came back and said only certain beers and wine. I told her that was strange since last week there were four cocktails available during happy hour. She just shrugged. So I thought they must’ve changed things. Later in the evening, one of the bartenders was talking to the table next to us and listing the cocktails available during happy hour. If I hadn’t heard him say that, I would’ve paid full price for the Margarita I ordered instead of the happy hour price. She spent most of the evening chitchatting with the other waitresses and bartenders. She rarely checked on us. She didn’t put in our order of sweet potato fries - brought regular fries instead. When we told her, she acted like it was our fault. Never apologized. She Didn’t provide straws or silverware until we asked for them. Took forever to provide refills of iced tea. And overall, she was completely aloof and disinterested. She went home before our meal had ended, so we had no idea that she was no longer our waitress. Nobody came to check on us, so I asked where our waitress went. One of the bartenders said he took her place. I told him we were ready for the bill. Not sure if anyone would have come if we hadn’t gone to the bar to ask about our waitress. Lastly, we have never been to a restaurant where iced tea refills were not free. so we were shocked when we received the bill. They really ought to let you know when you order iced tea. I hope they make some changes, including properly training...