Blue Monkey Tavern — Restaurant in Merchantville

A friend and I visited the Blue Monkey Tavern because it had great ratings online.

However, my experience did not match what I read. The experience first started with walking in and seeing the people at the host stand look at each other and then us as if maybe we're not the clientele they're used to serving. It seems to have regulars, so there were a few reasons they could have looked at us that way, but it was an uncomfortable.moment, and we should have left then. We decided that maybe we were just misreading them, so we decided to try it anyway.

It had some great beer choices, an interesting menu, and outdoor seating, so it seemed like it could be a fun place to go. I wish I could say that the experience got better but unfortunately, there was a major issue with my food. When I reported it to the server, not only did she not seem surprised, and handled it as if it was no big deal. The worst part is that she said she reported it to the manager, who didn't bother to come out and address me in person or apologize. They casually asked if I wanted to order something else or get the same thing. Because I didn't want to ruin the experience for the other party who was with me, I didn't make a fuss, and requested a replacement. When the bill came, it was not accompanied by the itemized bill, but I could still tell by the total that the problem item had not been removed from the bill. When I called the server over to ask about it, she knew right away that it had not been removed and then went back to get the bill fixed. When she brought out the updated bill, it wasn't a regular register receipt and it did come with the itemized bill this time, except there wasn't a place to add a tip or sign it to authorize the credit card payment. I asked the server about that because I always tip, and she said that the manager said it can just be written on.

I won't name the exact issue with the meal, but I will say that how the issue was handled, along with the attitude towards the issue and us as new customers, the visit was really disappointing, and I won't be going back.

It's too bad that such a popular place has that atmosphere because it has a great location and there aren't a lot of places to go in this area that aren't a franchise, or chain establishments that are warm and...

I've been here four times over the past two or three years and have always felt lukewarm to the restaurant because I felt the prices for food were slightly too high, while the beer prices felt slightly higher than average as well. Not egregiously so, but enough to put it lower on my list of places I want to visit than others in the area. My most recent visit has me considering never coming here again though.

My girlfriend and I were celebrating my birthday and knew we would be drinking a lot so we were using Uber and Lyft to get around. We arrived and ordered dinner, which was pretty great by the way, I enjoyed the duck sandwich, and some beers. The beer I ordered was on the higher ABV side, 15%+, but they are small portions - rightfully so.

Since we were using a cab service we immediately went to the high ABV beers and planned to work our way through the good list. Between sitting and eating the duck sandwich I had two 6 oz pours of the high ABV beer before the waitress essentially told me that she couldn't serve me anymore.

Now first things first, I get having to make sure you're not overserving, but this was two small portions of a high ABV beer in about an hour, with us having dinner in between. We weren't being loud, except when Stefon Diggs made the miracle catch (everyone at the bar was astonished as well), and neither one of us were feeling buzzed in any way.

I told the waitress that I could show her our Lyft receipt on the phone, but we were told we couldn't be served anymore. Well, no problem, we finished our dinner and drinks and took a Lyft elsewhere. We would have easily have spent $100 there, but instead walked out spending ~$55 or so and won't likely be coming back.

Again, I get that they have to worry about overserving, but we hadn't even begun to get to a point of being overserved, we ate dinner, and had proof of using a...

This is one of my favorite places for food. I'm always seated in a comfy booth of my choice when it's not crowded (I try to go early, around 4 p.m., for dinner). Seating and service are always efficient and friendly. The potato-leek soup one night was phenomenal, brought to my table steaming hot in a metal tureen and poured into a shallow bowl by one of the staff -- not my waitress; I don't know who he was! Confusing but classy! The soup was loaded with big chunks of potatoes and lots of leeks. The veggie panini was outstanding. So many chefs these days carelessly burn the toast, but this panini had been toasted to just the right shade of golden brown and was nice and hot. The chef obligingly left out the zucchini as I requested (I can't stand the stuff), and the panini was stuffed to the gills with fresh sauteed baby kale, a huge, sauteed portabella mushroom, roasted red pepper, and sharp provolone cheese. So delicious! I went fancier for another recent dinner and ordered the scallops with sauteed spinach and a ridiculously tasty garlic-cilantro sauce served separately so I could pour it onto the scallops myself. Another classy touch! This scallop dish usually comes with mashed potatoes, but I'm probably the only person on Earth who dislikes mashed potatoes, so the chef substituted, at my request, some nicely seasoned bulgar wheat that I really enjoyed. This is a fine restaurant in a tavern setting. A fun atmosphere and the food I've tried has been...