The Monkey Bar & Grille — Restaurant in Hamilton Township

My girlfriend and I visited MBG over Labor Day weekend and it was the single worst experience I have had at any establishment.

This is all going to sound melodramatic but it was worse than I can articulate here.

At approximately 6PM, I went upstairs to order LaRosa's due to the volume of the band playing on the patio. As I stood in the upper bar area (with my mask on) I noticed the bartender was not wearing his and another employee had theirs pulled down. The LaRosa's order taker on the other end of the phone had a hard time hearing, so I pulled my mask off for a minute to confirm my order.

As I was getting my credit card out, the bartender said "put your mask back on, sir". I started to put my mask on and the call dropped. Of course, I was a little frustrated, so I expressed my frustration to the bartender but never once used an explicative or acted aggressively in any manner. A male server, with dark hair and thin build, spoke to me in an extremely condescending manner. I immediately removed myself from the situation and returned to my table on the patio.

Move forward about an hour...

While waiting with my girlfriend in line for the bathroom, I noticed several MBG employees and a manager without masks on, or with their masks pulled down near customers. I walked over and commented to the bartender, "So, you mask shame me but you and your staff are not wearing their masks? The bartender and the manager became very contentious, so I turned around and started to leave, and as I was leaving, the male server I mentioned earlier, intentionally went out of his way to bump into me very hard and startled me.

It gets worse...

After basically being physically assaulted by an employee, I did not retaliate, nor did I say another word to the gentlemen. But, instead, went back to my table and told my friends what had just happened. My girlfriend witnessed the entire ordeal and was appalled. This was her first visit to MBG and probably her last.

After about 10-15 minutes, I noticed the gentlemen who ran into me upstairs was standing on the balcony and giving me threatening looks. The next thing that happened was perplexing to everyone in my group.

The manager on duty came to our table with the police officer and asked us to leave. I asked to speak with the manager and she indicated that SHE was the manager. She made blatantly false claims, including, "You are being aggressive and you were also aggressive towards me" (although, I never said anything to her), and "You flipped off my server". I asked her what her definition of aggressive was and she had no answer. She just kept repeating herself. I replied, "I am a paying customer and your staff was aggressive and condescending to me!" I also informed her that the server intentionally made contact with me and she said "Well, I don't believe that and I can just pull the video". I replied, "Go ahead". Even after my girlfriend said she witnessed everything, she said you need to leave now and would not listen to logic.

The worst part of this entire evening was being escorted out by a police officer and the staff laughing at my group of friends. This was humiliating and demeaning. None of us have been kicked out of any place before. To make matters even worse, there were 2 business associates of mine in the crowd.

I wrote an email to the owner and simply asked for an apology. He never even responded to my email or phone call. This is a poorly ran business with twenty-something managers who are clueless.

New Update

The Monkey Bar & Grille's response below is just completely false. I have plenty of witnesses who saw what happened. They're citing COVID policy as an excuse for treating customers poorly? How about returning my phone call or email? This is a total cop out. Bad,...

The Monkey Bar & Grille sits in a stunning location, tucked along the Little Miami River, surrounded by sloping hills and dense trees, with the bike trail just steps away. The patio, complete with fire pits and live music, is perfect for summer nights . It’s a beautiful setting, and the owner clearly knows it. You’re paying for the view as much as anything else.

Food wise, they deliver. Portions are generous, think giant pretzel sticks and spicy Monkey Balls, and the pizza and bar, grill fare get solid marks for flavor . Many folks say it’s “great for the price,” especially when you add in the fun atmosphere and dog‑friendly vibe .

Where the experience falters is service. The waitstaff—mostly teens—are anchored to their iPads, tapping away on orders while barely acknowledging guests. Conversations feel like interruptions to their screen time. The tech clearly distracts more than it helps, turning service into a cold, impersonal process without those thoughtful, human touches. With no incentive to engage, the service can feel robotic,disengaged and all together lacking. Ordering took forever because the wait staff is inattentive. The orders came out SLOW and most annoying, everything was wroung, as if they brought the wroung food to the table. Good thing the music and scenery made the wait bearable.

In short: The Monkey Bar offers a top-tier setting with hearty, tasty food and a lively scene. But the atmosphere can’t fully compensate for service that feels like clicking through a menu, without really showing up. It almost seems like there is something holding the staff back.

The view and food are memorable; the service,...

This was a truly unique find while cruising around. To start with, the monkey theme permeates everything here, from a hanging light to menu items. Tastefully, but humourously done. We opted to sit outside this evening... Comfortable seating, beautiful view of the river, very relaxing atmosphere in which to dine. Adding to this was live entertainment, which this night consisted of an acoustic guitarist and his brother on bass, who were very personable and engaged the audience well. Taking a look at the menu was fun..... How can you not like a monkey themed place that has Spicy Monkey Balls as an appetizer 😂........ Spoiler alert, they are very good and just the right amount of spicy to enjoy. Lisa and I opted to share a pizza (deluxe with meat) and Lisa had a salad as well. The monkey balls and salad came out first.... Both were excellent. Then after a small wait, the pizza came out.... And worth the wait with very tasty sauce, a good mix of ingredients that was (or seemed to be) tasted right in every bite. The crust was very good as well - just enough firmness to hold up but not so much as to overpower the pizza.... Again, just right all around. The price was moderate but worth it. The service was friendly and attentive as well. Overall, The Monkey Bar & Grille is a great place to drop on in, whether for a quick bite or for a decent meal and drinks, as well as to relax, mellow out by the river, and just enjoy this place where time slows down just enough to make any day...