I wanted to get out for a few hours, and picked my favorite neighborhood in Memphis...Midtown. I've heard about this place from a couple of friends, and was informed that I wouldn't be disappointed. I would have rated this place as 5 star, but the cigarette smoke is quite unbearable at times. This is a cool spot to have drinks and food!! The food caught me by surprise....I truly underestimated the food since this place has a bar atmosphere. I ordered the grilled tilapia, twice baked potatoes, and the spinach. When I say I ate every bite, I truly cleaned my plate..lol. My go to drink is vodka and pineapple, and the bartender mixed it perfectly. I definitely see myself coming back in the near future. read more

The Blue Monkey - Pineapple and vodka - Bars Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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This is a fun place to come to from time to time, but sometimes it can get a little uncomfortably crowded, as in having to push through the crowd just to get to the bar or restroom. The food is okay. Nothing special, just okay. They have a decent beer selection, as well. Biggest complaint: the bathrooms. I'm not really a fan of walking into a bathroom that has no stalls around the toilets or urinals. It's a little too open air for me, especially considering that when you open the door, you're getting a side profile view of someone urinating. I'd rather go across the street to Kwik Chek and use their tiny (but private) bathroom. read more

Great pool tables, and usually a decent band, although sometimes there's a cover. Good beer selection, and the bartenders make excellent mixed drinks. Plenty of seating, and lots of wall ledges for standing around. Really nice stage area, and some of the most well kept pool tables in Memphis. The food is good too. The buffalo wing egg rolls are a heart attack waiting to happen, but they're so good, at least you'll die happy. read more

Only if you are from Tennessee can you get in here. My friend is 23 with a non expired Florida Id and is not let in. They scanned her ID, it still passed and yet they still wouldn't let her in. Don't waste your time here unless you are from Tennessee. Wish I could rate 0 read more

The drinks are strong. The music is good and the patrons are chill, but their pool is 10 freaking dollars per hour. Holy shit. I'm not paying over minimum wage just to borrow some balls. Sorry Blue Monkey read more

A great place for an afternoon or an evening. Full service bar & restaurant offering the best Caesar Salad in the city. Another personal favorite is the 'Cuban' pork sandwich. Gets loud on the weekends! (& Tuesdays) Mostly a younger, college age crowd. read more

Wonderful like always. Whenever I go there I feel love by the crew and the customers. It's like a family when I'm there. I will drive the extra mile to go there. read more

Luv the bar, the food, music, and food.. the highlight to my Friday night after a long week.. the waitresses and bartenders are excellent.. there is diffrent variety of people age race.. located in Mid town which I love.. I recommend a Irish Car Bar, appetezier try the Hot Wing Rolls, I luv the Memphis Blue Burger. .. read more

The Blue Monkey - Irish Car Bomb - Bars Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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Cool place with a lot of business. Great location and one of a kind gem you won't find in any other town.

Small bar located in midtown with pool tables in a separate room from the bar. A little pricey but overall a fun time. Servers are friendly but also responsible when it comes to not serving too much. read more

Just saw the waiter touch a persons food and lick his thumb... then had stacked dirty glasses in front of some guy getting a to go order.same guy mind you ... needless to say how disgusting (and rude) this was... will not be dining here again. Glad I was done. read more

The Blue Monkey has always been one of my favorite places to both party with friends and to dine. As a restaurant/bar, it serves high quality food that is just below the standards of four and five star restaurants, offering menu items ranging from modest appetizers like its homemade Monkey Chips to sandwiches and entrées such as its hand cut beef filet. Of course, most of the Monkey's regulars go there for the alcohol, and it has a full service bar that more than adequately meets their needs. However, I'm more of a foodie, so whenever I go there, I definitely get my grub on. The Blue Monkey has a lot of menu items that I can easily comment on, but I'll focus on three of my favorites: the Hot Wing Rolls, the Prime Rib and its "little brother," the Prime Rib Poboy sandwich. The Hot Wing Rolls are very unique in that it takes the best qualities of both the egg roll and hot wings, allowing a diner to get the taste of chicken and hot sauce without getting messy fingers. Whoever came up with this concept is a genius, for the Hot Wing Rolls, which come with celery and either Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing for dipping, work great as both an appetizer and a nice, light late night snack. As far as it being a late night snack, it is especially useful for those who are a little tried after being up most of the night, with the hot sauce providing the "jolt" needed reawaken the senses. The Prime Rib entrée and its poboy brother primarily consists of slow roasted prime beef that is cooked to order. In all the times that I had either one, my experience has been of the meat being well tenderized and seasoned with a good amount of fat, which I sometimes indulge in against my doctor's wishes. Accompanied with Tiger (a mixture of horseradish and mayonnaise) and au jus dipping sauces, the Prime Rib is by far The Blue Monkey's best dish. Depending on which version is ordered, the prime rib comes with either one side for the poboy, or a side and a salad for the entrée. When I get the entrée, I usually disregard the salad and get two sides, which are the Twice Baked Potato and creamed spinach. As far as Prime Rib is concerned, The Blue Monkey can hold its own with some of the better steakhouses in Memphis, including Texas de Brazil. Although no one can go wrong in ordering any sandwich or entrée on the Monkey's menu, the Prime Rib definitely stands out as its best item, in my opinion. In summary, The Blue Monkey serves some of finest food that a person can find in a restaurant/bar in Memphis, be it at it's original Midtown location which serves more of a working-class clientele or its Downtown restaurant that caters to the upper-class residents who live near the place. By the way, on Sundays both locations serve brunch, which is also great. In all, The Blue Monkey is fine dining establishment that I highly recommend. read more

Supposed to go here for a group dinner and upon walking in was immediately put off by the smoking inside. Not appropriate in this day and age for a dining establishment. Seedy place, not impressed. Smoky air just too uncomfortable and made me leave. Decided to leave the group and dine elsewhere. read more

I didn't get a chance to eat here because the atmosphere was too smokey. It was smoke free in the sunroom area but didn't sit there in fear of nobody noticing we were there. read more

The Monkey is the go-to music venue in the heart of Midtown now that Neil's has relocated out east. The crowd is diverse and the sound is great. You can shoot a game of pool and enjoy a good meal. The service is great. It is a smoking venue so be prepared for that. read more

Saturday, 3 PM, stopped by for a late lunch. I sat down, after five minutes the waitress asked me if I wanted a drink as she ran by. I was planning on eating a meal, so I said no but the waitress was off before I could ask for a menu. For the next 25 minutes I sat and waited as she went back-and-forth across the restaurant never coming back to my area. It became so humorous, I almost stayed and waited longer to see if I would ever get a menu, but I was hungry and ended up going to the Mexican restaurant next door. The Mexican restaurant was quite good, I recommend it, I will never go back to this place. What a bummer. read more

I went here with a couple colleagues while at a work conference. The food was delish: had one of the "crisps"- Santa Fe. Really good. Also the margaritas! Karaoke not great but definitely entertaining :) service was fast and on the spot with refill. A+! read more

I checked this out on karaoke night last week! And once again I was really excited by the level of service and the food ! It's a bar it has karaoke and yet I find I've enjoyed my time at this little establishment, all of my friends drink and smoke so they love not having to go outside to smoke. I hope u kids have a good time. read more

Great bartenders and waitresses always friendly patrons great drinks and food 1 of my regular stops try the pot roast on Mondays for lunch oh and the Sunday brunch to die for read more

Didn't expect the smoking, but overall a great place. Friendly staff, but you'll need to be assertive as they were busy when I went so it took a while to get served. Drink beer, shoot pool, listen to music, and enjoy the dive ambiance. Also, don't break the seal, the bathroom is pretty rank! read more

Of all the places in Midtown to chose, I always pick here. The service is always on point, Laquinta and Mitchell and my regular order of Blacken Chicken wrap and twice baked taters, shut up good!! That creamed spinach is off the chain! My boyfriend and I come in here once a week, and love it. I'm a local bartender, and sometimes super critical, but nothing to complain about here. Thanks guys! read more

The highlights: cheap beers and the best live bar music in Midtown (and the cheapest cover). The draft selection is pretty terrible with usually one decent choice (recently, it's Fat Tire) and the bottle selection isn't much better. The stage is small, but the bands are good. The cover runs around $3 when there's live music. The food is standard bar food with better-than-expected pizza. Nonsmoker's note: this is just as smoky as most midtown bars in Memphis, meaning that you'll be lucky to spend five minutes here without a cigarette in your face. read more

This is an eclectic place. Old style bar and food. Most awesome fish and chips. I recommend anything on the menu. everything looked great going by that's for sure. read more

This place was pretty cool.. they have billiard tables but they are a pricy $10 an hour to rent. Not too cheap for Memphis! The live music was great and there wasn't a cover which was nice. The atmosphere was like your typical dive bar.. wooden tables, dirty floors the works. The smoke was a bit of a turn off but the quality of music makes it worth it. read more

This is not a place I would ever choose to go. It was the starting point for a social event I attended, and that will be my one and only visit. For starters, you walk in and are immediately overcome with the amount of cigarette smoke. It seriously was overwhelming and I could barely breathe. We ventured outside to the very small, dirty patio, just so we could get some air. Although we only ordered cocktails, and no food, some in our group did. It appeared that their burgers, fries, and nachos were standard pub fare; nothing special, and extra greasy. To add insult to injury, the service was not very friendly. Adequate wait time, but not a smile in the whole joint! Felt like a dismal sad place for loners to go. read more

My apple crown and cranberry was great! And the hot wing rolls were on point! I had a good time. The band was jamming and the atmosphere was quite enjoyable. Only bad side was that it was very smokey. read more

I usually have a really good time here. However tonight i sat at a table and the service was just horrible. I know it's Valentine's Day but really there were maybe 6 tables full, everyone else was at the bar. I'm just confused because I haven't seen our waitress in at least 25 minutes. It's unfortunate because I really love this bar, but the waiters need to get it together. read more

Not happy with the manager who worked Dec 7th at all. He was being very rude and cursed at some of the people in my party. He was over the top with his comments towards the group. Will never give business to this bar again. read more

A blast from my past ! I used to tend bar at Trader Dick's, so nostalgia brought me in. The good service and food will bring me back !

Typical bar scene but I do love the location. Great little spot to grab a quick drink before indulging in one of the fabulous restaurants nearby. Service was pretty slow but when in good company it's not so bad. read more

I really like the blue monkey. It a true memphis original. The food is great when you need a bite to eat and the atmosphere is fun when you need a drink to unwind. read more

Cool bar, we went for karaoke on Thursday night.. I tried the portobello mushroom burger with french fries.. it really good. Our waitress was awesome! read more

This is my bar. Ardent Studios is two doors down and it's where we go after a long day in the studio. Food is always consistently good, and late night options as well. The best thing in the world is the pot roast grilled cheese sandwich available only on Tuesdays for lunch. read more

I'm usually a patient guy, but we didn't get drinks after we waited about 15 minutes. Waitress apologized about the bartenders switching shifts. My thoughts would be either she was BSing us or they need to come up with a better system to switch tabs at the bar. I have been here once before and the service was better, hence the 2 stars instead of 1. read more

Service is excellent and food is actually well above bar food status. Usually I'm fairly disappointed with bar food. Blue Monkey serves excellent American cuisine and there are multiple menu items in different price ranges. My fiancé loves the Cuban sandwich (Havana) and I'm a big fan of their salads, country fried steak, and herb encrusted shrimp. read more

Came out to see the Brad Birkedahl band and found a great bar in midtown Memphis. The atmosphere was fun, the staff was great, and of course the band rocked. Will go back again. read more

This place is Horrible. My first time going and I was excited to try the buffalo chicken rolls. After ordering my entree I was not so pleased with my meal. My food was very bland so I ask for something else not to send it back. The what was supposed to be the owner was very rude. He had no hospitality and told me that I ordered it so I had to pay for it. It was not in my intentions to get anything for free. I was wanting to see the menu to order something else but instead the racist owner argued back and forth with me about something I ordered and never not once asked me if I wanted something else. He then told me me not to come back since I don't like their food. I would not recommend this place for any outing. The owner/ manager is very rude and races. I've never experienced racism until I came to The Blue Monkey. I'm very dissatisfied. read more

A really fabulous "dive"! Dark interior, even when it is sunny outside. A great bar with fabulous bartenders, and if you are lucky enough to meet server Jess, you will have an especially good time. Jess is attentive and makes you feel right at home. The food is good to really great, and you can smoke here! read more

First off I LOVE the blue monkey and have for years which includes their wait staff, music, karaoke, and food (dinner food). I tried their brunch for the first time today and it was a huge let down, even more so for the price. I ordered a Greek omelet but they were out of feta so I changed my order to a breakfast sandwich deal that includes one biscuit cut open with a poached egg on each half and American cheese on top with a side of roasted potatoes. I am a chef myself and been in the food industry for 15 years and here is what I experienced. Clearly none of the food was fresh, no steam coming from the food and everything was barely warm. Biscuit tasted like a frozen one, poached egg was OK but not hot. The American cheese appeared to be slapped on their and barely microwaved which means it was barely melted. What makes this issue worse is they were not busy as ALL. I was starving so I ate it but it was hard to get the last few bites down because of the texture of that cheese. My girlfriend got an omelet that also had no steam, wasn't hot, and the cheese inside was not melted inside either. The french fries and ranch were great as always. I had a glass of o.j. but my girlfriend has a mimosa that came in the oddest presentation over ever seen a mimosa. It was in a soda glass over lots if ice and didn't taste great either. The waitress was very nice as always and offered great service. But the food.... Def not coming here for brunch again, but dinner I shall!! read more

As a relative newcomer to Midtown (and loving it), I figured I'd make a rare foray out from Next Door/Beauty Shop/Bari/Local and give this standard a try. Decent bar, decent pool tables, standard selection of draft beers . . . and a lot of smoke. I didn't try the food, but a local brew was cold and inexpensive, and the server was polite. This place might work for an occasional beer and some football, but I think the smoke will keep me away. After years in a state that outlawed smoking in bars, it was quite a surprise to face the clouds. read more