Monkey Burger

I’ve been to both locations a couple of times. I really like the burgers here! They are a bit tall, but they are full of inventive toppings and delicious juicy meat. I think the quality of the actual burger patty might even surpass the Tucson landmark, Lindy’s on 4^th. I’ve tried the regular fries, waffle sweet potato fries, and the home-​made potato chips. All the spud options are crispy, hot, and delish! I loved the chips the first time I got them, but the last time I went they had way too much salt. Maybe it was a fluke that time. They also have a decent milkshake, and I like the idea of adding a shot of something extra although I haven’t tried it.
Favorite burgers so far: the Melty and the Sonoran.

Best hamburger i have ever had. Worth the money, especially if you are the type who would spend 6 $ on a not-​so-​good hamburger, invest the extra cash! You wont regret it! :)

Great burger, great atmosphere, great place!

Got the true bleu burger and it was delicious! Service was very friendly and super fast. Defintely recommend the sweet potato fries.

Super friendly and relaxed joint with delicious burger choices.

I’ll definitely be back here for burgers! My friend bought an amazingly tasty Sonoran burger here and a side of fries. They added an awesome amount of avocado to it. The fries were pretty lack-​luster but they were only an extra dollar so not a big loss there :)

Definitely on the greasy side. You should not be coming here if you’re on a diet. Came here during the never-​ending streetcar construction and got a nice little discount. The décor in the restaurant was pretty cool, and served as a good conversation piece as we waited for our food. I ordered the Maddie’s Monkey and it was GIGANTO – probs taller than my head. I had to smoosh it down to get even part of it in my mouth. That was definitely an experience… maybe I won’t go so intense next time. Chips were meh (I mean they are chips, homemade or not), so next time I’ll opt for fries instead
Bad thing: I had bad poops afterward. Not the unsanitary food kind, just the kind that makes my stomach go «omg did you really eat this?!» D:

I had been nagging my friends/​roommates about this place forever! We had walked by several times but always when they were closed. Then, we had a complete fail attempt at trying to go there for dinner on a Tuesday night when they were not open. I thought maybe the universe was just working against me, and I would never get to try Monkey Burger. I was mostly attracted to this burger joint because of the art (the giant monkey) outside their window. When I asked my friends and co-​workers if any of them had eaten here, no one had anything to offer. This only fueled my curiosity. The Thursday night that we had planned our visit was definitely the highlight of that week.
Because the windows are covered with posters and the giant monkey, you can’t see the inside from the street. Walking in, I was shocked by the awesomely cool bar with the wall-​to-​wall mirror: it really made the place look both bigger and brighter. The server kindly took our order, and we sat down in the back under the purple and yellow lights and next to a cool mural. One of my roommates noticed that the table was a recycled door panel that was covered with a thick sheet of glass. The bungee chairs, colored lighting, and murals were already super awesome; that awesome table was the cheery on top.
But, the burgers still topped that! I ordered the South Shore because I love pineapple and ginger. My companions both ordered the Chef Mattie’s Monkey. Being presented with such a ginormous burger is overwhelming, but we all had brought our appetites and finished our meal. The patty was just average, but the buns are pretty phenomenal. They also make their own potato chips here and serve it in a large pitcher with each plate. The entire meal could easily serve two.
Best part is still the art, which attracted me in the first place.

I love this place, food is amazing, i went there about a month ago… one star off because they had a lot of things that werent available on the menu =(The sweet potato fries are amazing i could eat a bucket of those.

This is the third time I have had a burger at this location (it’s the only one I’ve been to although there is one on Broadway too). I took a group of my friends this time. Before we all finished ordering our food began coming out of the kitchen. I had the Chef’s Mattie’s Monkey. It was cooked medium just the way I liked it, perfectly. One of my friends commented on this and was particularly impressed, exclaiming, «No one ever cooks my burger right and they got it right». I also ordered a side of their fried pickles. They were fab. They were the perfect combination of tart and crispy. They reminded me of fried green tomatoes. Mmmm. I have to give props to whoever makes the homemade chips. I hadn’t tried any other sides because one, you have pay extra and second, the chips are really tasty. They are very thin sliced potato chips with a subtle seasoned flavoring. They are especially crunchy and light at the same time. Yum!
This place is a hit in my book. Just a few other comments. If you’ve never been, you place your order and pay at the cash register and they give you a number to place on your table. They have some tasty brews on tap. It is a casual spot. The last two times I was there I had quick and attentive servers. The last time was no different although the guy running the register seemed distracted and kept looking out the window. That caused me to keep looking back to the window to see if I was missing some action, possibly at the Rondstadt Center. It is right across the street and it is a lively place as I remember being a public transportation rider at one time. :)

Like the Big Kahuna, this IS a tasty burger. I like the Chef Mattie’s Monkey — it’s a huge burger with enough to feed two people, especially with a big serving of fries on the side. I also like the fact that this place is locally owned, with local beers on tap.

Love this Monkey BEST!
The General Manager, Ralphie, remembered my usual order & I haven’t been to the Monkey in months. That’s customer service folks.
My order, that Ralphie remembered was served quickly!
My order, that Ralphie remembered & was served quickly, tasted great.
My order, that Ralphie remembered & was served quickly & tasted great, was a Mattie’s Monkey with sweet potato fries.
My order, that Ralphie remembered & was served quickly & tasted great & was a Mattie’s Monkey with sweet potato fries, had a side of the tastiest Bar-​B-​Que sauce this side of. .. anywhere!
Oh, BEER!

I had a the portobello sonoran burger here and it was huge and deliciou. I really liked that you could sub the portobello for ANY burger on the menu, usually you just have one option of veggie, but here you had a bunch. Also had the spiked shake which was big enough to share and also really good.
The only downside was ordering which took our group of 8 forever as we each had to go to the register, order, get a number and pay. Therefore our food came out at all different times and the first few people were done before the last two of us even got food. The other thing is that they need some music or TVs or some background noise in there! We were a lively group, but I think without the other noise that annoyed others in the place and it made it feel kinda dead.

I think Monkey Burger is one of downtown Tucson’s hidden gems. The burgers are really good and those homemade chips are out of this world.
The staff is super friendly — I always get great service when I stop in. I’ve only been a handful of times since they opened.
Is is off the beaten track a bit and you might miss it if you’re cruising down 6^th across from the Ronstadt center. I believe it’s about mid-​block.
Short — simple — to the point. You won’t be disappointed when you go.

Good vibe, burgers are good but the patty can be a lot bigger. The fries are tasty, homemade chips are addicting, and the shakes … oh god!!! So good!
The staff was pretty awesome, well the one guy that helped us was the only guy there– Mark, he was pretty cool.

These guys really do make a good burger and I really hope they continue to prosper and expand. I have been a fan of the Wilmot location since they first opened and the downtown branch satisfies just as well.
I order the Sonoran: a big, juicy, medium cooked beef patty, smothered in Chihuahua Cheese, bacon, guacamole, and shredded lettuce. (It comes with cabbage, but I prefer lettuce). The burger is always cooked to perfection and is always fantastic.
Between HUB, Eat-​A-​Burger, Downtown Kitchen, and Monkey Burger, a Burger-​Lover like myself will never lose any weight.
Note: Call Ahead to make sure MB is open.

After a lackluster experience at the Broadway location, I was destined to find some redemption in the recently opened downtown location. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
If you read my review for the Broadway location you might say «maybe it was just THAT burger, maybe you need to stick with something more basic.» And so this time around I ordered a plain olé burger and asked them to add some grilled onions. I also ordered sweet potatoe fries hoping the second time around they’d be good as well. Nope. My burger came out and the guy quickly running it over dropped the lettuce on the floor. «Do you want another piece?» Uhm, yeah, considering I’m not going to pick that piece up of the floor and eat it, yes another piece if definitely in order. Better would have been, «oh man, that’s our crazy jumping lettuce, let me go grab you another piece.» While I waited I had some fries. There is really no way to beat around the bush here, they’re not good. The fries themselves lack flavor, there is virtually no seasoning and why they aren’t served with anything to dip is beyond me. Oh and they were cold, but that seems to be a given here.
New piece of lettuce in hand I started to do up my burger and found it a little tricky to try to get it assembled. Why? The bun was drenched in grease that made it so slippery, I could barely pick the thing up and take a bite. And one was all it took for me to call it quits. At first I thought, maybe this is just a really juicy burger, that’s why it’s messy, but no. The meat was dry and lacked flavor, the onions were so overcooked they tasted like onion mush and the bun was so unappetizing I could barely stomach the one bite I took.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Burger City had a great thing going on. This new concept lacks and I’m upset I spent 11 dollars on two fries and a bite of burger. (Did I try to tell someone about my experience? You bet. One guy was tied up behind the register with a line of 10 people waiting to order, and the other was moving so fast dropping food and running back to the kitchen, there was no way to stop him)
Know Before You Go: Eat-​A-​Burger on Stone should be opening soon, maybe I’ll find downtown burger redemption when they get going.

I don’t even eat meat and I love this place! Their sweet potato fries are addictive. Today I went in around 2 pm and ordered the fries and the Caesar salad. I noticed that they had a portobella burger, so I asked if they would just put the mushroom on top of the salad, which they did. It was exactly the lunch I needed. I swear those sweet potato fries are magical! I was in a really bad mood when I walked in, and as soon as I tasted the sweet potatoes, I started to feel better and better with every bite, until I finished my meal in a perfectly wonderful state of mind.

This is my second trip to Monkey Burger, downtown, across from the Ronstadt Center. The first time I had the veggie burger and it was much too messy; portabellas don’t «bite well!» Had the True Bleu this time and OMG… it was yummy. Had an iced tea and their chips and it came to $ 11 and some change. They serve beer and wine too but will be getting hard liquor soon. Their service is excellent and they came back a couple times asking if I needed anything. Decided to go @ 11 a.m. to avoid the noon rush. If you are downtown and craving a burger, this is a MUST STOP in your itinerary!

Cheaper and much better than Zinburger. That’s really all you need to know. Also, from what I could discern, their fantastic tap selection is always $ 2.50. And by fantastic, I really mean «fantastic». They had Coronado IPA on tap. Who has that?
This seems to be a cursed space though, and I was surprised to read recently in the Weekly that Monkey Burger had decided to swing out of the strip mall and try its luck here. This was previously Burger City, which was actually a pretty good place but was so poorly run that I only ended up in there twice. It was also a cheap pizza place for a while.
They have some very interesting burger combinations, all running $ 8 — $ 10.50, which includes choice of fries (not very interesting) and (supposedly) housemade chips. Obviously, the more interesting and stuffed a burger you get, the more expensive it will be. They also offer any burger to be changed out to chicken or turkey for no extra cost, and have a veggie burger option that my companions got. They may have had more than one but, in all honesty, I was a little drunk when I was in here. They’re open late, so this is a good after bar spot.
Burger came out pretty quickly but not quick enough to make you think it was prepared ahead of time. Now, in Tucson, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a burger prepared as I requested it and I don’t really expect that. However, this time, they came pretty close. I ordered «medium» and it was really «medium well.» However, my SO ordered hers «medium rare» and got it just that, to her satisfaction, at least.
It was a very good burger and there were a lot of toppings. You got your money’s worth here, certainly. Things were sliding off constantly and a fork became necessary. They have real forks (i.e. — metal) as well as steak knives for cutting the burger in half, which come in handy. I thought it a little dangerous having steak knives so accessible directly across the street from Ronstadt, but maybe they have this worked out.
I specifically recall the bun being excellent. One of those buns that’s a little dark and somewhat shiny (from the butter) on the outside but nice on the inside. There was a lot of bun too. I mean, this is a big, big burger.
So another good, locally-​owned restaurant Downtown with good beer. Support these guys and get a burger. If you don’t eat beef, get a turkey burger. I’m sure it’s just as good.