Just Monkeying Around Here
Monkey Farm Cafe, Old Saybrook
There are something like 1800 pages on CTMQ. I’ve done, visited, experienced, eaten, drank, etc. every single thing on every single one of those pages.
I drove by it in 2011 and excitedly snapped this picture.
Which makes this page quite unique. For I have not actually been inside the Monkey Farm Cafe in Old Saybrook and quite frankly, it’s not on my short list of to-do’s.
But, for some dumb reason, the restaurant/bar has fascinated me since I began this website in 2006. It was then, at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, that I first heard of the place.
And I thought it was fake.
Model trains and model Monkey Farm Cafe at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex
When I learned it was real, I thought it was hilarious. I have no idea if it’s any good. But I do know the story behind the name is good enough to have this page on CTMQ about it.
And there you go. A page on CTMQ about a restaurant that I’ve never been to simply because it has a funny name.
UPDATE! Some Twitter feedback is telling me I should check this place out:
Monkey Farm Cafe
CTMQ’s Unique & Historic Restaurants & Food
Mr. Z says
January 7, 2025 at 3:14 pmFirst visit to The Monkey Farm was out of desperation. Found ourselves searching for some place – ANY place that had an open kitchen around 8:45pm on a Friday after going on a jaunt in the river valley. Turned away left and right. The last stop suggested “Well, there IS the Monkey Farm” The way it was stated left us thinking the feeling was “Well, you COULD go there…can’t say I recommend it…Last Resort”
First off, I knew of the place. Saw it plenty of times travelling through Old Saybrook. Neon Sign, funny name. Knew I’d go there eventually just to see what the deal was.
Instantly transported back to a few NJ bars I know of – Lori’s Lakeside in New Brunswick in particular.
Place was PACKED. It’s loud, Pool table action and many many many inebriated people.
Instant turn off if you want to imbibe and not be sonically assaulted and elbow through the crowd of hammered folks. But when/if I WANT TO visit a place like that, the Monkey Farm is a good choice.
BUT…….here’s the thing
The food is good.
It’s not a 4-star steakhouse
Burgers large, prepared to your done-ness exactly
Plenty of “BAR” food available – Wings, etc….I’m reasonably sure it would all be good compared to any other bar food I’ve had.
The people there were happy to have us visit. The service was excellent. Overall, if in the area I WOULD go back. Hell, I even bought a t-shirt. Yeah I liked it.
It’s crazy but “bars” like this used to be commonplace late 1970’s to when they started to dwindle in the mid 1980s. They play sports on the TV screens now but long ago it was Music Videos (remember THEM?). Drink specials, THEME nights…BAD Karaoke. I would liken it to something Snookie and J-Wow would be seen totally drunk in down the Jersey Shore in the first few seasons.
Yeah, I remember a BUNCH of those types of watering holes. Call an UBER/LYFT because you are gonna need it.
You/me/everyone should visit a place like this sometime in your life. We should at least have a place like this available TO visit. There aren’t a lot of them left.
A place that can get so rowdy and ” Towney” BUT you can walk in and not be treated like a foreigner – ignored and feeling out of place. It’s Old Saybrook’s Mos Eisley cantina and the people watching quotient is through the roof.
Cheers Monkey Farm. You keep doing what you’re doing and keep your space in that town being WEIRD.