The Iron Monkey

My family went in for brunch on a Saturday morning. The wait staff was horrible. Table had no utensils, no salt/​pepper, no sugar nor cream for coffee. We had to ask for everything constantly. The drinks tasted awful, food took forever (albeit, it did taste yummy) and it just seemed like they were not an established restaurant. Pretty disappointing experience. Will not visit again.

Good beer selection, less than stellar food.
Impressed by the number and quality of beers on the menu-​as well as the selection of nightly specials.
Came in on a Friday night for dinner-​food was delayed, with others seated after us served first. while it was our waitress’s first day, we weren’t acknowledged during the 25 minutes + if took for our food to arrive. Once it did, our food arrived cold. We mentioned this and our one beer was comped — which we appreciated — but at this price point, I won’t be returning to eat. Drinks on the other hand, maybe. Happy hour specials and ambience is solid.

Decent selection of beers but the food is really mediocre, and for some reason outrageously priced. I’m not sure who is paying the prices they charge for the food they serve, and it seems like every couple of months the menu changes and everything just gets more expensive. I know it’s a business but the last few times I came here I just couldn’t justify their prices.

Went here for brunch. The atmosphere and staff are great. Attentive and good music. Food however, is subpar. Quality is not worth the price.

Went here for brunch on a nice sunny Saturday but the only good thing about the brunch was the weather. The service is horrible, their mimosas are a rip off, they don’t even mention the price of drinks other than beer on their menu. The food is okay but nothing else is worth going.

I had not been to Iron Monkey in a few years but figured I would try the rooftop on a nice summer eve. First thing I notice on the way up to the roof was that the place has gotten really shabby looking. I get to the roof and I am assaulted by the foul fetid stench of souring beer kept evidently right near the stairs and table seating. The menu which used to be restaurant quality is now practically bar food and so-​so at that. This place is definitely in decline.

Good place in Paulus hook with a large bar and nice outdoor space. Waitstaff is friendly and food is consistently good.

I like this place, very nice and casual. Prices are good. They make very nice old fashioned cocktails and the food looked good.

My review is purely based on beer and service. I have not ventured to try any of their food offerings.
I have mixed feelings about this place. On one hand, they have a GREAT beer selection. Their bottle list is HUGE.
Their location is pretty neat. floor one and two have their own bars. Then there is a third bar on the roof (with different, «roof-​only» taps)! The service on each floor is pretty good.
Here is where things got dicey for me. Iron Monkey fills growlers. And they have specific «growler happy hours» with deep discounts. Unfortunately, they only fill their own branded growlers. So I purchased yet another 64oz glass growler to add to my collection. I picked my beer choice and they started filling. Meanwhile, my wife ordered a specific beer from their bottle list. They called in to their «cellar» via walkie-​talkie. The bar tender was having a SERIOUSLY hard time filling our growler. Their was foam everywhere. After a while we got feed back that they could not find the bottle of beer we requested. I’m still confused about this. It’s still on their menu, they just can’t find it. Back to the growler. After 45 minutes (and a few pints), the growler is filled. The next day, when we open the sealed growler, it was FLAT. Zero carbonation. I called to speak with the manager. The manager tells me that with out my receipt, they can’t help me. I quote «You may have put Miller in there. How do we know you bought it here?». Seriously? I was there for almost an hour getting the growler filled. That’s ¹⁄₈^th of some one’s work day. I would remember that. So we were burned on a $ 28 jug of what might as well have been miller.
I will give them another chance at growler filling in the future, and update my review. Until then, this is my story.

Great beer selection, super friendly servers will gladly help you find the best beer for your tastes! Made it for 9−10pm half-​off beers, what’s better?!

Since I can’t give the Iron Monkey zero stars I am forced to give them one star. Here’s what happened… My boyfriend and I had previously had brunch on the rooftop here and remember having an amazing Bloody Mary and fun experience but it was almost like we were in a different restaurant today. We brought a friend with us for an awesome brunch experience but what ensued was anything but what we expected.
When we walked in we were informed that the rooftop was not open. Then we went upstairs to the dining room in which we were the only patrons (first red flag)… It was 11:30 and brunch menus with drink specials were presented on the table. We proceeded to order our bloody Mary’s which was when we were informed they weren’t allowed to serve liquor until 12:00 pm– we begrudgingly stayed and informed our server Amna that we would wait the half hour for our drinks. Amna assured us that we would get our drinks at 12 on the dot. We were eagerly waiting– we ordered a brioche French toast to start which wasn’t too bad. As the clocked ticked closer and closer to the stroke of 12 we got more and more excited for our drinks to appear. Our server Amna came over around 11:55 to tell us we would get our drinks soon. We waited, and waited– it was 12:08 still no drinks– I stated she has 2 more minutes until we go downstairs and grab them ourselves (my friend and I have been working in restaurants for over 10 years). As my friend and I were about to walk downstairs to retrieve our own drinks our server came with 2 of our drinks. We waited another minute for my bf’s drink as we watched our server greet and seat a table. She then brought the only other table upstairs water as we waited for our drink. We could tell our cheers wouldn’t be happening for a while so my friend and I took actions in our own hands and went to the bar and grabbed the other Bloody Mary. We told the bar tender what was going on up there. We went back upstairs and sat back down to finally drink our brunch bloody Mary’s at 12:20!
Minutes later the manager Ryan came over and introduced himself and told us that they are not allowed to ring in any alcohol till 12pm– we dismissed him knowing that if we were serving at this restaurant our drinks would have been on those tables at 12 sharp– even if we had to verbally order in advanced. He offered to buy the next round of drinks– we accepted.
The brunch arrived– my friend got an omlette, Ordered bacon on the side and it came chopped up inside her omlette (we observed the same thing happened to the table next to us). I ordered a scrambled salmon dish which was epically bland and disappointing both dishes were lukewarm and looked like egg beater prison food.
We ordered our complimentary round– once again we were eagerly waiting for over 10 minutes. Finally two out the three drinks we’re delivered but the third «signature» «Alan’s Bloody Mary»
(W/​bacon strip and chicken wing) was no where to be found. As we were about to go grab our drink again 5 minutes later manager Ryan delivered our drink as our server was still staring into space being incredibly useless. We asked for the check — watched Amna do 6 other things while she could have printed our check and done those things and dropped it off… Our bill was $ 87– with the comped round of drinks. We felt jipped of our money and our Sunday brunch– then as it said on the menu «brunch specials
$ 10– we were charged 13.00 for that special Bloody Mary!!!
This was by far one of the worst experiences I have ever had and we will not be returning.

This update is purely for lunch but read my previous review of the bar.
Iron Monkey has a Monday — Friday $ 10 lunch special option where you can get a meal and a nice full sized selected craft beer for $ 10. Okay you can settle for a bud/​bud light or a house wine but please don’t :) Go craft! Our craft beer selection was an option of the in house monkey beer (IPA) or a pumpkin ale.
There are five different food options and unfortunately none of them are vegetarian. I had the fried chicken which I thoroughly enjoyed while my buddy thought the short rib tacos could have been better. I didn’t try the tacos but I’m just quoting what he said.
The reason I dropped the rating from five to four stars was because we were sipping on our beers for a good 40 minutes before our overworked but still very friendly waitress came back and questioned where our food was. We were wondering the same. She realized her error that she forgot to enter our orders but she and the manager got the kitchen to hustle double time to make our food. Unfortunately since we could only escape for an hour for lunch we had to get the food to go and saved the $ 3 take out fee. We got our food 10 – 15 minutes after that and rushed back to the office.
But they did right by us. They recognized their mistake and tried to rectify it as quickly as possible. I look forward to coming back another day to try and eat lunch actually on-​site to see if there are any differences.

Good bar if you’re ever in Jersey city, it seemed to have a strong after work vibe. They have half price beer from 9 – 10 which was a nice surprise. They also have a good beer selection, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout on draft, $ 10 or $ 5 during half price hour, it was an amazing find and I’d consider it cheap at $ 10. I didn’t try the bar food, but from what I heard from my friend who is a regular I was warned against it so this review is for drinks/​ambiance.

Cool place to grab a late night bite, drinks are mixed well. Music is loud enough to enjoy and low enough to hear your friends when taking bout nothing. I had the Nachos and Jameson
Cool place to visit

I’ve spent some late nights here, and I’m sure I’ll spend some more in the future. This was the first bar I came to in Jersey City, before I even moved there and was just scoping out the area, so it will always have a special place in my heart. This place can get pretty crowded around the bars, and there is a rooftop but it’s very small. The beer selection is solid, and they do half off all drafts between 9PM — 10PM daily, which leads to some GREAT prices.
I haven’t eaten much food here, but the spicy fries are my usual go-​to. The bartenders are always friendly.
See you there.

I love the ambiance and chill vibe of the Iron Monkey. I came here for brunch with my sister. The waitress was attentive and friendly. The flavored mimosas was lovely and the food was extremely good! I ordered the Crisp fried buttermilk chicken an waffles my sister had the shrimp and grits! Both dishes were well seasoned and left me wanting to come back again!
I will definitely return!

This is one of my go to spots when I’m in Jersey City, which, lately has become more and more frequent. The drink selection & list at the Iron Monkey is great. Let me point out for first time Iron Monkey visitors that this restaurant & bar has three levels to it with a bar on each level. The top level is a rooftop bar that’s only open during the warmer months if I’m not mistaken. When we first got there we found it odd that it was empty until we realized that group after group kept going up to the rooftop and then we checked out the rooftop and found where the party was at. Otherwise, what appealed to us was that you have your options of low-​key or upbeat.
If you don’t see a beer on tap that interests you on one level, chances are it’s on the other two levels and they’ll call to get it to you on whichever level you’re on. Let me also point out that I’m not much of a beer drinker unless it’s really good beer. I’m not, in any means a beer snob or aficionado when it comes to beers but there are just some beers that you can tell are really good beers and I have, on several occasions, found those really good beers at the Iron Monkey. Otherwise the bourbon and whiskey selection is also good at the Iron Monkey and pretty good price.
One thing that I am passionate about is food. In our first visit we ordered a plate of wings. Then we ordered another one. Then topped that one with ANOTHER plate of wings. They were just THAT good.
The loaded tater tots are probably one of my favorite dishes that I’ve had from there. And, I can’t forget, the decadent Cadillac Burger. Sure there are plenty of burgers with a fried egg on top, but this one was accompanied with two thick slabs of bacon, melty cheddar cheese and all the fixin’s. The egg was cooked to sunny, perfection that gave you enough runny yolkiness to sop up once cut through.
Prices are great. Service is fantastic. Overall experience is worth the trip.

First visit.
Greeted at the door by… No one. Quiet bar on the first floor.
Made my way up a few floors to the rooftop for dinner.
Had a very friendly server who knew nothing about the menu (she had never tasted any of the entrees, so she couldn’t recommend any of them. Said she had only tried the appetizers because they were the least expensive items). Restaurant owners: Don’t be cheap: Make sure your servers taste everything on your menu.
Ordered the spicy popcorn as an appetizer, and the balsamic chicken based on previous Unilocal reviews.
The salad included with the meal arrived first. It was a nice small salad with mixed greens, tomato, red onion, cucumber, and a creamy balsamic dressing. Perfect for a summer outdoor meal. Next, my entrée arrived, followed quickly by the popcorn appetizer.
The server consulted with a manager who decided that the popcorn should come off of my bill since it was delivered after my meal, but I could keep it to try. It was okay. Tossed in truffle oil and perhaps more heavily spiced than it needed to be, this seemed like a snack that most bars put out for free to get their patrons to drink more (it was $ 3 here).
The balsamic chicken entrée was simple and hearty, but nothing special. Without the buttery balsamic sauce, the chicken would have been bland. It lacked a marinade or spice. The spinach was delicious and the mashed potatoes were very good.
Dessert time: Again, my server had never tried a single dessert at this restaurant, and she had not seen most of them. I took a risk and ordered the special: Strawberry vanilla ice cream sundae with balsamic syrup and granola. With balsamic in the chicken, dressing, and dessert, I suspect they have a surplus of balsamic vinegar.
At $ 9, this ice cream was overpriced for what was served.
Friendly service, but not attentive (not a single water refill) and not knowledgeable about the menu.
Loud and crowded on the roof, silent and empty inside, so you can take your pick of dining experiences.

— Extensive, thorough beer list
— Chill rooftop
— Slowwwww service (even though the place was mostly empty on a Saturday afternoon)
— Friendly, knowledgeable, apologetic waitress

I was walking home, saw the rooftop bar and couldn’t resist. That’s how all great love stories start, right?
Anyhoo– it was a warm breezy day and I needed to quench my thirst. Iron Monkey’s rooftop bar was the ideal destination for a quick mid-​day drink. It’s a long climb up to the top so you’ll really feel like you earned your alcoholic prize.
The rooftop is on the smallish side. We were there at an off hour and got a spot but I can only imagine that on weekend nights there is a crowd. For good reason too-​there are astounding views of the water as well as a private rooftop bar. INTO IT.
I opted for a gin and tonic which was not weak and my friend had a sazon beer. The beer selection went on for pages and pages. Definitely the most craft brews that I’ve ever seen at a bar. Like seriously, where do they keep all of the beer? If you are a beer buff you can order growlers to go and they will deliver within a mile.
I’ll probably be calling up Iron Monkey for that real soon and I’m sure I’ll be back throughout summer, next time hopefully for a happy hour.