This restaurant was highly recommended to celebrate a 70th birthday. There were 7 of us for 7:00 on Tuesday. our waitress was professional, attentive and apologetic. We were immediately told no French fries, calamari, or chicken cordon blu. No problem. However, our food was not what we expected. The French onion soup in a bowl had to be reheated, the crab cake appetizers tasted like it came from Trader Joe's, the scalop risotto was salty, the pesto bucatini barely/tasted any pesto, and worse... served FOLGERS COFFEE... no milk/cream available! the only good dishes were the pork chops and filet mignon. this place must be GOING OUT of business!! read more

Very friendly staff! Great food! They also are very dog friendly, brought our pup treats and a pup cup!

I really loved my first visit to monkey cat. We decided to try a few of the whiskey cocktails and loved them! The rosemary bourbon special was amazing, suuuuuuper easy to drink! We opted for pretty much all the appetizers instead of a full meal. All of them were tasty but the most amazing part was the delicious brie bruschetta. I'm serious, the best bite. Crispy, sweet, creamy, salty, a little heat..... totally balanced and amazing on the palette! 10/10 I'll always order that when I return. We chose patio seating and enjoyed the little side patio, not too much traffic noise, and there was a lovely fountain and some green. We stayed way too long, I can tell because, after an hour or so, the server stopped refilling our water glasses.... I guess that meant it was time to leave. I think that's a missed opportunity. My friends and I love to indulge in a looooong slooooow meal. This means drinks and appetizers, maybe some more drinks, then coffee and dessert as the afternoon winds down. The restaurant wasn't busy, and I promise we weren't occupying a table for a waiting party. As we return to normal, eating out, and spending time enjoying food should be a joy. I look forward to my next visit and will make sure to let the server know that we intend to indulge slowly over the course of the afternoon to set the expectation. But I will absolutely return! read more

Went there today with the family and it was great. The food and service was amazing. I even had a two year old with me and had no problems. read more

Food was good but it took 45 min for our food to arrive to our table. We had a party of 10 but I've been in a group setting before it this was longer than usual. read more

Monkey Cat is one of our favorites! All of the cocktails are delightful especially the white linen, their old fashioned, or J's something - I can't remember the name. They cook their proteins flawlessly and offer great and classic options. You won't be disappointed. And it's a great location to host a private event! read more

Really loved this place. The drinks, the food, the service, everything was amazing. We had the crab cakes, wedge salad & chicken cordon bleu. All fabulous. I'll be dreaming of that lemon meringue cocktail for days. read more

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

My husband and I decided on Tuesday that it was a beautiful day for a Harley ride to Auburn. We went online and looked up a few places to eat and settled on The Monkey Cat. Super cute inside and nice garden patio. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside. The service was wonderful. The server was very attentive and sweet. The food was delicious. My husband had the burger and I had the Turkey BLAT. So good!! A cute little lunch spot with great food, service and atmosphere! We'll be back for sure. read more

First time here, wouldn't waste your time. This a poor restaurant. The food was okay. Not much seasoning. I think it's very over hyped. Quality of food was over priced too. The entire place was very judge mental. I wasn't Dressed badly. Just jeans and a shirt same with the rest of my family. You could tell they were all looking down at us. It's mostly older rich people. You don't feel very comfortable, like your edge, toxic. Got 2 stir fries and 1 sandwich wrap $60. The one server also was also all over the place, she was obviously giving very fake reactions too. read more

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

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I've always loved the food here the decor etc. The waitress walked away in the middle of our order didn't even get to order drinks or the rest of our appetizers, I asked for honey in my tea she said they had none and didn't offer sugar, I literally had to walk in back looking for some. I'm still sitting here while she's chatting with her co workers. Worst eyebrows I've ever seen but I'm trying to be polite..... read more

When you see a 3 1/2 star review average, I sort of go in with a little trepidation...I'm not sure what restaurant the other reviewers were visiting. Perhaps a bad day? Here's what I saw and tasted: Service: We walked into the restaurant on a Friday night in primetime with no reservation - it's not a big restaurant in terms of seating but we were seated in 5 minutes with the hostess hustling to prep our table (the last one). Our server came promptly, took our cocktail orders. Then another server who brought water double-checked that we had our cocktail orders in. Throughout the meal, the service was timely without being hovering. Pleasant, competent and frictionless - that's 5 star service. Ambience: What a unique vibe that I didn't expect for downtown Auburn. Monkey Cat is the perfect name - jungle cats with modern monkey statues - very cool. Full bar off to the side. It was just fun to be inside and have a great meal. 5 stars for the experience. Food: Obviously the most important element. My Mom had Chicken Cordon Bleu - perfectly prepared and tasty. My wife had the Penne Pasta with chicken and portobello very well seasoned. I had the seafood pasta with a red curry coconut sauce. I noticed other reviews weren't great on this dish but I went for it. I think it's an easy dish to get wrong - not enough seafood, poor quality shellfish, poor pasta...In short they nailed it. Clams, mussels, salmon and sea bass over linguini. The red curry coconut sauce was perfect - every part in harmony. Tons of well cooked fish and shellfish. Mussels and clams were fresh. So - 5 stars - three very different dishes that came across very well. We are absolutely coming back to Monkey Cat again when we are in Auburn! read more

food was good but it is loud that it is hard to have a conversation. Service was ok. The owner needs to do something about the sound before we go back. read more

We love the food and drinks and dine here when we want something special! We always have great service! read more

Excellent lunch. Got the burger. Get the homemade chips. Great and friendly service. Reasonably priced. Check this place out. read more

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

Monkey Cat is my absolute favorite restaurant. Whether it's a romantic anniversary dinner or a casual night out, Monkey Cat is the place we always want to go to. The staff is amazing. Jennifer and Erica always take amazing care of us and the food is always delicious! read more

Had dinner here last night. I ordered the filet, it was delicious, the sauce served with it was completely bland, so I didn't eat it. Mashed potatoes were bland and not flavorful, the roasted carrots were good. My husband ordered the risotto, totally not risotto. It was rice and some corn and other things with seared scallops. Friends weren't impressed with their food either Service was excellent, just not good food. Probably won't go back. read more

Locals hyped this place up so we thought we were going to a good restaurant. We live in San Francisco so we have plenty of A+ restaurants to pick from. We went in thinking Auburn had a decent place. But...Not worth the price. New owners. New menu. The menu online didn't match when we went to the restaurant. Since It was our first visit we looked at the menu online hoping to order some of the items when we arrived but they had none of them in the restaurant anymore and haven't for at least 3 months according to our waitress. The seafood pasta was ok but the seafood was definitely over cooked. My husband was disappointed with his filet mignon that frankly we could have cooked better at home. No crust on the outside with little juice inside. It was worth a shot but not again. Still crossing my fingers for Dingus Mcgees to return. read more

I ate lunch there yesterday and can't stop thinking about how delicious it was. Had the steak wrap AND the apple/brie crostini. I know that's a lot for lunch but I couldn't stop eating. I've also eaten dinner there and thoroughly enjoyed the house salad (OMG to die for with the sun dried cherries, chèvre and hazelnuts) and the scallop risotto. I am so bummed I live in the Pocket area of Sacramento because I would be there once a week were it not for that. I haven't even mentioned the great drinks and dessert. OMG, I love this restaurant so much. Maybe downtown Sacramento for a second spot??? Service and ambience also outstanding. read more

Had lunch at The Monkey Kat the other day. The food was good, but we did not appreciate the surprise credit card fee on the bill. Astoundedly, the charge was on the bill before the server knew if we were going to pay by credit card or cash. ... Yes, we could have paid cash and insisted that she give us a corrected bill, but we didn't have that much cash with us. Or, we could have subtracted the fee from the tip, but that didn't seem right either. ... Credit cards are a convenience for the buyer AND the seller. There is no justification for such a charge. We won't be back. read more

YUM! Just moved to the area and our first time eating in Auburn and glad we picked this spot. We were able to get a table on a busy Saturday night and eat inside!! Swordfish was great as was the lamb says my husband. Erika the sever was great. I like my food super hot so maybe just a little warmer next time :) read more

The Monkey Cat - Sword fish x lamb - New American Near Me - Auburn, California

I'm not sure why I haven't reviewed this place before. The food quality is consistently good: burgers , steak and frites, scallop risotto are all excellent. Service is outstanding with a good wine list and local beers on tap. Locally owned and run, they are well run and worth dining at. read more

Excellent food and service!!! The salmon was delicious and cooked perfectly and the tomato soup with blue cheese was so good. We will be back soon! read more

Had the taco trio today. The pork was like trying to chew shoe leather. Chicken was also dry. Told the waitress and she told the kitchen. They said it's deep fried...they are trying to figure out how to keep it tender. At least they charged me full price! Almost $50 for that and a salad for my wife +2 cokes. Second time I have had poor food here! Not going to keep wasting my time and $$. read more

Celebrated a quiet anniversary (our 53rd) and had a great meal. Really don't understand why there weren't more people as the options in Auburn aren't really that deep for "higher end" dining. Anyway, I had the salmon and it was delicious. Wife had her usual "stacked burger" which she really enjoyed. The waitress was very energetic and attentive. We especially enjoyed the Baked Brie and toast appetizer along with the other "bookend" of a chocolate mousse cake. read more

Stumbled upon this place while visiting the area from out of town. Celebrating our first anniversary tomorrow What a wonderful find this is! Fantastic food, great service, and we particularly appreciated their attention to cleanliness and social distancing in the COVID-19 era. All servers were wearing masks, and all patrons were appropriately distance from one another. As two adults with compromised immune systems, it's one of the safest outings we feel we've had since this whole thing began. We appreciate the business' attention to this detail, and we will return, not only for the food, but for the respect they show their patrons. We had the crabcakes, the MC mac & cheese, the Asian chopped salad, the mixed green salad with goat cheese, the pork tenderloin, and the lamb chops. Every dish was singularly wonderful! Someone in the kitchen absolutely knows what they're doing. Keep it up! read more

Sorry but this review is not great. First time at this restaurant and wo'nt go back. From the overpriced $14 dollar Old Fashioned to the below average service and just OK food. Better places in Auburn to spend your $200 for 4. This place is not worth the price. read more

Went here for my mom's birthday dinner, and it was amazing! The drinks, the appetizers, the entrees, the desserts, to the customer service was too notch! Environment was wonderful and staff was welcoming! Great experience! Special shout-out to Shauna for the amazing service! Thank you MonkeyCat!!! read more

What is going on w this restaurant? My mother and I came in w a reservation which wasn't needed. When seated we had some sliced bread (okay) no butter, olive oil and vinegar on the table I assume for the bread. Soon after we ordered our drinks and main course. Cocktails were okay. For our main courses my mom ordered swordfish which was the special and I ordered the filet mignon. The swordfish okay, unappealing, my mom thought it was good. As far as my plate I was asked how I wanted my filet and I asked for medium, I received a very rare filet, cooked on the outside, not even close to medium, super red and soft. I let the waitress know it was too under and asked for a new filet, a couple min later she came back and persuaded me out of having a new filet cooked due to the time involved. I told her no worries and to just take it off the bill but I was pretty bummed, filet doesn't really take that long, is the main chef out or?? Seemed like everyone was more concerned about closing up and going home, our res was at 715. Overall would not recommend, dined here in the past, this experience was pretty bad though and the waitress didn't help out w the situation at all, I wanted a filet I was hungry! read more

My husband and I stopped here for dinner on the way to a house hunting weekend in Grass Valley/Nevada City. Monkey Cat has a fun vibe to it and we enjoyed the creative décor. I ordered the ribeye (which I heard about on Yelp) and it was delicious, but undercooked (I ordered med, but it was very "med-rare", boarding on the dark pink/red side in the middle. Of course I could have sent it back, but it was easier to eat around the yummy edges and take it home for a sandwich later! My husband ordered the seared duck breast, which he loved. Our waiter was Erica and she did an excellent job. Her enthusiastic description of the nightly desserts (to the table next to us!), caused me to save some room for dessert later, which we did! We ordered the Salted Caramel Cheesecake - delicious, but the topping was a bit overly salty for us (regardless, we still managed to eat the whole thing! We will definitely be back. read more

Came to visit my daughter here in Auburn and she had been wanting to try this restaurant. Looked at their menu online and it all looked impressive. We made dinner reservations and it is a nice looking restaurant. Waitress gave us menus. 1st disappointment the menu was scaled way down from what is online. We ordered our entrees. Filet mignon with lobster tail. I ordered my filet which was supposed to be 4 oz medium rare. It was more like 2 oz and well done. The lobster tail was extremely tiny with less than 2 fork fulls of meat in it. $50 is what they charged for basically nothing! Wine list is over priced as well. read more

Our dinner was delicious, the wait staff were friendly, and the service was good. It is in a delightful area of old downtown Auburn and is a nice change from the western-themed bar & grill options. It is described as "Upscale casual" but it is not too fancy to relax. read more

This used to be a great spot , the menu has changed as well as the chef . Took over an hour to get our meal and once we got it , it was cold. I only ate the scallops on top , the salmon was not prepared the way it is described on the menu , nobody checked on us and once the waitress did , all she said was "sorry " then had someone else bring the check . I asked her if she was in charge and she said no , but what was the problem, I told her and she said she would bring it to someone's attention , the waitress came back and said ..we will take 4 dollars off the bill , is that ok ?? I said I guess I don't have a choice . I am usually pretty tolerant about these types of situations , but this was ridiculous, the table next to us said , good for you that you said something, our food was cold too . I would never go back here again. Terrible food and no customer service ! read more

Cute old Western eclectic interior in downtown Auburn just a few minutes off I-80. The service was prompt and friendly. The size is on the intimate side with about 15 tables or so. The wine list is nice, with a strong local selection including wines by the glass. When we visited they had two daily specials-- pan seared halibut and a seafood linguine. The wedge salad was good, the caprese fine, the macaroni and cheese starter superb. For the mains, the chicken cordon bleu was very good, the salmon was good, and halibut special was excellent if a bit salty. The flourless chocolate torte was excellent. read more

I had such high hopes for the new guys and I'm benefit of the doubt girl all day long, but the app came out cold, which was reheated pretty graciously, the food came on cold plates, though my chop was delicious, the chicken was subpar.. the real disappointment was when I went to secretly let the server know we were celebrating a birthday, she came out with the dessert tray and said they couldn't do any of them for free just because it's a birthday.. wait what? Who ever said anything about free? And I was hoping for a little birthday song or even a candle in the piece of cheesecake he ordered but no apparently they must not do that which would have been nice to know ahead of time.. could have dropped 2 Benjamin's somewhere else and at least gotten a song or even a simple happy birthday wish.. would have been nice Not sure it's worth it to give them another shot ‍ read more

We Experienced this place for the first time for our anniversary tonight. The Food was good - but our server Erica was the best customer service person I have EVER had! She made our experience from- "it's Good" to Amazing!! and no I have never met her before! She made the experience stand out. Kudos to you Erica! read more

OH NO! Did they get a new chef? It looks like they have a new menu too. The new menu didn't bother me though because I always get the same thing - house salad with salmon. However, I got this to go ($25 approx) and look how little lettuce I got? It didn't used to be like this. Imagine if I didn't get the salmon and just got the house salad - I would have 4 bites of lettuce! Super disappointing. Please go back to how you used to make your salads because 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. read more

The Monkey Cat - $25 salad - It used to be so much better! - New American Near Me - Auburn, California

Probably one of my favorite little spots in Auburn. I highly recommend sitting on the patio for the ambiance and view. The fountain and climbing greenery is absolutely stunning, calming and jus sooo relaxing. And the service is phenomenal I've never had a bad meal there. The flavor and everything is always fabulous never a bland meal. read more

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Jennifer and Jared served an awesome dinner and great wine selection. We had pan seared scallops and salmon, both were prepared to perfection. We finished our dinner with an amazing chocolate decadent cake aka mode (of course) and coffee. Patio seating was perfect for us and our dogs. We will be back for more!! read more

Exceptional salmon and white fish entrees arrived after incredible bread and butter. Prices were to be expected, but our experience was impeccable. read more

wasn't planning on eating here but ended up and was so glad we did. amazing food , great service. our sever ( unfortunately can't recall her name) was excellent, above and beyond . next time we're in Auburn, we'll definitely stop by read more