Gem City is my favorite bar!! Super friendly service and fun atmosphere! Also, Market Grill's food during the day is out of this world!! Could not love this place more read more

Good service, good food and ambiance, 4 stars because they took Rock and Roll McDonalds off the jukebox

now serving market city grill!! the angry beast is baaaaaaack. if you know, you know.

This bar has always been a "gem" and now with new owners and upgraded everything it's the perfect local dive bar. The addition of the menu is brilliant, such good food. The absolute best burger in Monrovia, without a doubt there is no competition from any of the other restaurants. Have always loved this place and always will. read more

I am told this place has new ownership and got a great update. I hadn't been in it before, but I can just say that is exactly what you want from a neighborhood bar and grill. The drinks are reasonable, pool tables, good seating, and even bands on the weekends. Saw a great classic rock cover band there recently, and the place was hopping. I haven't tried the food but next time that is on the agenda. Otherwise the place looks really clean, so I can believe its been updated with lots of TLC. I look forward to making this place a regular hangout. read more

Monrovia's dive bar that's not actually divey! Safe, clean, great bartenders (We love you Paulie and Mag!) The kind of place a single female can come and not feel sketchy. Animal friendly (they actually like you more if you bring your dog!) The owners are local Monrovians so come support local business! Long Live Gem City! read more

How I have never noticed this place here is beyond me. But one lazy afternoon, I have a couple of friends texting me to get down there now!! Good fries and burgers! And a tuna melt for me. Well, I wasn't able to go that afternoon, so I moseyed on in one evening after work for happy hour. It's a pretty big bar with dart boards and Jaeger on tap. It was sorta empty and I asked for a menu. Cooks gone! Bummer. So I entertained myself with vodka instead and inquired about Happy Hour. And that, my friends, is 3-7, with 50 cents off each drink. My Fizzy Screw was 3.25 for happy hour. On my second Sunday afternoon visit, STILL no cook!! Apparently he leaves at 2pm. A woman fell off her chair and I somehow wandered into the guy's restroom and then tried to enter the utility closet, all the while scratching my head in confusion. Refusing to relieve myself in that skanky bathroom with the urinal and the door that wouldn't shut, I wandered back out to find the women's restroom out in the main bar, NOT down the hall. I could hear the bar laughing at me thinking I was actually still using the men's restroom (or the utility closet). *sigh* I may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but, really, I do manage to keep to the women's restrooms. They don't take debit cards, but they have an ATM machine that will punish you with a $3 fee for not having cash. According to their large sign, they have live entertainment on Fri and Sat evenings and breakfast specials on Sunday. Taco specials on Tuesdays. read more

Shout-out to Pauly for cutting my coworker off when he was too drunk. Helen for keeping my water topped off, and I'm sorry I don't remember your name and the cook for letting me know that my coworker was trying to give me the slip on getting home. read more

If you're trying to play pool here beware the regulars here they won't let you play and will erase your name from the board when you're not looking almost got into a fight over it. I wouldn't come back here just because of the crowd of people that are there. read more

Gem is an oldie but goodie . I been in Monrovia about all my life and it's always a little go to bar . Since the new owners the place has been remodeled and very clean . The bartenders are all very friendly , quick , and nice ! They have great bands on Saturday nights and karaoke Thursday is always fun ! They also have market grill in there which is a great restaurant . Also for late night snacks they have a few bar food options ! Always a good time . read more

Gem city is amazing!!!! Went here for the first time today! Pauly is a such a beautiful soul and bartender! Customer service is huge to me!!! AND this place far exceeded my expectations. Thank you for having us!! You guys are great read more

Been going for years and its a chill dive bar. Cheap booze, great bartenders, fun karaoke on Thursday nights and live bands Fri-Sun. Can't ask for much more!! Don't let one mishap with some out of town hood rats ruin this hole-in-the-walls good reputation, lol. read more

You're average hole in the wall bar with strong pours, a pool table and mega touch. They serve an amazing breakfast!!! Great place to stop after work, plan to stay its addicting!!! read more

Gem City Grill - One tequila, 2 tequila....fuck it - Bars Near Me - Monrovia, California

People, it's a dive bar. Don't come here dressed like Gatsby expecting to woo your date. Come here looking to have some fun, listen to some live music, and get some cheap drinks. I Love Gem City. I can be a classy, pinky-out female, but i can also come to a bar and shoot some pool. Bar staff is very friendly. It's normal dive bar cleanliness when it comes to the space, but your drinks are cheap and clean. Another reviewer who said the glass was given an "ice bath" doesn't understand the three-part sanitizing system that Every bar uses on glassware. read more

Ok. So is this normal? The bartender takes peoples dirty cups, give them an ice bath in a tub of water, and then reuse that cup for the next person. No soap. So the guy that was guzzling his beer lip to rim, became some girls cup literally a minute after he was done with it. Gross. So i crooned my way through my drink. Won't be drinking here again. read more

Hidden Gem for sure. Met some great new friends. Thanks Suzie & Bobby. This will be a hang out for us now in Monrovia. DARTS !! read more

Gem City Grill is BRAND NEW! It is not a reincarnation of what was before. The new owners not only "redecorated," they stripped the interior & fixed the multiple deficiencies that existed in the past. The place is antiseptically clean. The restrooms are new. They scrapped the old kitchen & rebuilt new. The menu is limited, but the few items are freshly made & delicious. I highly recommend you give it a try. read more

This is actually a bar but you wouldn't think that when you go in. New owners did a great job in the renovation. Went for their Sunday breakfast. Get the green eggs and ham. It's not ham but pulled pork! It looked so good I forgot to take a picture. The pancakes were pretty good too. Yum! Atmosphere and service was the best. Very friendly and quick. read more

If want to get a drink you are at the wrong place. People are standing around to get a drink and the 2 bartenders are a joke. If you go to the side where the band plays you will have to wait 15 minutes. I ordered one beer and will not order another one because the service sucks. Gonna walk up the street to get a drink... I walked to T Phillips in the rain and had my drink before my friends got a second round. Unless you are a regular here it's better to go somewhere else. This place sucks! read more

Great sandwiches and staff! Absolutely loved the food and the service, and I will surely be returning for more.

We love this place. The service is always great and the food is the best! The beer lines are clean and cold. They have pool tables and darts. Most weekends there's a live band too. read more

This place is like Homer Simpson. Gross, loud, messy, but so love able. It's a dive, definitely. You got free popcorn in the corner, a jukebox, & two pool tables. this place is my go to place. Always a good time. No douche bags here. No bitchy ass girls. Just chill ass people here to drink and play pool. I'm here all the fucking time I love it. read more

This place is just the local drive bar. If you aren't into gritty watering holes, then don't come. If you do, however, I would 10/10 recommend you go here. Like any neighborhood dive bar, it attracts it's fair share of seedy characters, but mind your own business and you'll have a good time for sure. There is free popcorn at the pool tables, and they have the lowest prices for any bar nearby. read more

Totally agree with Miranda M. I felt like we crashed the place when we walked in lol Our drinks were $10.75 for a Hennessey & Coke and a Blue Moon. Not bad. My drink was made strong how I like. The bartender was definitely having a good time in there. Maybe we just went on the wrong night, I wouldn't recommend this place to go solo or with a date but MAYBE with a large group of people this place would be a fun hangout. I live nearby so I decided to walk over with my girlfriend a few days ago. We walked in and it seemed like everyone in there wanted us OUT of there. A group of older women at the bar were giving my girlfriend the stink eye. To which my girlfriend politely responded "Hiii" letting them know yes... I see you staring. We left after we had our drinks, the vibe was all bad in there. I thought my girlfriend was gonna get jumped by some ol' scallywags. We ended up walking down the street to 4D pool hall. read more

Very small place for a concert I had a good time I would call it a dive bar. But I had a good time. Kies was awesome

Let me start by saying, I love dive bars. I look for them in every city, or state that I visit. Gem City Grill is hands down one of the best. Darcy is one of my favorite people and you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not dropping by and meeting her. I started coming here about 2 years ago when I moved into the area and have had so many good times here. You never know what kind of crows you will have her. One night may be a bunch of older locals and the next night will be full of young college kids. They have live bands on the weekends and karaoke on Tuesdays. There are a couple of pool tables and dart boards. The drink prices are great! I've never had bad service here. Just be nice and courteous and they will treat you the same. I've never had a bad time and always meet someone new every time I go here. Make sure to check it out! read more

The old, fat, Skellywag, bartender, Darcy is rude and runs off the female customers. That's it in a nutshell. If you're a female, and wish to go there, call ahead of time to make sure she's not tending bar. Update 5/17/04: I ran into an older gentleman at another establishment. He was so pissed. He said he's never going back to Gem City Bar and Grill, because Darcy was being a bitch towards him. He didn't use the word bitch. He gave me specifics on how she was treating him, which equals to BITCH! I surmise that she's run off 99% of the female clientele, and is now running off the men. Darcy: Take estrogen pills, perhaps that will do the trick. Better yet, retire and enjoy your twilight years! read more

Brenda was such a pleasant and fun bartender. Her watermelon shots were fantastic. She was running the entire bar by herself and even ran all the food during the daytime shift. Its a busy bar at night with pool tables and live bands on friday night. read more

Service sucks, bartenders are very rude, drinks are absolutely nothing special, if your not a regular they won't make you feel welcome in any way. If I could give zero stars I would. There's plenty of other bars to go to in this area. I wouldn't recommend this bar to anyone! read more

People are dying to eat here. At least 2 injured. I thought the food was ok. It's just like any other dive bar. No security.

So far... not impressed, they have 2 bartenders and they hover over one side of the area and don't even bother with the other side... I definitely won't be rushing to come back.... read more

I use to come here when it was a decent place, it has always been a true dive bar with cheap drinks and a wild crowed BUT! I recently went there and the bartender is simply rude!...she was a much older female I believe her name was Darcy. She literally ignored me and ask someone right next to me what they wanted and then I asked her for a margarita she shook her head and rolled her eyes saying "we don't have nothing for that" YET the bar is fool of liquor I thought she was kidding at first...she honestly seem like she was miserable working there or too lazy to make a mixed drink, if you don't believe me go when she's working ( Darcy) you will see what I'm talking about. As I'm reading these reviews it seems as if many people have a issue with her service. read more

Good place I go and watch country singing here :) drinks are alright and it's a pretty average hole in the wall. Gets pretty crowded not a lot of seating so get there early around 9. read more

Gem City Grill - Bars Near Me - Monrovia, California

I come here pretty often and always order the same thing. The reason I come here is because it's cheap. Ordered a Cadillac margarita and it was $16. Every time I've ordered it before it's been 8 at the most. I asked the bartender and she said a regular margarita was $6. So adding a float of grand marnier apparently makes it $10 more. The bartender than showed me that grand mariner shot is $8. Ok..... so $14 the extra $2 is for ordering them together? Btw a Cadillac is supposed to have a float of grand marnier she gave us a shot on the side. Not what we asked for. It was hard to pour in into the drink. Didn't ask if we wanted salt and didn't even bother to garnish it with a lime. If I'm paying $16 a drink it better be amazing. Definitely not. Doesn't make sense. My boyfriend is a bartender in a popular bar in downtown and it's not even $16 there. Definitely never coming back. read more

MlFirst time here at Gem City, Mackie active speakers are poppin perfect, China is the Karoake spintress and any song is on her endless list Thursday 9pm. read more

I have came to this bar a couple of times and have been served by Shannon. Awesome laid-back dude. Cool kick back spot.

Well I heard this place is pretty cool place to hang out at. My husband and I are Chicago Bear fans and aren't able to find any locals that are Bear fans to hang out on Sundays and watch the game here. So I hope others would like to hang out here to watch our beloved Bears kick some $&!#... P.S I am not an upset customer just don't know why I can't use this right. read more

I agree with most of the reviews on this bar. I have lived in Monrovia for more than 10 years and while I really like the owner he hires terrible staff members. Particulaly Darci. She is rude, moody and speaks to customers like pieces of shit! Even as a long time regular getting a drink from her is like pulling teeth out of a tigers mouth. She has cost the owner a great deal of money with her bad attitude as customers refuse to put up with her and stop going. Trisha on the other hand is a fabulous bartender. She can handel the entire place filled to capacity single handedly with a smile and she never misses a beat. She is the only saving grace to that place. I used to love Karaoke there because they have great singers and the best sounding equipment in town but I refuse to go because Darci works on Thursdays...way to kill a good crowd! The place is severely dirty and falling apart at the seems like most dive bars but its the only place with live music and the bands are pretty decent. read more

I came in and its been literally 15 mins and have not been served or even greeted. Meanwhile, new customers are coming up to the bar and are getting greeted and served. Such lack of customer service and seems like they favor or serve familiar faces first. read more

Went for a friends karaoke competition. Cool vibe, typically dive bar but they have they have the worst bartender ever!! Goodness, had to wait 30 mins to order a drink! Bartender had the worst attitude, wouldn't even look at us and of course she was the only bartender. If you go, order two drinks at a time bc you'll be sober by the time you finally get their attention for another drink. read more