The Brass Monkey

Such a cool atmosphere unfortunately they are shutting down and had completely given up.

I go here about once a month to hear barious DJs spon on fridays. The bar is well stocked with various brands of alcohol and the bar tender tends to give me space while i sip my drink and davor the tunes being played. Its a pleasantly under rated experience that helps me wind down from a stressful, busy week.

Went here on Friday night and it was great. Dj plays some good old school music and takes suggestions. The fish sticks are to die for and the tartar sauce is definitely home made. This is my new hang out for after work drinks and food!

We hosted our event tonight at The Brass Monkey and could live the space any more! The staff was amazing and what a pleasure it was to have such a great venue support. Due to the restaurant Bing closer on Mondays we ended up not sampling the food but we’re going back to do their menu! Can’t wait to see what they’ve got cooking!
What’s not to love about this jewel of a venue with versatile space and friendly staff that do good by supporting Fight2Feed!

Recently I’ve attended a «Network after Work» event at The Brass Monkey.
What can I say — it seemed to be the worst networking space ever. I chose to go to the event only because i know that The Brass Monkey has a lot of space inside and I was hoping for the great night.
So when I arrived to event i was greeted by an amazingly friendly hostess and had a great small talk with a women working at the wardrobe. That was the last good thing about the night.
These kind of events are usually attended by 50 – 100 people and all the space we got for networking was a tiny part of the restaurant by the bar. I didn’t even manage to get a drink — it was way to crowded to walk around with a glass in my hand.
So, at the end of the day I just keep wondering — why The Brass Monkey management was so cheap and tried to keep 100 people at the tiny part of their restaurant?
Never coming back again.

While the restaurant itself is INCREDIBLE — the service was NOT. This review is solely based on my PRIVATE EVENT experience. I chose to host a group event at Brass Monkey and had a pleasurable experience in the beginning stages of my planning — amazing customer service, available for assistance when needed, quick on email responses, etc.
Upon arriving for our final meeting/​walk-​thru, we were left standing in front of the restaurant for 20 minutes with no response until someone finally answered the door. We were informed that our sales manager had just been fired and things were «pretty crazy». Things went downhill quick from that point — emails weren’t answered, details that were discussed with our previous manager were lost — it was quite frustrating since we were only a few weeks from our event. After a quick phone call with our new manager, we were hopeful things were settled… but then on event day all things fell apart.
Upon arriving to set up for our event — all the doors were locked and no one answered the phone. Our manager showed up 45 minutes late to let us in for set-​up — with no apology or consideration. She kept saying they had an event the night before that went until 3am, so everyone was really tired and running late!!(?) We were shocked to find dirty floors, broken glass, sticky tables, etc. We were left with 45 minutes to set up our entire event and had to do it around a custodian mopping the floors at the same time. It was a stressful morning that could have easily been avoided had they planned ahead. The most disappointing part was that NO one in the restaurant (except for an AMAZING server) apologized/​expressed concern at all. Even when the general manager managed to show up (10 minutes prior to our start time), he didn’t say a word about these issues. The food/​drinks came out late — even after discussing the timeline with our manager 30 minutes prior. They did not set out the correct beverages and once they did bring out the correct drinks — they set sticky/​dirty glasses with them. We had to keep asking for things to be replenished — food, drinks, half+half, sugar, cups… you name it. And when all things were going wrong, our manager was no where to be found. It truly seemed as if our event was a nuisance since they had a larger event the night before.
Bottom line — until they hire a strong sales/​events team, I would NOT recommend hosting a private/​group event here. I have never experienced such poor customer service — especially when hosting a larger group event. Being in the event industry myself, I kept trying to give them the benefit of the doubt — but to no avail. The current sales manager is very inexperience and unprofessional — I hope they get things together because the venue itself is stunning.

Went here for drinks while waiting for an event to start next door. Cool little vibe… good drinks (though a tad pricey)…fabulous service (thanks, Julian!). My only disappointment of the evening was that the Cheese Ball is no longer shaped like a ball… I was all ready to flashback to 70’s suburban house parties!

I went because it’s where my friend works. I’ll be back. A lot. Whether or not she’s still there. Screw her.
We got drinks because duh — the brass monkey and tang. Both were delicious but the brass monkey was the clear winner. Also got a glass of Pinot Grigio which was much better quality than I’m used to when I just order a Pinot Grigio.
The food was AMAZING. We got the meatball app. It was tangy and sweet in a sizable portion (8 balls); so good we were fighting over the last ball. Tee hee hee.
We both got the cheeseburger which was above average, to say the least. My boyfriend kept noting the butteriness of the buns as a key component to why the buns got his approval. He then went on to mime eating other kinds of buns and butteriness and things got weird. Which means it was really good.
Last but not least, the smores dessert — inventive and INTOXICATING. Like it melted in your mouth. Fudgy brownie, melty drops of marshmallow, and graham cracker crumbs — yup, the gang’s all here!
Overall, the staff was very attentive and friendly, the place was clean and well-​kept, and the ambiance was so cool. It made me just FEEL cool, even though in reality we were eating dinner at 6:15 so we could rush home and continue our Lost Netflix marathon. And so yeah… still felt cool.
The bar looked like a lot of fun, next time we will definitely sit there. But this place is my new favorite west loop restaurant, and we all know that area is a treasure trove of hipster chic. Till next time, monkey.

My overall experience of this restaurant was not a good one. I arrived a little early for my reservation and the rest of my party was not there yet so I sat at the bar to order a drink. I asked for a drink menu and spotted something I wanted rather quickly. At this time the bar had probably 20 people in it but it was starting to fill in (6:30 on a Thursday). It then took about 10 – 12 minutes for the bartender to come back my way. He started taking other peoples orders who had just arrived. I finally had to flag him down to order a glass of wine. Upon ordering he ran my card and gave me the receipt for $ 56! He charged me for a bottle instead of a glass.
He then came back with a $ 14 charge — of course I check my statement the next day and the $ 56 is not credited. I call back the next day (currently on hold for 15 minutes and counting).
We finally sat down for dinner — there were maybe four other tables with people for dinner. Thankfully our server was a bit faster with the drink orders.
The food was… just ok. Some of the dishes were a bit cold (meatballs) and the pot roast entrée was about 75% fat. When a manager came by to ask how our meal was we mentioned it to her and she said she would let the chef know. At no point did she offer any type of discount on this terrible dish. The mac and cheese was pretty bland and nothing to write home about. The TV dinner is pretty good — great cobbler and sweet potatoes. The fries with the stank and frites dish were REALLY good. but not a good sign when the best thing you eat at a place is french fries.
Lastly — the restaurant has a back door to it that leads to another venue. The staff and guests are constantly in and out and it causes a TON of cold air to come into the restaurant. My poor female clients I took to dinner had their coats draped over them the whole dinner and not one person on staff mentioned it. They ignored the fact that these customers were freezing.
I had a reservation for here 2 weeks later with some friends which I canceled immediately this morning.
This is probably a good place to grab a few drinks (if you get a table) but I wouldn’t plan an all out dinner here.

Wow, I have to admit that I have passed this place many times and I never went in.
That all changed last night and I couldn’t be happier.
The food is awesome.
The décor is so cool (70s vibe) with great music.
The service was perfect and genuinely appreciated.
You must try this place as it is a hidden gem and you won’t be sorry.
Nice job Brass Monkey and we will be back…

Tucked away on Morgan away from the hustle bustle of Randolph and Lake this large venue space offers a great night to grab a bite or just a drink.
With so much potential to host a large party or an intimate dinner at a booth the vibe is definitely 70’s chic.
I only came in for drinks but will definitely head back for food.
The décor speaks to you the feel of the 70s from the booths, tiles, ceiling, light fixtures to the records at the door. Even the restrooms downstairs felt the 70’s vibe.
The staff is nice and attentive although I have to admit it was a slow night. They made great recommendations.
Bonus is that there is no parking meters and parking on the street is plenty.
I had the SOCAL 75-​Osocalis Brandy, Drambuie, Angostura, Prosecco. This was the perfect mix of sweet and bubble.
I am waiting to go back and try the food soon!

We had dinner at Brass Monkey with friends and had a lack luster experience.
Décor: This was the highlight of the visit. There is an obvious ’70’s theme at play and with the décor and music it really feels «authentic» (I’m guessing, from what I’ve gleaned form television and movies haha). It’s very dimly lit but it really helps to set the mood and vibe of the place. There are a bunch of tables, but not «TONS», and there is a private room if you wanted to host a party there.
Bathroom: Being downstairs, the bathroom was kind of creepy. When I visited it there was no one else down there and it was just too quiet. However, there are a number of individual bathrooms for both men and women and the fake Playboy covers on the wall are interesting. The bathrooms themselves are very clean and totally private.
Staff: In a place that is themed like the 1970’s we expected the waitresses to be a bit «in character.» However, they seemed to all prefer to dress «goth» — nothing wrong with that, just found it odd. But anyway, our waitress was very nice and was always on hand when we needed her. They could have been a bit faster with refilling water glasses but it wasn’t too noticeable.
Drinks/​Food: We started out at the bar (despite having a reservation we had to wait about 15mins for a table to open) and had a round of drinks. Naturally, many had Brass Monkeys but there were a few beers and a Blanton’s bourbon (NICE!) mixed in. After we were sat we started with a «Balls Sampler», the meatballs and the cheese ball (meatballs were tasty and the cheese ball was delicious!), and then moved on to the main course. We had a slew of TV Dinners (they were fun but a bit small on the servings and the Turkey Pot Pie was pretty dry), the Monkfish (very, very tasty!), and the pork chops (entirely overcooked and just not very tasty). We forwent dessert based on the apps and main courses, despite the options being semi-​appealing.
Value: Given the small portions and the lack-​luster execution (and taste/​preparation) I find the prices to be a bit lofty.
It is always fun to try a new spot but sometimes there are misses… Brass Monkey was a miss and I’m not sure we’d return again for a meal.

Solid 3.5…alas no halfsies on Unilocal.
Easy opentable reservo. Love
Décor is fantastic. Love
Menus are so cool-​retro 70’s. Julia Childs! Love.
Service was actually really great. Personable but not fake. Love.
But occasionally lost our server to a large table.
The food was where I was lost. It just didn’t do it for me.
Server was basically orgasming over the rabbit special. It was like a late night bad decision for me… did nothing for me & regretted it for the next hour. ;)
Mussels were just ok. Pretty average and definitely had better.
Beef tartare was too chunky… I like smooth tartare. This was hunks of it… I wasn’t a fan.
Brussels were decent. Perfect char
TV dinner. Filet was good, the sides were mediocre.
Sliders were my favorite.
The desserts were average.
Overall, I really did like it. I just feel like they need to step it up with the food flavors and they’ll be good.

Ah, the 70’s. The era that brought us disco, bell bottoms, platform shoes and some really crazy food that carried over from the 50’s and the 60’s also brought some really interesting designs many of which you can see at the Brass Monkey like mirrored ceilings, an interesting use of metals and a really campy bathroom waiting area (just wait til you go down there!) And I like that you can go downstairs and find an album (yes, a record ALBUM) and bring it up and the DJ will play it. Very cool.
From the people that brought us Untitled, I expected a lot in coming here, given good food, interesting spaces and good service are the norm with this group. After all, Untitled is that place that people line up to get into the speakeasy vibe. And the Brass Monkey has the same potential.
This location in the W Loop is just waiting to pop with Google soon to open, a hotel opening next door and the cool venue space that the Brass Monkey shares with Morgan Manufacturing, a huge venue space that it’s attached to that takes up the whole block. And the best news? There’s a HUGE rooftop with some amazing views of the city (private parties only right now). Pretty impressive.
What wasn’t impressive was the service or the food on the night we were there. The only guy that seemed to get it right was Tony, the valet who was actually anticipating what we needed and brought the car around unasked. Other than that, it was a disaster.
Our server was new to the place but a seasoned server, or so he told us. Then he disappeared and didn’t bring us our drinks for 45 minutes. When we went in to see if they just lost our order (we were seated on the small patio out front) the manager came out and said he would get the drinks. When the server came back to get our food order, we still didn’t have any drinks. He blamed it on the manager. At this point, given we were sitting in the sun, we didn’t care who’s fault it was, jut bring us our drinks!
As for that food, it was just okay. I had the steak frites, pretty basic but cooked properly, my friend had the mussels, we shared the «Cheese ball» (needed more crackers) and my friends tried to have the Brussels sprouts but they brought asparagus instead and the fish sticks never showed up. The cheeseburger was fine and the tuna salad was okay. Meanwhile, we had no drinks to go with the meal as the server disappeared again.
The manager tried to make it right by saying he would comp the drinks, but it was just not to be on this night as we ordered dessert (clearly we are gluttons for punishment) and those never showed up either even after we were given a tour of the entire place and came back. Still no dessert. So we cancelled the dessert given we just had no more time to wait.
By this time we had been here for almost 3 hours so we asked for the bill so we could just get on with our night. And the final injustice? The change was wrong but who wanted to wait to make it right? No one. It was worth the $ 6 just to get out of there.
Great potential for this space. But for all this drama on a Saturday night, I doubt I’ll be back until they get the bugs worked out. Just hoping it doesn’t take so long to fix that it turns into an 80’s restaurant!

So for our first foray to Brass Monkey we opted for appetizers at the bar. Meat balls, Brussels sprouts and seared tuna. The meat balls were reminiscent of the Swedish meatballs served with toothpicks at all my parents dinner parties but way better. The grapes were a nice touch! Mellody and I love Brussel Sprouts and these did not disappoint! Not too much sauce and just the right amount of seasoning. Definitely recommend you order these regardless. We also shared the seared tuna salad which harkened toward a Waldorf with shaved celery and grapes (there’s those grapes again!) and a light dressing. Oh, did I mention the tuna was prepared perfectly?
Our dinner was rounded out by some awesome cocktails prepared by our knowledgeable and friendly bartender, Erik. He certainly guided us through our first visit and we hope to be back soon.
Cheers

So, this is how I feel. If a restaurant is out of the way with nothing else around it, which means that people need to make an extra effort to get there, the food had better be the best (or one the best) within the 4 – 5 block radius. This is how you set yourself up to be outstanding. If the location is out of the way, but there’s amazing food, people will come and return again. Brass Monkey is still in the Fulton Market area but out of the way from the main area with nothing else around, however, the food was not greatly impressive.
We tried the beef carpaccio, tuna waldorf, grilled calamari, meatballs, fettucine, and arctic char. The standouts among these items were the calamari and arctic char. Even so, they were great, but did not wow. So let down by the fettuccine — many of the noodle strands were stuck together. Boo hoo. And the taste was bland.
My old fashioned was good so I’ll give them points here.

Having a pretty equal distribution of one to five star reviews, I feel I’m pretty qualified to say don’t eat here.
Even though I was only alive for a few months in the 70s, l believe their interior decorator did a fantastic job in creating an authentic environment. The chairs, the floor, and the tables are what I’d expect to have seen in the 70s.
And I appreciate how the menu is slanted to the 70s.
Here’s the food we had:
* Fish sticks: Who wouldn’t order fish sticks in a yuppy place like this and expect amazingness? Lately we’ve given the hipster touch to fried chicken, cupcakes, tamales, and marshmallows… why would we leave out fish sticks? These were decent, but devoid of flavor (or heavily relied upon the sauce with which they are served).
* Boar meatballs: I’d say these were the highlight of all food items. They were tasty.
* Fondue: It was fondue, and a good thing we ordered it because it worked well to give the fish sticks some flavor.
* Duck: We were told this would be medium rare; it was medium at best. Some decent flavor here, and probably the best main course of the meal. By no means, however, would I crave it.
* Skirt Steak: Ordered medium rare, came out medium-​well. The fries were good, though. Yay for fries and (Heinz) ketchup. Heinz ketchup… really? Come on, no restaurant worth its salt uses industrial ketchup nowadays. It probably was the kind with HFCS but it was in a ramekin so that counts for something, obviously.
* Double cheeseburger: In fairness, the patties were thin so to get medium-​rare is tough… but it lacked flavor.
* Flourless chocolate cake: From what pre-​packaged provider did they get this? There was nothing fresh about it, and even worse, the exterior was room temperature at best, but the middle was steaming/​scalding hot. To me, that screams… microwave. Yes, microwave!
I would never, ever recommend the food here to a friend (or enemy), and it’s a shame because I’ve had some decent meals at Untitled — the same folks behind Brass Monkey.
But when food sucks, I turn to the other menu… cocktails. I really enjoyed my «Tang,» and the wine list was thoughtfully assembled.
If somebody said, «we’re having drinks and meatballs at Brass Monkey, I’d go.» If they said, «wanna have dinner at Brass Monkey,» I’d turn around and run away as fast as I can.

We did not get much food as we had another reservation. We got here around 5 pm on a Saturday.
It was empty. We got the wild boar meatballs. This was amazing.
Not many options to chose from. So next for dessert we got the pineapple upside down cake. This was d r delicious too.
However they cold not provide us with a dessert menu and neither get one printed in the time that we were there. I should probably deduct a star for that but I am not as these two dishes were amazing. But like I said not many options to chose from!

I came here with very high expectations, anticipating the opening for several months. Walking in, the restaurant is gorgeous. Dim lighting and overall cool vibe. The four of us sat at a high-​top and started out with cocktails. I had the old fashioned, followed with a glass of pinot — both were spot on. The food however, was not.
We shared:
+ the sloppy thirds: group’s overall favorite and my first sloppy joe, ever.
+ crab fondue: tasty but very small portion, served with toasted bread and ritz crackers (really?)
— beef tartare: one of my least favorite. it was drenched in mayo and layered with veggies
— braised short-​rib: extremely tough, chewy and bland. half of this was left uneaten
— meatballs: another miss. extremely sweet and meat was very dry
— mushroom flatbread pizza: very bland.
+ side of Mac & cheese: ooey gooey deliciousness. another favorite
Overall, I like the vibe of the place and would return for a cocktail at the bar, but Randolph/​Fulton Market have a plethora of better restaurants to dine at.

I came by here last night for some dinner after work because I had heard so many good things about the décor and the 70s/​80s kitschy vibe. The space is beautiful. It’s large and spacious, perfect for the growing neighborhood. It even has a separate event space for people who want to host weddings, birthdays, etc there.
So now to the good stuff. I started with the SoCal 75 cocktail, which was served in a champagne glass. It had Brandy, Drambuie, and Cava and was totally balanced with bitters so it wasn’t too sweet. The whole cocktail list looked great to be honest. And thanks to Katie who was practicing the new drinks. She did a great job for her first time making the SoCal 75!
For food, I went straight to the main dish of squid ink linguini for $ 26. I wish I could have seen the 70s menu but I didn’t see that until the end of my meal. No big deal though, the squid ink linguini brought me back to Barcelona, Spain. It had a delectable chili saffron cream sauce with scallops, shrimp, crab, and sundried tomatoes. It was a hearty serving and I ate all of it up in between chats with Jackie (another bartender) and Michael (the beverage director who shares a love of Bourbon with me).
The bar selection is extensive. They have a lovely wine list from which I ordered a Cabernet Sauvignon to pair with my pasta dish.
Then I saw the 70s menu. Meatballs, TV dinner, fish sticks, pork chop & applesauce! I was told to order the pork chop next time and that’s definitely what I’m going to do. I was able to try the pot de crème for dessert. It was a rich smooth custard with that bruleed caramelized top covering some raspberries. And the biscotti served with it was a perfect touch. Everything was delicious. I can’t wait to go back!