Off season April. We're able to get a table at 7 pm weekday. CASH ONLY Bar food. Food - scallops and Ruben nicely cooled. Fish a bit undercooked/soggy. Friendly, good service and timing. TVs with sports, pool, darts. Bar atmosphere noise levels Not for families with young kids read more

Went for drinks with some friends the other night and it was fine until the end... we were sitting talking and a mouse ran across the floor! Out of courtesy we told the bar tender as a heads up and got a rude dismissing response... you'd think that would be a concern for their restaurant but I guess not! read more

I'll never step foot in this place again because the staff is rude. I just asked a very simple question "How long will I need to wait for a table ?" The girl literally said "a while" as she walked past without even making eye contact- I had to chase her down and ask what "a while" would mean and she said she didn't know. Shame that one AH can cost the business years of patronage from me, my friends and my family read more

I'm not a huge fan of The Monkey Farm's food, but I enjoyed learning about the restaurant's historic significance which I discovered on the website. The inside of the restaurant was extremely old, but was in line with preserving the historic tavern feeling. Our waitress took our order with no pen and paper which is one of my biggest pet peeve's, especially when they forget something on your order (which they did)! My husband and I ordered sandwiches and the food was mediocre. The bread was stale and I had to flag down someone to bring me the missing item from my order. Side Note: this place is a "friendly" motorcycle hangout. read more

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Ok so the food was good, but we didn't sit in the room with the music for a reason, we wanted to talk well we couldn't have been any further away in the other room near the windows and couldn't talk annoying and too loud. Definitely wouldn't go back too loud. read more

A true gem in saybrook. The staff has to deal with a lot of different groups of people and they handle it like true professional. Best wings in the state. Best part about this place is the fabulous food all while being casually dressed....and a piece of information for "out of towners" the centerpiece is an awesome circle bar that's give this place its cool relaxed feel. Give this place a try and grab a badass shirt on the way out, I'm sure you'll put it in rotation once you get a taster read more

It was first during the frigid Winter of 1984, Old Saybrook Motel was our home away from home while on Land Surveying assignments following the collapse of the I-95 Mianus River crossing. Three Square Meals of Diner food grew old fast. So, while in Old Saybrook, the former Pat's Country Kitchen and The Monkey Farm became our place for "home cooking and grog". Those days and adventures eventually came to an end. Fond memories, however. This past St Patrick's Day, a friend was literally being/getting "toasted" at The Monkey Farm for his 50th. I heard about it and whole heartedly joined in on the Duel Festivities. Not to down play the Days Duel, but for me this carried an even greater meaning and sensitivity. This was my first visit back to the famed Monkey Farm in nearly 34 years! Where does the time fly off to? The parking lot jammed with St Patty's Nuts. A prime parking slot was located without any effort put forth. My chauffeur, Sir Roger and strolled into the porch full of early diners and Green was the the theme. From the quiet porch into the open room centered by the bar, stools full, as expected. The Birthday "Boy" was being roasted in back around the pool table, converted to serving table. Ahhhh, just as I remembered it - casual, friendly, and an inviting aroma of Pub Food. Now if you're a Tap Beer Snob like me your not going to be impressed. Dag Nabbit! Put that aside, this is an old school joint with a moderate selection of bottles and cans, NO TAPS. Of course, the liquors and bar tenders can run with any of the bulls. The food, just as I remembered, Total Comfort. On this day, Party Boy's family treated everyone around the Serving Pool Table to Snacks and Corned Beef, Cabbage, Carrots, and of course, the Irish Potato. Simply splendid. Everyone stood enjoying the moment; Party Boy, barely. And for a few of my own moments I was transformed back to 1984 - Hey! that would be a great song! read more

The Monkey Farm - Poor OLD Chris - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

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We wanted to like this place, but we ordered dinners instead of just pub grub, and it was subpar. Waitress was mediocre, tired.

Enjoyed my swordfish immensely. Fresh and cooked/seasoned perfectly. Enjoyed sitting on the patio. Server was nice. Will give again.

I've had some bad meals and bad service in my time, but this place... We sat down at a high top near the bar, and unfortunately, adjacent to another high top that the staff was using as prep area. There were three employees there: two talking and rolling up silverware and another shoving food into her face directly above the napkins and "clean" utensils. They all ignored us for about 15 minutes until one of our party went to the bar and got drinks. They still ignored us (we literally could have reached over and touched them without getting up from our seats) until we asked the closest one if we could get menus. She seemed put out and said, "I thought you were going to order from the bar. I saw you go up there." She finally came over and took our food order, then went back to rolling utensils in napkins. The other one continued to eat and intermittently refilled her glass halfway from the drink station multiple times. It was comical how bad the service was. I literally said that the one eating must own the place, because she had ZERO concern about her behavior getting her fired or reprimanded. A younger guy brought out our food. It was... sub-par. Two of us had burgers that must have been 65% lean, they were that greasy. The waitress did manage to ask us once if we wanted to order another round, but other than getting our check, that was the extent of her service. The place honestly looks like the public health department hasn't been there in years. There a layer of... sticky... everywhere. They had stacked styrofoam to go containers open side down on top of the Miss Pac-Man game (which HAD to be caked with dust). I'm starting to think that the poor service was to my benefit and probably reduced my chances of eating or drinking something bad. It's a cash only business which always strikes me as ridiculous. I'd love a forensic accountant to look into the cash ledger and see if things are kosher. You're better off getting convenience store hotdogs than going here. read more

Not good food, there are dozens of better restaurants in the area. Only exception was the grilled cheese, our dog seemed to enjoy it. Can't wait for the owner to freak out, very entertaining stuff when the owner can't take criticism and tells paying customers to gfy! Read the reviews, have a laugh, then go somewhere else. read more

Good Food - Terrible Service Cash only, no credit cards. They have ATM machine. If your looking for a great restaurant, this is not the place. "But" they have good bar food, and they seem to care. Good parking. They do get busy. It's a local hangout. The biggest issue was the service. The older waitress just wasn't interested in serving what we guess are "new" customers. She never came by to check on us- ever! We ended up telling the food delivery person that we wanted our bill. Sitting in the bar might be different than out on the porch. This place was not cheap an we expected better service. The place looks the same as it used to - no expensive upgrades - just the food. Overall: Great old school setup, and I understand catering to locals, but ignoring customers who rack up a bill of almost 100 bucks seems a bit unreasonable. The food is very good too, so the poor service really turns us off from going back. Thanks read more

It's full of real life and a fun local vibe. From the huge stuffed monkey at the door to the pool table to the yummy food!

Just order the stuffed clams!! Don't do anything else- these are what you want, they are what you need! Big chunks of clam inside and super tasty overall. Been coming here for 15 years and the stuffed clams are as good as they were back then. The Monkey Farm is fun and nice service, friendly crowd and most importantly wonderful food. Everything is so good here from the burgers to the wings but I always love the seafood most of all. The ahi tuna nachos are also super tasty. read more

Man what a great late night spot! Fresh cooked food and wonderful drink prices. Eat at the bar - the staff is helpful and talented. read more

My wife and I stopped by for St. Patrick's Day. The beef barley soup was a 10, the corned beef was delicious, just like when I was a kid. The key lime pie was delicious as was the blueberry bread pudding. We forgot to pick up a shirt, though. Great place! read more

So my wife and I had visited the Monkey Farm shortly before covid hit. At that time we had a quick lunch while out running errands and enjoyed it. Recently we decided to swing back for diner. After looking at the menu online we decided to give it a try tonight. The vibe is local bar and grill. We arrived around 5pm and it was packed. It was seat yourself when we arrived and it took some wandering to locate an empty table inside. Waitresses circulate around and when one noticed we had sat,she set us up with menus and silverware. We ordered drinks and looked the menu. I settled on one of the specials and my wife chose a burger. Unfortunately the special was unavailable so I went with fried shrimp. The drinks were strong for sure. We started our meals with tossed salads which were very nice. Now this is definitely not a quiet place so keep that in mind. Dinners arrived pretty quickly. Mine came with fries and slaw. The fries are shoestring style,hot and crisp. Slaw was lightly dressed and fresh. The shrimp were butterflied and coated in breadcrumb. The only issue was some shell still on that you couldn't see. My wife's burger was cooked as she requested and she enjoyed it. We got a couple desserts to go as a large group had arrived and were surrounding our table . read more

Our favorite restaurant to go to after a long work week. Always great food and drinks and super friendly staff.

The bartender at the monkey farm refused me service for being "too intoxicated" to serve. For what did I deserve such labeling?? I dare ask "what are you serving" tonight, in reference to their kitchen. Horrible service, horrible judgement, avoid at all costs. read more

Food is good, service is awesome customers are questionable. Haha just kidding. My favorite dive bar by far.

My Senior center friends eat there a lot and love It especially the fried shrimp basket and the New York Pastrami melt.

Amazing food!!!! I always thought this place was just a random dive bar. It is not. It's a fun, casual restaurant with great drinks and even better food. Our waiter was so nice. The atmosphere is very nostalgic. The menu gives a history of the property which is actually very cool. The cod dinner was great, shrimp cocktail was huge and the potato skins had the best cheese ever. They have great outdoor seating and if you eat inside doors and windows are open. We will definitely be back. read more

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I travel the east coast extensively trying various DDD places and found this place by word of mouth. This local landmark in Old Saybrook has stood the test of time. When you walk in the front door you are welcomed by a gorgeous bar that has many years of patronship on it. Besides the great prices for their beers and drinks, the Farms food is outstanding! The 12oz burger is to die for as well as their pastrami sandwich. For dinner, if you are lucky to be there when they have it, the prime rib is also very impressive. The prices are definitely blue collar, but the food is top shelf. That doesn't mean they need to raise their prices. read more

I'm posting this just a couple hours after eating at the Monkey Farm in case I die of food poisoning. Then, at least you'll all know how I died and can hold these people accountable. The food here is awful. I had a rib-eye steak. My wife had a lobster roll. My daughter had chicken tenders and my son had a cheeseburger. If we closed our eyes and did a taste test, we wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. The chicken tenders were seriously a color I had never before seen in chicken tenders. It ranged from black to dark brown. I'll post a photo so you'll know I'm not making it up. Most disturbing, they kept the door to the kitchen open and I watched as one of the "chefs" used his bare fingers to prepare foods of all types. And use his hands to wipe his face and pants. It was so gross. The kitchen was a mess. I'll never go back. Good luck to those who eat there. read more

The Monkey Farm - Chicken tenders - color I've never seen before in chicken tenders. - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

I've lived in the area for years and had heard that the Monkey Farm is more of a bar and local hangout than a restaurant. I'm kind of a food snob, and that wasn't interesting to me. In the past few weeks, since they reopened for takeout, due to lack of options during the COVID19 lockdown, I thought I'd take a chance and try a takeout order. Now I'm treating myself once a week to takeout from the Monkey Farm. I started by ordering a cheese steak sandwich, thinking that's relatively safe, and was surprised at how good it was. I ordered that again the following week. Last week, I decided to try a real dinner rather than a sandwich, and ordered the stuffed chicken that was a daily special. It was delicious! Tonight I'm having the beef strogonoff daily special, and I'm really looking forward to it. The staff is very helpful. They were happy to substitute coleslaw for fries when I ordered cheese steaks. Today, when I asked if the strogonoff comes with a veggie, it didn't, but they offered to add one anyway. I work from home and often I'm in meetings all afternoon. They don't mind taking an order early and preparing it later in the day. Considering the kind of stress that's plaguing anybody in a local restaurant business right now, the people there have been incredibly pleasant and upbeat. I'll definitely be continuing to eat their food after the crisis is over and there are a lot more options available. Thank you Monkey Farm for helping me enjoy special treats during this difficult time! read more

The food is good so the 2 stars. Never answer the phone. Cash only is annoying. Crowd is typical. If Looking for classy. This isn't it.

Food is so good - bummer it's cash only. Makes it less convenient but I like their menu options.

A wonderful spot in old saybrook with a friendly local feel. Cocktails are a great pour and the great atmosphere make it feel like "coming home" read more

Good food & drink but we had to listen to nonstop heavy metal on the jukebox the entire time. It was endless.

The bam bam shrimp is fire. Cool little place that gets pretty packed and busy on a weekend night but the service is still great. Super fun

I come here several times a month because unfortunately it is the only place in Old Saybrook where they will serve food until 11pm. I am not one to bash local businesses online but this is ridiculous. If you are a tourist visiting town but you do not have a US issued form of ID do not bother coming here. Your passport and ID from your country will not suffice - even if you are above 21 years old. One year ago they would not serve my friend who brought her PASSPORT and was above 21 years old. Last night they would not serve a coke or any drink because I had no ID on me, I am 45 yrs old. The bartender was particularly belligerent and told me I could not even be in the building because I had no ID. You should have this ridiculous policy **posted on your wall** and should train your staff to communicate this better. Customers: Go to the Rabbit Hole instead. read more

Ok so I'll start with the service. It started off great. Our waiter was light hearted with us when we ordered drinks, and delivered them. Then we never saw him ever again at our table although he was still working. Someone else delivered our food, we were never approached again by anyone when our drinks were empty or to see if we needed anything else at any point during the meal. The drinks here are strong, so you get your money's worth! The salads are massive and good. The pizza is sub par. The fish delicious. So if you arrive here, get a mixed drink and order fish and expect poor service. If you go in with that expectation you'll have a great experience. read more

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Great food. Fun place. Everyone is friendly and nice Great burgers. Nachos are off the hook read more

Great atmosphere, good food! Would highly recommend for a casual night out, and watching the rangers win game six #lgr

Appalled. Our first time trying this place and I figured the Buffalo chicken wrap was a safe bet. The chicken is plain, cooked chicken with hot lettuce and some mixture of blue cheese and "Buffalo" sauce. What I got was a wet, tasteless mess. Skip this place. read more

The Monkey Farm - Chicken? - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

local dive. Family friendly outdoor picnic tables. Loved the ahi nachos. Bartender was friendly. Had the salmon. Perfectly cooked.

Love the Monkey Farm!! The service is always great and the staff always very friendly! The mugs over flow with beer and the vibe is always happy. It's not fine dinning and by no means is even trying to be anything more than a dive bar, but that's what's so great about it. Everyone is so great and if you need a quick meal or just a few cold ones to throw back with the folks this is your place. They're always open and very welcoming and have a great variety of beers to Chicopee from as well!!! read more

The place has history and character too, The waitress was great the whole time we chewed, Although the food and drinks were not the best, At the end of the day this place passed the test. My friends and I were looking for good, cheap eats in the area and we landed upon the Monkey Farm. There are no draft beers; only bottles. The bottle list was pretty unimpressive and the prices were higher than I thought they might be. Girlfriend and I split the French Onion soup (very hot and tasty), Chef Salad (meh), and lobster roll. The lobster roll was OK; it came on a toasted hot dog bun and we found a hard chunk in the meat. However, it was tender and adequately buttered. My friends got sandwiches and they said they were alright. The waitress and the bartender we dealt with were great people. Very attentive. Overall, not a bad dinner, but nothing that rocked my socks off. Plenty of parking. Divey decor. read more

The Monkey Farm - Lobster roll and Chef Salad - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

just had dinner it was the worst service ever!!! The food was delivered by the overworked busboy and the waitress never came back to our table even though she walked by several times before she disappeared for a while only to come back to see if we wanted dessert with our check in her hand ... the food was good but she never even asked or came back to see if we needed anything else .... not a great experience at all read more

Well according to the joint profile that is "Melnmike" us locals are nothing but "shoreline swine" hahaha..... Trust me you guys were weeded out on purpose. The Farm's clientele ranges from millionaires to blue collar workers who all mesh well. The bartenders and servers are super sweet and will take care of you if a little respect is shown. A full bar and cold bottled beers will wash down a crunchy Cobb salad (made fresh) and the best buttery CT lobster roll you'll ever have (IMO). You can sit out on the screened-in patio or table/bar inside. There's also a deck with tables and chairs for you smokers. If you've always wanted to check this place out or if you're an out-of-towner passing through looking for a classic dive then this is the place for you. This IS the Cheers of Saybrook. read more

The Monkey Farm - American Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut