Elite Event at Monk

Totally worth the trek to Billyburg! Monk’s large space was perfect for a Unilocal crowd. Despite the industrial décor it felt pretty homey here. Bruschetta’s at the beginning were awesome. I actually was sad when they ran out. The pizza was divine! Very light with fresh ingredients. I enjoyed seeing it made.
Thankful to Peter D. for introducing this new place on my pizza list.

Great ELITE event!
This place is located by the water in Williamsburg. Parking was easy. Cool spot, industrial looking. Its on the second floor in a loft like space. Brick oven, bar, table and bar seating.
We were greeted with fresh crisp baby green salad and beer (IPA and Amber). Salad was really good. Beer was okay, ended up getting warm fast because the place was kind of warm. Brick oven lets out heat! I really liked the Penne Pasta, and the pizza was delicious, crisp thin crust with fresh mozzarella. Pizza was served piping hot, cheese was oozing off of it. You can definitely taste the fresh ingredients.
Owner was friendly, very interested to hear our feedback on his newly opened space. He was actually serving most of the food and still made time to socialize with us Unilocalers.
This is most definitely a place I would come back to and recommend.
Thanks Peter, this was a great event

Unlike the majority of the folks who took the train, I took it upon myself to hike to Monk’s for pizza and beer. Mind you, I live in the ‘burg…and taking the train really wouldn’t have shorten the trip any. In any case, I heard the trek from the train was kind long anyway… that’s what happens when you’re located in South Williamsburg near the waterfront… across the street from the Domino sugar factory. Taking Kent Ave did turn the trip into a more scenic one… now only if it wasn’t hot and humid outside.
The place has a first floor entry with a second floor space. The space is quite large with booths, large communal tables and an eating bar. And then off to the right in what a call the little nook-​y of a corner is the bar with bar seating and window seating.
When we got there there, there was a long line of people signing in… but at least we were inside. The not so fun line was the line for beer and salad. The salad was tossed in balsamic vinaigrette. There was also an eggplant being served on toast and asparagus spears with parm. For entrée like food, there were personal-​sized pies and pasta a la vodka. Felipe (owner-​man) gets two thumbs up for his superb a la vodka sauce; it’s by far the best vodka sauce I’ve had. The pieces was also pretty delicious. My favorites from what I tried were the white sauced pizza and the margarita with the fresh mozzarella. The cheese was delicious and incredibly fresh.
To wrap this up:
–Thanks Peter D for throwing another awesome event.
–Ruggy & Jane were awesome for showing up.
–Felipe (said owner-​man) was an awesome pizza serving (among other foods) machine
–Dorie was awesome for feeing me when my hands were full.

Another Elite event organized by Peter D. in Brooklyn involving beer and pizza, how can you say no!!!
This location was sort of behind God’s back and around the corner but it was well worth the trek from the train station (plus an amazing view of the sunset with the Freedom Tower in the background). Upon arriving, the location was already pretty packed and the drinks were flowing… well sort of. It seems they had some technical difficulties at first because there was a line for the beer (which meant a little bit of a wait) and some people were getting frustrated because it was also quite hot but once things got rolling with the tap, it was smooth sailing from there. Have to highlight the fact that Peter D. was calming the crowd with a lovely goat cheese and beet pizza that was very appetizing.
The two beers, an IPA and an amber ale were fairly decent and complimented a hot, sticky, humid afternoon. Unlike the All-​Starr Rum challenge, this kitchen was open and the pizza and penne were consumed like no one had eaten in years.
I lucky enough to procure three slices of pizza. Two plain slices and a veggie slice throughout the course of the night. The cheese to sauce ratio was balanced and the sauce had a slight sweet taste to it which set it apart. The only complaint I had was the cheese just tended to ooze and slide right off once anyone grabbed a slice. That just meant getting your hands a little bit more messy than usual but I didn’t mind. The bowl of penne that I had was delicious and the pasta was cooked for an adequate amount of time. It wasn’t stiff and surely was not overcooked. Although I don’t recommend the combination of several glasses of IPA, then chasing it with penne. I didn’t think it flew with my taste buds pretty well. Overall, the food was sufficient and in the presence of good company and drinks, there really isn’t too much you need to have a good time.
However, I did notice that due to the seating arrangement there was somewhat a division of people who were standing by the bar/​entrance area and those who were baby sitting their seats throughout the event. I guess that didn’t facilitate socializing for the event but Unilocalers also have to make the effort as well.
Overall, another great event hosted and organized by Peter D. Many, many thanks to him once again. ;-)

I love BK, I love BK Unilocal events, and I love pizza, and what is better than BK pizza at a Unilocal event. Thanks, Peter D., for the invitation and organizing a super cool event. It’s always great to come out to BK and discover new places like Monk. And, while Monk may be a bit of a walk from the train station, it’s highly tolerable. It’s always nice to take a stroll through the neighborhood, and there were so many bars/​restaurants I passed along the way that I, of course, noted.
I’ve been wanting to check out this new restaurant for awhile. For one, Monk is a very hip and attractive venue with its industrial, modern décor, high ceilings, and huge windows. It’s far from your typical pizzeria. With two floors, bountiful seating at a separate dining area, and sufficient standing room at the bar, an event of this size can be readily accommodated. To start things off, fresh mixed salads were served. The arugula salad with a vinaigrette based dressing was light and delicious. Complimentary drafts featured and served, an IPA and an amber ale, kept myself and everyone happy and hydrated. Many thanks to the bartenders pumping away beer non-​stop. Different varieties of pizzas, a pasta dish, and an eggplant vegetarian dish were eventually brought out. I really enjoyed the pizza here. It has a super crispy thin crust, oozing with cheese (I love oozing cheese), and with a good amount of toppings. My favorite of the night, however, was the penne pasta. With a very light yet creamy tomato-​based sauce, it was probably one of the best penne dishes I’ve had. I would definitely return, for both the pizza and penne pasta.
Can’t fail to mention that I love the company of Unilocalers. It was great catching up with familiar faces and meeting a bunch of new people. Thanks again Peter D., Unilocal,and Monk for making my Monday night fun-​filled and full of delicious food.

Love, love, LOVE when I attend a Unilocal Elite event and the place turns out to be a spot I would TOTALLY go visit on my own!
Monk is a pretty awesome pizza/​Italian food joint complete with 2 authentic, exposed brick pizza ovens — I love me some wood/​brick pizza oven charred pizza crust — nothing better in a pizza!
Amongst the pizzas I sampled with their margarita pie and one with cured ham on it as a topping. I do wish they had made pizzas with a greater variety of cheeses and meats — but at the speed that they were churning out these suckers, I completely understand why they kept it simple.
I got to sample about 3 spoon-​fulls of their penne with vodka sauce and parmesan dish. It was absolutely delicious. I couldn’t find forks and only had a flimsy and very thin wooden knife (over from the amazing salad bar — of which I only really liked the arugula with balsamic vinaigrette, which had pears… they’re not my thing, but the arugula was delish!) so I had to improvise…
I put the pasta on my mini-​pizza slice and *BOOM* greatness was born. It was like a party in my mouth, unfortunately not enough pasta was invited. Pasta seemingly only made it to actual tables or was devoured by the mosh pit in front of the kitchen serving area. I was at a bar stool. At least I got my fill o’ pizza.
Empire Brewery was also on hand to distribute copious amounts of complimentary Empire IPA and Amber ales. The IPA was okaaaaaaay, I’m not a IPA or hops person. The amber ale was also ok, but I generally prefer wheat beers or stouts.
This was definitely another great Brooklyn Unilocal event — thanks to Pete, Ruggy and Jane for showing us another great Unilocal night! Cheers!

Despite the distance I always find myself going to Brooklyn events. It doesn’t matter what day of the week a Unilocal BK event is on I am willing to leave the city time and time again. Once again, thanks Peter D for putting together a great event.
I very much enjoyed the fact that we were all seated at various tables and served family style. It was nice to have a variety of dishes brought to us to sample versus having everything on one table and attempting to grab a slice or serve yourself some pasta.
Highlights of the night:
— Penne alla vodka: Before last night I was not the biggest fan of this particular dish. I’ve been converted to a penne alla vodka aficionado after trying this dish at Monk. I would travel back to Williamsburg just for a plate of that!
— Friendly staff: I think the restaurant staff really made the experience. They walked around and made sure everyone tried at least something.
— Pizza: Who could forget such amazing pizza? From the crust to the sauce it was DELICIOUS.
Thanks Unilocal Staff, Ruggy, Peter, and the wonderful staff at Monk for opening up my eyes to another cool spot in Brooklyn.

I always enjoy Brooklyn events and this one was no exception. Good pickin’, Peter. The huge W-​burg warehouse space served the group nicely, and holding the event on a Monday when the restaurant is usually closed was smart. Things started slow as a long line for Empire booze formed, but as soon as they doubled the tap help, all was well.
Compliments to the chef and the staff for having plenty of delicious food for the large group. The pizza, of course, was the centerpiece; the enormous, two-​door brick oven shooting out delicious thin (but slightly puffed) crust pies every few minutes. The salads and other bites were also welcome.
Empire IPA, which my +1 and I enjoyed, was a nice summer sipper – with enough flavor but not overpowering in IBU.
Cool place!

In typical Peter D. style, he threw another wonderful event! Miss Sarit and I got here a bit early and were very impressed with the décor and layout as viewed from the outside. There is a really nice patio seating area, the inside is huge, clean and has a really nice and unique vibe to it.
As the doors opened at 7:00.01pm in true Peter D. fashion, we walked to the table and checked in. We were given a friendly greeting, and immediately jumped into line for a beer (don’t judge!)
There was a pretty large line in the beginning, and the bartender seemed a bit new. I felt bad for the guy, he was really trying to make everyone happy and was breaking a sweat doing it. If anything, it goes to show his commitment to customer service is top-​notch. He got the hang of it and worked out a system so traffic went much easier from that point on and the line was minimal if at all. My hat is off to you sir.
There was lots of seating available — and in fact I thought too much available for this event. Everybody was sitting at a table talking to their clique. There were the usual food-​vultures (*wink*) sitting at the long tables getting first-​and-​last dibs on all the food being brought out and set in front of them. Hey — I don’t blame you.
The food was fantastic on the real-​real. My favorite would be the eggplant and pesto on toasted baguette. The pizzas looked good, though all I had was the veggie combo and cheese but they wheeled out some with prosciutto that looked A-​M-​A-​Z-​I-​N-​G!
I talked to my usual Unilocal’ies as well as met some new ones. I had a fantastic time and as usual would like to express my gratitude to Peter D., Unilocal (including all my fellow Elites + aspiring Elites) and Monk for throwing a bash to remember!

I had a great time at this event.
When the post said «sampling the menu» I didn’t expect to have a whole pizza put in front of me! And to top it off, a pretty darn good pizza!
After studying abroad in Italy I would certainly consider myself a pizza snob. It’s all I ate over there! I would say this pizza tasted pretty legitimate. I also liked the pasta dish. Serving everything family style was perfect — it is Italian food after all.
Thank you Monk for some great food! I’m craving some of your pizza now… if only you delivered to the UES!

GREAT EVENT!!!
Place is cool looking, industrial décor, lots of silver and wood. Has large windows, which lets so much amazing light in. the restaurant is on the second floor so the view of outside is pretty cool. Not so big, small bar area, some booths, tables, bar seating in front of the brick ovens (kind of hot at that spot). Metal lighting, bar stools and counter tops. Parking was easy, this is rite by the water so its not so traffickie.
the food: first thing I had was an amazing baby green salad with tomato and croutons. Very fresh, really good. On to the amazing pizza… they where constantly bringing out pies, mushroom, artichoke, ham, fresh garlic and plain. All were DELISH, crust is crispy, brick oven crunchiness! Pizza sauce was fresh, sweet and tasty, cheese was oooooozzzzing off the pizza! Garlic pizza had pieces of fresh garlic and cherry tomato’s, sooooo good! They also served fresh asparagus (really good, cooked well), eggplant mixed with sweet peppers (this was okay, you know I’m not really a peppers kinda gal), and penne a la vodka (SLAMIN). The penne was al dente, sauce was YUMMMM status.
Its was beer at this event… I’m not a beer gal… but no harming in trying! There beer is from the Empire brewing company, in Brooklyn. Empire ale or empire india pale ale… couldn’t tell you which was better, I didn’t like either.
big shout out to peter d for hosting this amazing Brooklyn event. Cool peeps and good good… always equals a good time!!!
Another shout out goes to the owner Felipe, he was so cool and welcoming. Very down to earth type dude. AND he’s not only Boriqua like me, but he has family in the same town that my family is from (shout out to Mayaguez)…Felipe is DEF representing for the Puerto Rocs with his yummy food. Thank you for having us Unilocalers, we will DEF be back!

Great event. The pizza and pasta I tried was really good. The pizza had a thin crust and just enough marinera and mozz on it. I thought the crust was a LITTLE too salty for my liking. The pasta was really good, I don’t think it tasted any special or anything. Had a lot of cheese in the middle which was good.
4 stars because of how the food was handed out. I don’t think it was handed out fairly and if you were standing in front of the ovens, you were able to grab a few slices. The tables in the middle were the ones that were being served.
Otherwise, those that were mingling around the bar area, didn’t get served much.
I did get to try some of the eggplant pasta they had, but it was kind of awkward asking other Unilocalers if they were done with the family sized portion in front of them and if I could have a sample.
Empire beer was not bad, I’m not really an IPA person its too hoppy for me– so I tried the Amber ale, peroni, still not quite my liking. I’m definitely a Stella kinda gal.
It was a fun evening. I definitely liked the ambiance of Monk and the beautiful view as you could see the sunsetting over the river.

Monk is a pretty Pizza Place. It is spacious and the space can accommodate a very big crowd.
The Pizza was good. I didn’t get to try much of it but the vegetable slice that did make its way to me was good. There was salad which was good and I saw pasta, but I never got any. That was a little disappointing as people said it was good. I will, accordingly, fill my review with hearsay. I heard the pizza I didn’t have was good and that the pasta was as well.
There was also Empire IPA and an Amber beer. They were both on tap and decent. Liz the photographer pointed out the amazing sunset you can see from the area.
I drove to the event. The train is a bit of a walk from Monk.
The restaurant staff was actually really really nice.
Romper room shout outs are always appropriate for the Unilocal Staff and I saw Peter, and Jane and Ruggy.
And of course Fellow Unilocaler… I see you.

Shoutouts!!:
–Ruggy J, Jane K, Peter D, Diana C, Elein T, Lisa H, Daniel B, Lori L, Xavier S, Charlie Z, Chris D, Dorie L, Sara S, Deoroop M, Lydia C, Ada
Décor: ⁴⁄₅
–Neat, hip décor with dining located on the upper level
–It appears they are renovating something on the lower level
Service: ⁴⁄₅
–friendly staff!
Food and Drinks: ³⁄₅
–The IPA and Amber were bleh but the pasta was great al dente.
–The pizza crust was thin and crispy but the toppings were alright. A bit too much sauce and on the salty side.

After a long holiday weekend where I felt hungover at work on Monday, the only thing that could push me through the day was a Unilocal later that night. «Get through these next few hours and you’ll be able to indulge again.» I tell myself. Some people might say «Hey, that’s a problem.» Well I call it motivation, you slacker.
Being a born and raised New Yorker I can not stand lines. They are the bane of my existence like non-​alcoholic beer and tourists. Yes you help our economy, Mulbark from Sweden, but at what cost? (No one is offended when you make fun of the Swedish, right?)
The line for beer when we first walked in was outrageous. I also saw they only had Ambers and IPAs. Major bummer, especially seeing how they had the white aphro originally on the menu. The people who waited on it must have lost a half hour of their lives. Luckily I skipped it. Yet still felt embarrassed for the guy pouring beers. Listen, many of us have been there. It’s not the most friendly tap but if you’re pouring beers, you have to know how to handle that. It’s kinda of your job. This dude did not know how to deal with a rough tap. I told him, whatever, give me a foamy beer. I mean I was double fisting anyhow. After a few laps around the line (Don’t judge me!) the guy finally got it down. Or his colleague stepped in and took over, whatever the case beer was being poured normally.
From there on out it was all uphill or if for those who couldn’t keep up, downhill. Sloppy people are my favorite people… to take pictures of. You know who you are!
I didn’t bother with salad, as I learned in life, you don’t make friends with salad or was that from the Simpsons? I focused on the pizza. Real crispy and delicious. The variety was amazing. I was very surprised. I didn’t expect the pizza to be that great but it was. Thumbs up for Monk’s pizza.
Socially, I had a great time because I tend to always mingle but I felt people were confined to their seats at this event. People did not want to leave their table or spot, out of fear of losing it. Throughout the entire event people were glued to their seat as if mingling would have cost them an arm, a leg or worse, their beer.
My favorite part though was the guy in the Chris Childs jersey who kept stalking the pizza. Not because he was stalking the pizza but because he wore a Chris Childs jersey and I told hm how much I appreciated that. Loved those Knicks teams!
In the end. I had a great time. Chatted it up with people I like. Met new people. Guzzled down lots of empire beer. Ate some amazing pizza and left happy.
Thanks to the workers of Monk. You know how to make pizza and have a good time. Clueless on pouring beer, but great elsewhere. Unilocal staff, thank you as always. Pete always a great job setting up this event. Holding it down by himself to kick off the event, completely unphased. I saw two girls and a wombat getting into a fight and that man just regulated that shit in three seconds. Nerves of steel.

I thought it was a good event even though I definitely didn’t socialize nearly as much as I should have. I said hi and talked to few cool people. The seating arrangements and everyone stuffing their faces with pizza made it more challenging. Empire beer? Hm, I’ve had it before. I walked into Woodwork on Valentines Day this year and they gave me a very romantical Empire Challenge beer crawl card. But I never accomplished all 12 or 13 beers. The ipa isn’t as strong and over-​bearing as some and enjoyable if you like Ipas though, which many people do not. The amber neither I nor my friend cared too much for. Also, the line at points was ridiculously long, persuading me into mild sobriety.
Pizza was shockingly pretty quality! I was asked a question if I thought Palmer’s or this was better. Completely different styles. But I prefer a wood-​burned crust and this was still nice and light and fluffy, yet with crunch and Palmer’s on the other hand, had more exotic toppings and fresher, better ingredients. Toss up. But Monk’s pizza making skills overall were better. I was also a fan of the beets with goat cheese and I think drizzled honey crostini and the eggplant bruschetta was not bad. The penne was also pretty tasty. Only tried a tiny bit because not everything circulated our way and I didn’t feel like standing with the mosh pit in front of the kitchen area.
Towards the ending of our night and after I had convinced Stephy-​poo to join me for a journey down to Washington D.C., I’m easily persuasive, she asked one of the waiters if she can sample the jar of Corona Beans. There was this HUGE ass jar of white colored beans staring in front of us all night. What I didn’t understand was how she thought they were white chocolate or yogurt flavored and nearly spit up my Empire. What I did understand after I saw her choke about how disgusting they were was that they were in fact soup beans. And of course the night ended with playing on the swings and my skinning my knees.

Wow such a great event. I love it.
It is rare that there is some much seating for an elite event. It was so relaxing to sit down and chow down on some great food.
The bread with goat cheese and beets complement each other well. I didn’t expect to like the beets.
All the pizza were amazing. I love the crust. All the crusts were well cooked with a bit of char for favoring. I like the one with the ham, cheese, and the mushroom one.
The pasta seem simple but at the same time amazing. I didn’t want to stop eating it even when I was full. It is something in the sauce that makes me want more.
I want to thank both the owner and Peter D for putting this awesome event together. I also want to thank Peter D for helping to serve the pizza and for hooking my table up when I signal him.
I sat at the tables by the windows which were somewhat ignore by the servers.

Great event at Monk. It was a bit of a walk from the Bedford Ave stop on the L train from NYC, but it was a good opportunity for me to bookmark a few businesses down the strip on my way over. So finally after about a 15 minute walk over to S 2^nd and Kent, we have Monk. It’s pretty cool because I saw this place after the last BK YEE at the Woods and wanted to pop by for a late night snack. But unfortunately the kitchen had just closed back then. So fast forward a month or so and here we go again. Finally, a chance to try the pizza and pasta here.
The décor is very spacious. There’s a big hall with all the semi-​private tables and some communal ones. There’s a higher seating area with a bar feel as well as the actually bar area around the bend. There was salad like arugula and mixed greens which was self-​serve. Various pizza pies passed around by the Monk team like prosciutto, mushroom, and margherita. Two beers on tap were an IPA and an Amber. No love for the Pils, it’s all good. Fortunately, I’m an IPA guy (shouts to Michael W.) and that was my pick. My wife and Unilocal friends had a great time including Sara S., Lori L., Chris D., Deoroop M. I got to chat it up with Daniel B., Paul H. «Danger», Mitch E., Briana H., Seth H., Rony M.
Always good company with the Elites and their plus ones. Looking forward to the next event!
Thanks to Peter D. and team NYC members on site like Jane K. and Ruggy J.

Great party in a really laid back space. There was a lot of food, and a lot of hungry people!, The pizza was impressive, perfect thin crust with melty mozzarella accompanied by crostini and penne a la vodka. I liked that there were huge salad bowls left out for the taking and some other good veggie options like asparagus.
There were 2 empire beers on tap, an amber and an IPA in a sample size.
The owner was really hands in and served the food himself, really hospitable.
There were a lot of seating options and of course some fun freebies like socks and empire brewery pens.
It was a little warm in there and the music a little loud but all in all a great night out. Thanks Peter D for always introducing Unilocalers to cool new spots in Brooklyn.

Awesome event. The fact that there was still plenty of delicious food left when I arrived over an hour late speaks to how well-​planned and well-​executed everything was.
I was delayed on a bus back to the city from a weekend away for July 4^th, but I still wanted to make it out for this event since it sounded good and I had yet to get to my first Brooklyn event. So I hopped on the last ferry to Brooklyn and thankfully got to spend about an hour at this great spot.
Big thanks to Peter D. for organizing a great time. It was also good to finally meet him and a number of Brooklyn Unilocalers for the first time after seeing just their reviews and profile pics for so long on the site.
As I mentioned above, I was shocked that there was still some fresh, piping hot food to go around, as often the food can end early at these events and/​or the savages pick all of the bones clean early on. I was able to try a couple of different pizzas, and they were all incredible. I also tried some of the penne which happened to be great as well.
I would gladly come back here on my own dime too if I ever happen to be in South Williamsburg, as I would love to try some more of that excellent pizza.
Thanks again to Peter and Unilocal,looking forward to some more great Elite events in BK.