Monkey Joe's Bar & Grill
2.7/5
Details
Information
Reviews
Location

Cuisine type

  • Mexican,

Dishes

  • Grill,
  • Hamburger,
  • Steak,

Features

  • Restaurant With Bar,

Atmosphere

  • Casual,

Products and Services

  • Good For Groups,

Languages Spoken

  • English,
Location
1265 Carling Ave, Ottawa, ON K1Z 8S9
Useful Information

Opening Hours *Holiday hours

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
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Rates:

  • $11 To $25,

Methods of Payment:

Ratings & Reviews - Monkey Joe's Bar & Grill

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2.7/5
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Restaurantica12
By

Always good

I eat at Monkey Joe's about 8 times a summer when my sports are nearby. The food is always good...I've never been disappointed nor has the rest of the team expressed dissatisfaction with the food. Their veggie burger is one of the best in the city...really, really good. Their fajitas are tasty...lots of guac, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, onions and the veggies weren't too big. The service sometimes is a little slow but it's hard to tell what it would be like if we weren't a group of 10 or more. When the food comes out though, it's all at the same time which is nice. That takes a lot of coordination with groups that big. The staff is friendly even with some "trying" people. I'd go more if I lived in the area.

Atmosphere: 4/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
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Restaurantica12
By

Totally disrespectful service

My husband I decided to meet last night on the patio at Monkey Joes' for drinks & dinner. (August 20, 2008) Husband arrived at 6:30 pm and took a seat on the outdoor patio which we wanted to do is have dinner somewhere on an outdoor patio...so I suggested MJ's. There were 3 servers out on the patio and no one acknowledged him. 10 min went by and he went inside to the bar to purchase a beer. He came back out on the patio and asked a server if he could sit anywhere and one server said "sure". I arrived at 6:50 pm and joined my husband on the patio. Another 10 min went by and no server acknowledged me whatsoever. They were all serving the tables surrounding us and I was starting to wonder is there something wrong with us as not to get service? At 7:05 pm hubby went inside to speak with the night manager. Manager came out and told one of the servers to serve Table 11. Apparently all servers were under the impression that someone else was assigned to our table. The server who was instructed to serve us by the manager approached our table with a terrible attitude. The manager never even once apologized for the inconvenience or offer some type of goodwill gesture to make up for the problem wait time. Once our beers were empty no once did the server ask us if we would like another beer (just bad service) - we had to ask for it!!!! At the end, the manager never once apologized and it was a very bad feeling all around and not to even offer some type of goodwill. DEFINITELY WON'T BE BACK THERE!!!

Atmosphere: 1/5
Food: 1/5
Service: 1/5
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Restaurantica12
By

Not bad.

Nachos were plentiful and quite tasty. A hefty price for nachos but you do get a lot. The service was not that good at all. They seated us at the bar but the restaurant was not full. We had to endure some loud local boozers when eating our meal which put a big damper on the experience.

Atmosphere: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 3/5
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Restaurantica12
By

I have been going to Monkey Joe's since the doors...

I have been going to Monkey Joe's since the doors opened and am sad to report that I will not go back. I said the same thing last summer and gave it another go but came to the same conclusion. Our party of 4 arrived at 5pm and despite being seated immediately, we were not acknowledged by a server for 20 minutes and we had to go tell someone that. We then advised that we had to be out by 6pm. An alternate server delivered our food and described my meal as "some sort of chicken wrap thing? when trying to figure out who it belonged to. We then reminded the server to bring our bills as it is now 15 minutes prior to our departure time. The bills were brought promptly but nobody came back to take payment. When they finally did they didn't bring me my change, I had to hunt them down. The food quality was mediocre and I am not even certain the wrap I got is what I ordered. It is very disappointing indeed to see a pary of my life history become a thing of the past. By the way, the last time I was there we complained about the food quality and were told the cooks were fighting, sorry.... Imagine!

Atmosphere: 2/5
Food: 3/5
Service: 1/5
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Restaurantica12
By

Like a previous reviewer, the hostess turned us...

Like a previous reviewer, the hostess turned us away - or at least tried to before the Manager corrected her saying 10-15 minute wait and offered for us to wait at the bar. Upon getting to the bar area, we saw a space with two seats and abandoned drinks. The bartender brusquely informed us that the spots were taken [period]. We then tried to wrangle up some seats nearby (luckily some diners had one spare they let us borrow). Upon shifting one of the chairs, my guest was affronted by the same 'tender with the words "thanks for asking" - implying that the was the God of chairs. When the two drinkers got back from smoking they were offensive. Now normally I wouldn't hold the actions of patrons against the staff, but one would hope that the servers would be trying to mediate rather than appeasing their buddies / bar-toads. Luckily, at that point a table became available and we were guided away. Our server *almost* made up for the previous treatment. She was on the top of her game, food and drinks were prompt and refills on-time. My guests pasta was on the bland side, but the server not once but twice came with parmesan (the second time leaving it) to spice it up. The food was plentiful, and by the end we were too full, not to mention still a bit rankled from our greeting, so we passed on dessert; so I cannot comment on that. In all, I highly doubt I will ever return, and never during the dinner rush.

Atmosphere: 2/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 1/5
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Editor’s Pick
Nachos for nighttime noshing in Ottawa

Nachos for nighttime noshing in Ottawa

Much celebrated and always talked about, the nachos at Monkey Joe’s are arguably the best in the city. Made in-house, Joe’s Famous Nacho Supreme gives you a choice of chicken or spiced beef, with white corn chips smothered with melted Monterey Jack, hot jungle salsa, beans, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, green onions and sour cream.

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