Brass Monkey — Restaurant in New York

This happened a couple weeks back but thought I’d share my experience at this place. What a bizarre experience. We had a company outing at Brass Monkey, and I had 2 drinks. After starting to feel slight discomfort in the stomach, my friend and I went to the bathroom. A lady bartender with wavy, blonde hair felt the need (???) to follow us into the bathroom to stand there and peak under the stall (!!!) to see what was happening. When she saw me feeling sick, she immediately said that I had to leave if I was feeling sick, to which my friend responded that I was feeling discomfort from earlier (not from intoxication) and needed to relieve my stomach. The only thing she said was “you need to go” and went to grab SECURITY GUARDS to escort us out. After having 2 drinks and simply feeling sick inside a stall (i.e. private space where you have the right to simple privacy to do whatever you need to do), the security guards met us at the door of the bathroom and told us they would call the cops unless we left. So we told them to do it because it was completely unreasonable- feeling nauseous on a FRIDAY evening is apparently not something they can handle as a business. I explained to them the circumstances, to which Eric, their security guard, said, WORD FOR WORD, “I dont care if you’re bulimic, if you’re throwing up it’s a bad look for the restaurant- you need to go.” I tried to reason, explaining that I have friends who have struggled, and it’s not at all okay to say. Eric could not even make eye contact with me, and instead decided to express his annoyance with a “talking hand” motion, completely disregarding that what he said is extremely harmful. I would understand this reaction if my behavior was disruptive, inappropriate, rowdy or whatever else. I was absolutely fine, calm and respectful, trying to have a reasonable conversation with staff that did not want to listen. All in all, I realize that restaurants, as private businesses, have the right to refuse service. HOWEVER, the way this was handled, the condescending comments Eric made in regard to our age (alluding to the fact that I “can’t handle my alcohol”), the talking hand motion, and all the snarky remarks (like “the sooner you leave, the faster we’ll forget your face, so maybe we will let you in next time”) made our time at Brass Monkey absolutely traumatic. We seriously couldn’t fathom that feeling sick in a PRIVATE BATHROOM could ever result in this. Shame on the security guards and the management for not having the proper manners and experience to handle this correctly and respectfully. As a suggestion to the actual business owners, maybe invest in a proper training program? Finally: Eric, just so you know, karma will get...

My first one star review. :/

EDIT: reading the other 1 star reviews here, this place seems to have issues with harassment, racism, sexism, bullying, and poor management. stay away My overpriced drink pales in comparison. Glad I got out with only a damaged wallet.

Walked here from the Whitney and stopped in drawn by the lure of a rooftop (alas, it was closed due to rain). The bartender was friendly and took our drink order. I asked for Whiskey Highball, with Suntory Toki, and had to explain to the bartender how to make it. Not a big deal. What was a big deal was being charged $30 for a seltzer + suntory's cheapest blended whiskey (cocktails are $14 here, that was my expectation). I asked if it was a mistake but the bartender said her manager said that was the price. I was going to chalk it up to bad luck, but asked to speak to her manager. She ended up being very rude, insisting that $20 for a pour of Toki is standard because NYC is expensive (clearly, but this was talking down to a non-local speak). So I was charged $10 for the seltzer then? The explanation doesnt' hold water either. $14 is what for instance, the Oyster Bar in Penn station charges for a suntory whiskey highball. There were a few confounding factors that made that $30 sting extra.

1. I had to help the bartender make the drink
2. The bottle ran out, so it wasn't a full 1.5oz pour
3. No highball glasses at the bar
4. Treating a customer like an idiot for questioning a $30 well cocktail
5. Explaining (falsely) that Toki is a $20. An entire bottle is $45. Including any exorbitant NYC business fees and the like, that at maximum makes it $60. So I paid for 1/2 the bottle with one cocktail. That's simply not right. 1/4 is about the standard rate.
6. If it was $20 total, a bit outrageous but chalk it up to NYC, but then I was charged $10 for the seltzer in the rock glass?

TL:DR. Skip this place if you want anything besides (what smelled like) very tasty food and a decent beer selection.

Visit Amor y Amargo instead for amazing funky cocktails, at the usual $14 NYC...

I liked everything about this place but people need to stop praising the food. Its regular bar food that tasted like McDonald's. The buffalo sauce tastes like chemicals but I dont blame brass monkey because thats how they buy it.

I had cooks who know how to fix the sauce and make it their own with a few simple ingredients already found in every kitchen.

Anyways everything else is great. The food is definitely good if youre five margaritas deep or havent ate in more than 16hrs. I had the cheeseburger and it was cheesy and fresh. Lettuce and tomato would of put it in another level. Anyways yea just regular bar food. Im pretty sure this bar is only known for their atmosphere and drinks not their food so consider this a five star review.

I just dont like that I was mislead from other reviews bout the food but thats not brass monkeys fault so im shining the light on a true unbiased opinion.

Their drinks, she had two watermelon slushies and I dont think they were strong or balanced instead were light but that's expected from bars in this area. A slushy and a shot would do the trick to make this 15$ drink worth it but then it would probably turn into a 23$ drink

The brass monkey light beer is really good. I really liked that beer. If you like modelo, corona or budlight you will like this beer alot and Im certainly coming back for it.

I didnt stay long enough for the dj but being a big bar with a strong reputation I didnt expect them to be on a budget for djs. Covid did hurt many businesses so thats a whatever point, I just noticed that but thats just me. I also noticed that long time employees havent moved up. Theres a guy with 7+ yrs doing the samething on the floor which makes me wonder if the mgmt is biased, I just feel bad for them.

Anyways Brass monkey will be a good option to impress anyone from out of town, other nyers will understand my review after...