The Flying Monkey Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Newington

Our particular experience here was perhaps a bit more unique than most visitors walking through the door. So when we came in apparently it was some sort of music night. They had asked us if we want to be part of the music section, kind of making it out to be some sort of an event of sorts. We said sure, so they set us in the room with the live band. Then after bringing water to the table they told us that to sit in this section we needed to be getting at least one entree and two appetizers. Mind you we were with our two daughters, 2 and 10. That's exactly what we were going to get so we said that's fine but we said that we also don't mind sitting in the other room if they would like to move us for convenience cuz we didn't really have any preference one way or the other. They ended up bringing out our food and as that was happening they came back to the table asking what else we are getting and we said that's it for now. But then they were telling us that we didn't get enough food. So apparently they were claiming that we needed to get two appetizers per person which was not at all the amount of food we were trying to eat. There was a small back and forth about the misunderstanding but in the end they were insisting that we needed to get more food or move to another table . We again mentioned it to them that throughout this process we were always okay with just moving to another table and they ended up even calling out more managers who came to our table and telling us that they're going to charge us extra on the card as if we were trying to give them a problem or something along those lines. It was very odd and uncomfortable for us to be honest. In the end they moved us to another section and we ate our meal there.

It was a very uncomfortable experience from there on out because we felt like they were pushing us around more than necessary and I felt that the fact that we had a baby with us was more than enough reason for them to just kind of say that it's not a big deal and we can just stay where we were sitting instead of going thru all of this.

All this being said, the food was absolutely fantastic. We got the wings which were some of the best in the area and the mac and cheese was fantastic as well!

In conclusion, you will definitely be very pleased with the food, it's fantastic! And of course we don't anticipate a bad experience for most patrons. However, do keep in mind that they seem to be not very flexible when it comes to their set of rules, which isn't necessarily pleasant when you have to deal with that in the moment. And also please keep in mind that they do have a strict minimum when sitting in the music section,...

1st time here - always wanted to try! The prices are pretty steep for the location & the offerings. I so wanted to try the pettine risotto, but $34 is nuts for rice!! Started at the bar with a Yuengling & a Naughty Flight Attendant, which was a little coconut rum forward, but still very good. Didn't taste boozy, which can be dangerous, lol. The bartender was just average. She chatted more with the servers than us. We moved to a table got a couple of beers & ordered the fried brussel sprouts, sliced ahi tuna & stuffed mushrooms apps - forgot to take pics of them as we were super hungry - oops! Brussels went perfectly with the bourbon glaze & dipping sauce (not sure what it was, but it was yummy). They were cooked perfectly & the portion size was pretty good for 3 ppl. The ahi tuna was tasty & the spicy honey sauce that came with it made it even better. Stuffed mushrooms were delicious with a mild fennel sausage flavor in a light butter wine sauce. Moved onto entrees: grilled chicken sandwich, monkey burger, southern mac-n-cheese special & the round-trip steak wrap. Everything came out hot & was excellent. Mac-n-cheese was super creamy, made with campanella pasta, which was a perfect vessel for the yummy cheese sauce & pulled pork to cling to. Definitely a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs meal. The monkey burger was cooked exactly as requested and super flavorful. Steak wrap was very good. Meat was tender. Meat was the star of the entree; however, it was supposed to be spicy, but didn't taste very spicy at all. Grilled chicken sandwich was also delicious & moist. The aioli that came with it was fantastic...best we've had. The fries were shoestring style, which aren't my favorite, but they were still cooked well, but lacked salt. Ended with a peanut butter whiskey dessert drink & a creme brulee, which was slightly warm, super creamy, but a little loose in texture. Brulee was just right with no burnt taste. PB drink wasn't what we accepted. Thought it would be more of a milkshake thickness. You definitely can taste the PB flavor & tasted a bit boozy/strong. Our server, Danielle, was attentive & very pleasant. Didn't feel rushed at all, even when it started getting busy. The bathrooms were kind of dark & smelled like oranges, which was a nice surprise. Not counting the 2 drinks at the bar, our total bill, for 4ppl was $215 + tip. Remember...that was for LUNCH! We will absolutely go back, just not running back soon...our wallet...

Working in the food industry in an award winning gourmet restaurant and wedding catering business I was utterly disappointed with my experience at the Flying Monkey. Our waitress was the best thing about our experience. The food has no seasoning, is cooked too long making rough and tasteless. However we did eat our appetizer:The cheese burger egg roll. However we got the wrong one delivered to us:The stake and cheese. We decided to just roll with it and accept it. It was soaked with oil and would fill your mouth with it as soon as you took a bite. We then asked the waitress what two of their best dishes were in “HOPE” that the entrees would provide us with a better experience. The food came to us, the presentation was decent so we were optimistic. We started to try our dishes, both looked up at each other with the same defeated face. Our entrees were atrocious and dissatisfying to say it kindly. We tried a few bites to try to give it a chance, but we just couldn’t eat it in good conscience. For the first time in our lives we sent a meal back. We also never received our 2nd drinks we ordered. Our waitress comes back and we tried to explain that the food just really wasn’t for us but that we had no problem paying for our 1st drinks(since we never received our 2nd and they were non-alcoholic at that) and appetizer since we finished it. The manager then came by and wasn’t very kind. She stated, “Well we tasted everything and it was fine so I really don’t know what you’re expecting me to do for you.” I watched my partner only have, I kid you not 2 1/2 BITES OF HIS MEAL! I had 3 bites of my chicken cutlet and he tried it as well. So because of that she refused to refund us at all. Directly after this a tall man carrying a to go package walked up to our table and dropped it on our table, didn’t place it down literally just dropped it and proceeded to walk away after saying, “HERE YA GO!”. Confused we looked in the bag and found out it was something that didn’t even belong to us. We then had to try to rally an associate to find the owner of the to go package. Overall, it was a perfect way to ruin a date night and honestly wouldn’t recommend anyone to go to this place if you are trying to have a quality experience. We wound up being forced to pay $75 dollars for this terrible time. I hope our server finds a better place to work because she was the only decent part of that...