The Ugly Monkey Party Bar

This place is fun in that you can dance in the bar and hula hoop. BUT, it use to be the place you could come to dance to good hip hop music and now they play stupid remixes and pop music. I won’t be coming back until I hear that the music has changed back to good, current and old school hip hop.

If I could give this place negative stars it would be –5 stars. The place is a complete dump. The people that go there are… let’s just say «interesting» and the staff is completely rude. The are homophobic there, which we found out when out gay friend was escorted out by security at the request of the owner who chased the boy down the street. She was drunk at her own establishment and screaming at all of us «white people» and making us leave when we started no trouble to begin with. As the owner assaulted our friend, we politely called the police on her. She doesn’t deserve to own that piece of property in Raleigh. The space could be put to much better use by much better people.

Alize and I share a similar story. Ladies BEWARE A friend of mine and myself went to the Ugly Monkey to try it out. While there a very jacked dude got in our face starting a fight!!! I diffused the situation and we went OUTSIDE to finish our drink where we were approached by the same roid raged guy. Instead of making the irrational guy leave we felt forced to leave. The next day (because I was afraid to go get my card) the bartender admitted we were not wrong!!! Yet nothing was done. Awful!!!

My wife and her girlfriend were accosted this past Thursday night by a gentleman who appeared to be experiencing some type of rage. He called them both the wonderful «C» word so they left. However he followed them outside and continued the confrontation. When the bouncer went out into the parking lot he actually escorted the man BACK INSIDE. Not a safe place.

A cross between Mad Max thunderdome and a dive bar, this name drew us in, but after a long wait for service we went for plan B across the the street and enjoyed a tasty beverage at the Flying Saucer, this place has potential, next time we’ll give it more of a chance on a slower night.

How the fuck do you allow a woman to get jumped by three guys and robbed and you put the woman out? No help. No nothing. Bitch made security that’s how. Female gets attacked at the pool tables and both the police and security excuses it by saying that the people are drunk and they can’t go checking everybody… What legit business is ok with this behavior??? Only Ugly Monkey. Women beware and stay away without your own protection. STAY AWAY!

We knew this place was a dive so naturally we were excited to take some of our friends from home here to try out the various boozy slushies and to get a little weird but I will never set foot in this establishment again and encourage anyone reading this to do the same because of the owner. We happened to be here for gay pride weekend and she had a boy yanked off the bar for dancing even though women are encouraged to dance on the bar. When my friend went to talk to the owner about it rather than being a rational human being she attacked him and swung at him multiple times. She ended up punching him in the face. When I walked out to go get my friend the bouncer accused me of pushing him which is totally fabricated I didn’t even go near the guy and when my other friend tried to get the owner off of my friend she CHOKED him. What kind of human being does that? I encourage everyone to not support this woman or this establishment.

Heard about this bar on instagram and decided to check it out once I got to Raleigh. At first I was kind of skeptical about going on a Tuesday night but the bartender (Jessica) assured me that it was the place to be and it definitely was. I only dealt with Jessica for my drinks and she definitely had me on tilt. I would absolutely recommend anyone to go there and have a great time.

Been coming for years and love it. Drinks are strong and highly recommend the shot wheel. Only complaint is that the DJ on Saturday night plays awful top 40s music and refuses to take requests. The bar doesn’t exactly attract the top 40 crowd which is why I go. But if you’re looking for awesome drink specials, amazing bartenders and a place to shoot pool, this is it!

Offline Weekender recommended this place for spinning the drink wheel. The bartender handed me and my friend our drinks and then a random guy came over and took the drinks from us. We yelled at him and got the drinks back but didn’t want to drink them after that. The bartender was still there and saw this happen and he didn’t intervene and wouldn’t make us new drinks so we walked out. I will never go back to a bar that is going to ignore it’s patron’s safety.

I got a super cheesy vibe from this bar. It’s slightly awkward because a good dive bar doesn’t «try» to be a dive bar, it just is. The Ugly Monkey, however, tries very aggressively to be divey and unpretentious. They push the monkey theme pretty hard via wall paintings and a kitschy cage/​go-​go dancing platform (which I was told, gets occupied by drunk women later in the evening).
Another bummer was the alcohol. I prefer my drinks straightforward and I’m not a fan of bright colored sugary cocktails with low grade alcohol, but that seems to be what they’re pushing here, they even serve em up in plastic buckets.
So all that being said, I do have to admit that I had a really good time here. We met some cool people, played some pool and the bartenders couldn’t have been nicer. Although the drinks we ordered weren’t what I would’ve preferred they got the job done. Because this bar is ridiculously close to where I live, I’ll more than likely be back but it will definitely be after I’ve explored every other local option available.

First thing first, this is definitely a dive bar, which they proudly admit to. There is no dress code, so you can wear almost anything as long as you don’t look like a gang member, or hooker. Well, they might let you in looking like a hooker judging by some of the ladies I saw in there the other day.
They have a few pool tables, billiards for the ol’ fogies reading this, some electronic games, DJ, and a bar. There is nothing else in there except for the restrooms. The DJ plays decent music and takes some request too.
The bartenders are very friendly, and might change one of the several TV’s in there if you ask nice enough. They do have steps that lead up to the bar top, with a sign that says «LADIES ONLY,» so any of you guys that have had a bit too much to drink, keep it seated, because only the gals are allowed to dance on the bar top.
One thing I don’t like about the place, no food. Come on, you have to give me some food or snack item to munch on. Have the guy in the back make some sandwiches or hot dogs. Just feed me something edible.
The best thing about this spot, no cover charge. You know you get tired of paying $ 10 at every spot to enter just to buy some drinks when not much else is going on. This place is free to enter, and cheap to drink.

Not bad. Cheap drinks, no cover. What more can you ask for?

Let’s Get Ugly!
Visit: December 10
R-​Line Stop: R8
One of the stops on the Santa Hat Bar Crawl was The Ugly Monkey. I have walked by this place countless times but I have never ventured inside. So I am glad that this bar was included in the pub crawl or I would have never discovered the ultimate fun bar. The bouncer was very friendly and helped move the line along so we didn’t have to wait in the cold for long. That’s a big plus in my book since I don’t like the cold. Within 5 minutes of crossing the threshold, I became infatuated with The Ugly Monkey. Where else can you go in Raleigh that has a bar you can dance on? Yes, there is a built in staircase (with railings (for safety of course)) leading you to the bar top. The steps shout «hey you pretty drunk girl, please climb these steps and shake your booty for all». Oh yea, you know these steps have «beer goggles». There are poles too. Really! Well, I took a pole dancing class once (had a Groupon) so I felt I had some skills but I needed another shot or two to work up the courage or the ‘no care in the world attitude’ to share my skills with the crowd. Luckily, others in Santa Hats and tight dresses felt like entertaining us with their pole play. The pole dancers had the benefit of the DJ spinning some awesome tunes. I grabbed my main man and hit the dance floor. We had so much fun on the packed dance floor with all the other Holiday Partiers. After all that bumping and grinding, I was thirsty and I had to visit the restroom. So my hubby went to the bar for refreshments and I went to the ladies room. For a dive bar, the bathroom was relatively clean… good news. The monkey paintings were cute and made me chuckle. I returned quickly and my husband already had a vodka soda waiting for me. He said the bar service was friendly and fast. Gotta love quick service. While I was sipping my drink, I walked around to check out the other delights at the Ugly. I found foosball! Yeah! I love foosball. Now I have a place to go and play foosball. How much fun! There is also a ‘cage’ and a few pool tables. When it was time for our group on the pub crawl to leave, I was very disappointed but I vowed to come back. So don’t be fooled by the plain jane exterior, there’s a party waiting for you inside the Ugly Monkey.

Party bar? What’s that? Take a bunch of beer signs, add in some flashy lights, some pool tables, a lit beer-​pong table and looks like you’ve got yourself a party! And yes, cheap drinks and beers for all. I’ve walked by the Ugly Monkey many times and finally decided to stop in the other night. We’re talking a youngish crowd, under 30 bar with lots of distractions. The Ugly Monkey is a big, cavernous space with picnic tables outside if you want some fresh air. They’ve even got some poles over the bar for any ladies that want to get a little Coyote Ugly as the night wears on.
Take the Ugly Monkey for what it is, a casual, after-​college dive bar to get a little crazy in. We only stopped in for a quick one and to check out the place. Not sure if I’ll be back any time soon but I’m glad I finally know whats behind all those glass windows at the Ugly Monkey…

With a name like «Ugly Monkey» (perhaps they are not to the coyote level? what does that says about their bartenders?) Is there any way you could have mistaken this for anything other than a deep dive bar?
How did I hear about Ugly Monkey? A friend and I were just out downtown past Friday, and she told me «Hey! There’s a place that has beer pong! It’s calle ugly something… let’s go find it» So using my trusty Unilocal app I found this little hole in the wall, almost midnight, which is now gathered full of college kids and bar hoppers alike.
It’s not really appealing on the outside, and it’s not much better on the inside either, but there are tons of people here, almost nightly, for the cheap drinks and not too bad fun. There’s a stage stair from the ground to the top of the bar, and also some stabilizing poles, so I assume sometimes patrons might like to reenact a few scenes from the famous movie of similar name.
It was confirmed that indeed they do have a beer pong table, and how coincidentally the two guys we decided to play against came down all the way from D.C. for a conference in town at the convention center.
It reminded me some good old fashioned college year fun.

The bar has ridiculously good drink specials… the bartenders are always on point and make up some tasty concoctions for me (I like random new drinks).
Its definitely a mixed crowd in there. It kinda looks like a carnival? They also have some pretty SICK glow in the dark/​light up hula hoops for the ladies.
I would also recommend going after 10 PM or you’ll be a lone ranger.

Don’t go before 9 or you’ll be the only person there– it’s a LATE night bar… I have many great memories (or lack thereof) there… which I remember later via induced photojournalism :-) Foosball and pool tables are coin operated. Good classic music plays. This is a dive bar so you better be ready to hang with the boys here. 50% off everything on Tuesdays!

This bar isn’t what I expected from the outside. You can’t really tell what you’re going to find inside of Ugly Monkey, but it’s actually a cool spot. I guess it’d be classified as a dive bar. It’s got pool and beer pong. The bar is pretty cool with strings of orange lights overhead. There are steps leading up to the bar for «ladies only” – how chivalrous. It’s a good place for a group of people to chill and hang out. They play a good variety of music overhead as well, so there’s something for everyone here. This bar reminds me of some of the crazier Church Street spots in Orlando, but it’s still the Raleigh crowd so not crazy.