So it has been some years since we ate at Monkey Cat. We decided to choose this restaurant for our anniversary. We picked Thursday vs Friday or Saturday which was a great call - easy to get in. We started w some NA cocktails. The NA gin and tonic was missing the juniper intensity so that was a whiff. However my wife had the lemonade w strawberry boba and she was blown away! Strong recommend.... Mom came with and both Mom and my wife had the steak frites w garlic fries....The filets were a perfect medium rare and the chimichurri was nicely done. The lobster risotto turned out to become a scallop risotto which I was fine with. The sear on the scallops was perfect and the risotto had a nice nutty flavor to it - very rich and very good. The staff wrote us a very nice note and we are now on the hunt for boba pearls tomorrow....MC we will see you again soon! read more

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I ordered a 14 ounce ribeye steak rare it was 3/8 inch thick and cut into strips half the steak was med rare and the other half well done. It was very tough. Waitress returned it. Second one came Out prepared so rare that fat was not rendered at all it was thin and the sides were different! Raw half cooked Mushrooms, broccolini and no fingerling potatoes (they were supposed to be there... not broccolini) My server (Amy) did a wonderful job! read more

We stopped by Monkey Cat during our trip to Auburn, and I'm so glad we did! The food and drinks were fantastic, but my absolute favorite was the cauliflower steak. It's not always easy to find vegetarian options that are truly flavorful and satisfying, and this one was incredible. The service made the experience even better. Our kids happened to be having a bit of a tantrum, but the staff was so patient, kind, and understanding, which we really appreciated as parents. And don't skip dessert--it was the perfect ending to a wonderful meal! If you're visiting Auburn (or even just passing through), I definitely recommend adding Monkey Cat to your list. We'll absolutely be back! read more

We walked from the Holiday Inn Auburn to The Monkey Cat, 805 Lincoln Way. I suggest making reservations because it gets busy. Right away you can tell this is a popular place with the local creative. Its got a great funky chic vibe. The staff is attentive and friendly. I have to sing the praise of my salmon dish. The salmon was some of the best that I have had. It was cooked perfectly, moist and flavorful. Yet there was a delicious crust that added flavor without overpowering the salmon. The gnocchi was delightful pairing. My lemon dessert was the perfect end to the meal. What a great place. Not overly pricey considering how delicious it was. read more

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The menu changes too often. Three of my favorite dishes were not on the menu. Decided to order the grilled ceaser salad. What a disappointment! I will check the menu before coming in from now on. read more

Great food -- Highly recommend the Salmon with Gnocchi and the Seafood Risotto. This restaurant made a wonderful stop in Auburn on our way up to Lake Tahoe. read more

The Monkey Cat - Salmon Gnocchi lower left, Seafood Risotto center top - New American Near Me - Auburn, California

My wife and I visited this restaurant after seeing it on Yelp. We ordered the following dishes: - Mac & Cheese Note: It lacked flavor and, considering the price, did not offer good value. - Braised Short Ribs Note: It was excellent; the meat was exceptionally tender. - Seafood Risotto Note: It was satisfactory but could have been better in terms of taste and overall quality. Based on our experience, the flavors of the dishes could benefit from improvement. The staff was very friendly, but the service time was noticeably slow. read more

The Monkey Cat - M. C. Mac N' Cheese - New American Near Me - Auburn, California

The food was delicious, the cocktails were amazing, the atmosphere was perfect. Really appreciate our bartender and waiter, Harley. Gave us good suggestions on what to do as we head into Truckee. If we're ever passing through Auburn again, I will definitely come back. read more

The service was great unfortunately the food wasn't. We started with a wedge salad and calamari and my husband had seared tuna After the appetizers we realized it was best to not order anything that we had any expectation of being more than bar food.... My husband decided to order the tacos since they were the special It was freezer burned shrimp with Cajun spices to hide the obvious no taste freezer burned old shrimp It was so disappointing We will Never go back because our experience before this one wasn't much better read more

*FOOD POISONING ALERT* This breaks my heart to write this review, but my husband and I recently dined at Monkey Cat to celebrate my birthday and on the way home he ended up getting violently ill in the parking lot of the Roseville Galleria. It was a couple of hours after eating at the Monkey Cat and was sick off and on through the night, but was fine once he got everything out. He did the right thing by trying to notify the restaurant. He called and spoke to someone who took his info and said they would have someone call him back. That never happened so he called again and left a voicemail. Almost a week later he got a call back from a Manager named Peter, who took all the details and said he would look into it and get back to him. He said he was slammed, that is why it took 2 calls and a week to pass before responding. We never got a call back. He narrowed it down to either the filet or the asparagus, but is thinking it was the asparagus because he said it was barely al dente. Almost raw tasting. This has been our go to spot for every anniversary (my MIL would purchase a gift card because she knew how much we loved this restaurant), my family would go every year to celebrate my birthday, and most date nights we would choose to drive from Folsom to Auburn so we could go to Monkey Cat and get massages afterwards at the place next door. We totally get that these things can happen, but it is how it was handled that was so disappointing. read more

The Monkey Cat - Fish Special: pan roasted halibut with a citrus soy glaze and wasabi drizzle - New American Near Me - Auburn, California

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Celebrated our birthday at Monkey Cat. Very comfortable dining on the patio. Service was very good. Food was good but the chef was a little too generous on the salt. Several dishes were salty. Portion size was on the smaller size. The short rib portion was the size of a small rubics cube. 4 oz after it was cooked. Dry. Sauce was very rich but salty. We all had 2 drinks. 4 of us. Our tab was just under $400 before tip. So a little pricey. read more

We ate there last night with another couple. We first ordered the brussel sprouts for the table- they were so hard and uncooked even a knife would not cut them. Terrible! Beet salad next, very tasty. Two ordered the chicken, delicious. I ordered the lobster risotto- the very tiny piece of lobster was so rubbery and overcooked, again, a knife could not cut through it. The risotto was so salty it was inedible. My friend had the cauliflower steak and it was so mushy and salty it was inedible for her as well. Very disappointing and expensive . read more

Stopped in for the first time, read the menu out in front of the restaurant & thought the short rib grilled cheese looked good. Ordered cocktails which were good. Ordered the grilled cheese which arrived not grilled! The bread wasn't toasted, grilled nada! It was the strangest thing I've ever seen. The cheese & short rib meat inside the sandwich was cooked. Should have asked the waiter what happened here as in we didn't get a grilled cheese sandwich. Also The French fries were rubbery cold & over salted. I'm still trying to figure out why we didn't get a grilled cheese sandwich. There was only one other table so they weren't busy at all. As expensive as it is to dine out this was a huge disappointment, we won't be back! read more

Great meal with nice ambiance Let's be clear though.... Your patrons are not your business partners and sneaking a 6% service fee is not our problem, it's yours. The operating costs to do business is just that an operating cost. You deduct operating costs from your from your gross profits to get to the net. read more

Went for Mother's Day dinner after walking/driving by all the time, it looks like such a cute place. Made reservations on open table as it states reservation needed we were running late and staff was nice enough to call to see if we were still on the way. We ordered a variety off the menu. Husband went with the burger, daughter did mashed potatoes and I went with the beef stroganoff. I enjoyed their take of the meal. I was a little sad to not have been offered the bread and oil at the beginning of our meal but think it was just a busy night. read more

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Yes! Yes! Yes! Early Valentines Dinner at Monkey Cat in Auburn. Great food, beautiful atmosphere and everything we love about a small boutique restaurant. Reminded us of what we had in the Bay Area, walking down Laurel St in San Carlos. Skip the big name Steak House and support small businesses. Check it out. We split the Beet Napoleon Salad. The flavor profile was beautifully blended and incredibly fresh on the pallet. I had the Maple Glaze Salmon (flakey, sweet and perfectly cooked) and the hubby had the 8 oz Filet. Perfect rare cook, lightly whipped potatoes and not drowned in sauce. Enjoyed a Creeping Fig Bourbon Cocktail and The Whispering bourbon Cocktail and ended with a Creme Brûlée. Delicious! Bougie without being too bougie. We will definitely go back - I need to try to tomato blue cheese soup! read more

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Really 3.5 stars, and the Yelp community has it right. This place showed promise but at each point we were underwhelmed. I ordered the blackened shrimp tacos and some mac n cheese. First the tacos weren't bad but with the number of ingredients I expected a mouth full of flavor. It lacked enough acid and consistency in flavor. The Mac n cheese was disappointing. It was creamy and again lacked flavor. The portion was large but it was average at best. The shining star is the French fries. Really good! Service was what you expect. The restaurant is nice - and had a nice vibe! read more

The Monkey Cat - Mac n Cheese - New American Near Me - Auburn, California

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Friday night dinner and even though we had no reservation, the hostess was sweet and found us a nice table. The service was excellent, the Brussels sprout appetizer was delicious, and our meals were excellent! The overall vibe was so nice, people enjoying their food & drink, but not so noisy we couldn't hear our own voices. It was 5 stars! read more

We decided to take a little day trip to Auburn, CA to stroll around the charming downtown area and stop somewhere nice for lunch. We chose Monkey Cat after checking out their menu... It looked great, and we were excited to try it. Unfortunately, the experience started off on the wrong foot. When Erica came by to ask if we wanted anything to drink, my husband politely asked if the Bloody Marys were house-made. Her reaction was shocking!.. an exaggerated sigh, a dramatic eye roll, and a snappy "Ummm, yes!!" that left us both stunned. It was such an unnecessarily rude and dismissive response that my husband actually wanted to get up and leave. Trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, I asked if she was going to take our drink order, but her attitude only continued. I understand that everyone has off days, but there's simply no excuse for that kind of behavior toward guests. Thankfully, the bartender, Harley, completely turned things around. He was friendly, professional, and attentive... he even took over our food order himself. Harley was the bright spot of our visit and deserves recognition for his excellent service. Lunch itself was just okay, but it was hard to enjoy after the initial experience. When we were paying, my husband asked what Erica's role was, and Harley kindly explained she was the front-of-house/hostess and that she had slipped in the kitchen earlier. While that's unfortunate, it doesn't excuse taking it out on customers. The front-of-house sets the tone for the entire dining experience, and unfortunately, Erica's attitude left a lasting bad impression. Because of that, we won't be returning and can't recommend Monkey Cat to others. read more

Met up with friends for dinner at Monkey Cat last night. Haven't been there in a long time and we're so glad we went back. First of all our server, Cheyanne, was absolutely wonderful - friendly and efficient. The food was fantastic! Beet salad, off the charts delicious. A couple of us had the short ribs others had the salmon, one had the chicken Cordon Bleu and one had the seafood risotto. Every single dish was absolutely delicious. Well prepared and beautifully presented. Let's don't forget the cocktails. Vodka martini , old-fashioned . We also shared a bottle of wine. They had a very nice selection of wine as well. We all agreed that we will be back again very soon. read more

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Super nice people right downtown where you get to watch everybody go up and down the street if you want to out the window. The monkey cat you better be ready to dust off your checkbook or bring a big lot of cash. You're gonna need it. I almost had to stay and wash dishes read more

Perfect restaurant for nice meal,ambience and service! Dishes ordered: Brie appetizer with jam & honey,rosemary chicken special,braised short ribs,cheesecake & tiramisu for dessert. We enjoyed our meal so much and appreciated the outstanding service from our sweet waitress! (Forgot her name!) We will be back! read more

The Monkey Cat - New American Near Me - Auburn, California

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The curb appeal of The Monkey Cat & reviews prompted us to give it a try & both of us were underwhelmed. Very slow (single server)on a Saturday at about 2 pm(day before holiday). Ordered the chicken parm sandwich on special & mac and cheese. The chicken parm on the dinner menu has received good reports, kinda similar execution on the sando on toasted sour dough except for the uneven brie cheese distribution, don't remember Ham?,ok flavor..meh. Side was some Luke warm French fries. Mac & Cheese, lightly cheesed,bacon, ok.. not memorable. Split both items with Mrs D Cute shaded patio area outside looks promising for summer beverages. Anyway, I want to come back for dinner,maybe we caught them on an off day . read more

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Stopped in for a drink and a appetizer. Cool place and Peter (the bartender) made the experience even better. People like him is why we will come back. read more

We booked the whole restaurant for our daughter's wedding rehearsal dinner and it could not possibly have been a better experience. From our initial meeting to taste potential menu selections to finalizing the smallest details the morning of the event, Jennifer was an active and supportive participant in the planning. She was clearly looking forward to hosting us and wanted to make sure that the table arrangements, the seating and the overall flow of the event would feel just right for our group. She even helped us manage our budget. Needless to say, the food, the service, the cocktails and the ambiance were absolutely first rate. All 66 of us, from LA and DC, had a wonderful time and many are looking forward to another dinner at Monkey Cat. read more

We stopped by for Saturday night dinner. The food was absolutely delicious and the wait staff went "above and beyond." I enjoyed the Beef Stroganoff and my wife had the Chopped Salad w/Chicken. We finished the evening with a tiramisu. It was an excellent evening. read more

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The slowest service I have ever encountered. 7 of us, had reservations at 1 pm, after lunch rush.. We were on time (actually early). It took 50 minutes for some of us to get our food. Over an hour for others. Honestly sandwiches and the special of the day shouldn't take that long. 3 orders were wrong. No refills on our water, ice tea or sodas. Only saw our waiter when taking our orders and delivering food. He added himself a 20% tip. When questioned he wouldn't remove it. Blamed everything on kitchen staff being unprepared. Most of our food was decent, but nothing that makes any of us want to go back another time. read more

Our group of 8 showed up at noon on a Thursday. This was our third time going to this restaurant. Lots of parking , street and lot, was available so it was not a busy day. We were greeted, seated as we arrived and drink orders were taken and the drinks arrived shortly. Our group ordered: Calamari, Short Rib Grilled Cheese, Stacked Burger, and Grilled Chicken Caprese off the lunch menu. The Short Rib Grilled Cheese was the most acclaimed, and the rest was OK. Each time here the service has been excellent and friendly. The restaurant has a long bar, tables, booths, good table spacing, and an upscale feeling. Perhaps a place for a romantic evening? It is also the most expensive lunch place we have enjoyed over the last two years! read more

Lunch Started with the beet salad. It was delicious. I had the French dip and it was terrible. Bread was dry, almost stale and cold. Meat inside was ok. The cup of au jus served with the sandwich was so cold that it had to be sent back which is not something I like to do. The fries were over cooked, hard and barely warm. Husband had the short rib grilled cheese. Again not impressed. We were with another couple and the feeling was the same all the way around. The food took quite a while to get to our table only to show up barely warm. No cocktails with our lunch. We split the bill. With tip $90 per couple for lunch. Wanted to like it as we'd heard good things about it. Pretty disappointing to spend that much and leave never wanting to return read more

We met friends at The Monkey Cat for my husbands birthday in early December, and all I can say is it is absolutely fantastic. The waitress was amazing, I can't remember her name unfortunately! She was so attentive and had great suggestions for mocktails for myself which was fun! I got the cutest little pear mocktail in a teddy bear glass and it was so amazing! The food is where I was so thrilled! My husband got the burger and I got the chicken cordon bleu, OMIGOSH my meal was the best meal I think I've ever had in a local restaurant. I mean, it was amazing! My husband said the burger was so good and fresh! The desert menu was top tier and they were so nice to bring out an adorable array for my husbands birthday dessert! I can't say enough good things about this place. We are father up the mountain and travel to see our friends so it was fun to try a new spot and keep it in mind next time we are down the hill for shopping or friends! read more

The Monkey Cat - New American Near Me - Auburn, California

Delicious bread service. I'm in the "bread basket is a must" camp but if I'm going to be charged for it, it has to be top notch. It was! Very good big rock Old Fashioned. Seared Ahi Salad was a bit meh. Service was friendly but really loud - you could hear her voice above all others throughout the dining room with every conversation she had. Update: Returned a few days later for Happy Hour. No menu offered donut was just dictated. No taco Tuesday as shown on Facebook on most preceding Tuesdays. Calamari a bit "well done" but tasty. read more

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This has been my go to restaurant for years- but the staff that had been there for years is all gone. The new staff is literally new- I don't think they ever waited tables before. The food is redicously overpriced for the service and the quality of the food. Not to mention that now you have to pay a service charge if you use your credit card. I am so sad.... read more

Great drinks and food and service, chill atmosphere. We will definitely return the next time we're in town.

Great food and service. I even got a Birthday card from the staff. We will be back, and will tell our friends.

We love Monkey Cat! The food is absolutely delish and the service is ALWAYS wonderful! Peter is our favorite server and he always takes extra care of us. It's just an added bonus when the food is bomb and the service matches! Get the blue cheese tomato bisque! read more

We have had great experiences at Monkey Cat but our experience today was not that. For an appetizer we ordered the gumbo pockets. Our entrees came and no appetizer in sight. Asked our server where they were and he asked if we still wanted them. We told him yes. They came after half our food was finished. Told us that the cook was on a break and he hadn't been informed. The gumbo pockets were obviously rushed because the pastry was doughy. My husband ordered the French dip...not impressed. I had the steak sandwich and the steak was so tough I ended up taking it out of the sandwich and cutting with a knife to eat what was edible. Not sure we will return. read more

Our server was so nice and funny too! She was on point with there menu we all enjoy what we ordered. The beacon cheese burger and fries where Huge!! Scott had the press it down and unhinged his jaw!! He was a happy camper. Chicken and mushrooms and mash potato gravy looked good!! My family was enjoying every bite. We had the bread service wow what great bread Crispy top and Sea salt on top such a fancy touch and the butter was with honey and cinnamon if you wanted Reg. Butter too I ordered a cheese platter it came with raspberry jam chipotle and honey comb Brie cheese and bread toasted I wasn't hungry when we all sat but the food sure looked amazing I'm definitely be back So come out to Auburn and try this Resturant and they have a very nice Bar too Monkey Cat and Bar read more

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Lucky to get the reservation on a Saturday evening as it could get super busy. Delicious food and great portion. Beautiful restaurant and great location. Perfect for a date! Bon Apetite! read more

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The bread is delicious. I believe it is homemade, and comes with honey-cinnamon butter and oil and balsamic vinegar. The restaurant was too cold for me inside, so I sat outside. It was relaxing. I found the food to taste very good. I am glad I went during lunch when it was not crowded. The server was really pleasant too. (tall gentleman) I will be going back again. Thank you. read more

Excellent little tavern with small patio off main drag and such nice ambience and wonderful food! We had great service and enjoyed our salmon tacos on homemade tortillas, beet salad and shredded brisket grilled cheese! read more