Monkey Hill Bar

Constance was my bartender last Friday and she was FABULOUS she noticed that I liked the bigger straws and not the small stirrers and put it in my next drink. She was so attentive and quick. I don’t venture to Uptown often but she is going to make me start!

Nice looking and inviting from the outside. Walked in on New Years Eve and walked right back out. The place absolutely reeks of tobacco — must be one of the last hold outs of a bygone era. Good riddance.

This is my new favorite bar! I don’t normally come this far uptown but a friend recommended this place and I love it. It has a very loungey and casual atmosphere without trying too hard or coming off as pretentious. Marieska took care of us and she was great, she was attentive without being overbearing. They have a extensive but pretty standard cocktail list, the French 75 was perfect. Their beer list was great, a really well rounded selection and some beers I haven’t seen anywhere else; I love trying new things. I’m definitely coming back, they have TVs above the urinals, enough said.

It’s ok. It’s a place for drinks… I haven’t tried any of the food… just drinks. Great chill place to play pool. Service… eh. Nothing to brag on. Just a place to shoot pool, hang with friends and grab drinks. The sofas are comfy.

I found this nice little neighborhood place on Unilocal.It is the best during football season because they have a whole plethora of games on along with music and drinks. It feels classy and has a great look to it and the couches are so comfortable. It’s good for a few friends looking for a relaxing evening or if you want to end the night in style.

This was my first trip to the Monkey Hill Bar. It had been bookmarked for several months, but never got around to trying it. We were looking for a place to watch the LSU game and there were several open parking spots on Magazine when we drove by. That alone is reason enough to stop.
Big living room bar style. Lots of comfy stuffed furniture to relax into. Looks like a great place to go with a group. Recognizing that tastes in art are personal — there is some really ugly art on the walls — who picked this stuff out? Maybe it was supposed to be a caricature of bars with less kitschy art?
Wide selection of beverages, lots of specials. Bartenders were fast, friendly and efficient. Didn’t try any of the food, but the meals I saw coming out of the kitchen looked pretty good. Prices were average.
TVs are adequate if you are sitting at the bar, but site lines and picture quality are poor if you are in most of the overstuffed furniture.
At this point, I would give this bar at least 3 and maybe 4 stars. However, it quickly becomes obvious that smoking is allowed here. The ventilation system appears pretty good, but not good enough. After 45 minutes, my clothes all smelled like smoke. If the cigarette smoke wasn’t annoying enough, a couple of large stogies being enjoyed at least 20 ft away were overwhelming. If you have been spoiled by air in non-​smoking bars and restaurants, I don’t think you will be comfortable at the Monkey Hill Bar.

In the quieter area of Magazine Street, Monkey Hill has nice décor, good drinks, and air conditioning.
— Friendly and knowledgeable bartender.
— TV for the sports addict
— Couches for group socializing/​lounging.
— Really clean and awesome restroom.

I always love a great bar w dim lighting and couches. It’s a plus that they always have a projector screen that’s pretty large. I’ve only been here with a group of atleast four or more, so it’s also great for parties. The waitress attended our tables pretty often & the music was playing a lot of the tunes I like. I enjoy that atmosphere is diverse. When all else fails, this bar is a go to place.

Fantastic atmosphere with great service. Friendly bartender. Great spot on magazine.

I’m loving this place. I have a feeling I’ll be frequenting Monkey Hill. Relaxed atmosphere. Nice comfy couches. Well ventilated. Good craft cocktails.
We went to watch the LSU game. Since it’s not a «sports bar» it wasn’t overly crowded. But they had a projector set up. And with the couches, it was like watching the game at home. Not all of the bartenders are created equally… Some mix a much better cocktail than others. But all were very attentive and quick to take an order, even when the bar seemed crowded/​in the weeds.
Great cheese plate too.

The minus that this is a smoking bar, but I enjoyed the atmosphere a lot for drinks. Roomy and comfortable. The location definitely has a lively, cool neighborhood vibe. TVs are in front of the urinals in the mens’ room.

Three stars for the posh-​ish atmosphere and friendly service. I appreciated the extremely nice waitresses that come over to you while you’re gracing the banquets looking to be… anywhere but here on a Saturday night, I’m afraid. I can’t fault Monkey Hill for its crowd, but I guess there was a reason this past Saturday night was my first time here (and I lived right down the block for a year!) So. Not. My. Scene.
But it’s not fair to be all «Meh, I’ve experienced better» because Monkey Hill isn’t doing anything wrong, per se. And, if you’re a well-​to-​do college student on the make, you’ll enjoy it here. It’s like the Column’s weekend crowd, only less yacht-​club (I only saw one pop-​up collar). If you’re over the age of 25, though, I promise you will stick out. A group of late 30-​somethings walked in and I swear an expression of fear passed over one girl’s face (maybe she thought it was her parents?). Aging… it’s catching, I’m afraid, lassie. In the meantime, enjoy your moment at Monkey Hill Bar, darlings.

I’m new to NOLA and a friend of mine who used to live here recommended I check out Monkey Hill when I told him where I was living (just a few blocks away). So on my first Saturday night in town and without anything else to do, I decided to pop in on my own and see it for myself.
Now, I don’t usually go to bars by myself, but I figured what the heck. I plopped down at the bar, ordered a beer (note: bottles only, no taps), and took in the scene. What I saw: lots of good-​looking people, a reasonably diverse crowd, a very nice shuffleboard table (!!!), pool table in the back (!!), some comfy-​looking leather sofas, and an intriguing menu.
I chatted with a couple of other patrons and the bartender and everybody was very nice. Some random guy even bought me a beer, even after I told him accepting said beer was not a guarantee that I would go home with him. :) It was a little bit loud in there so it might not be an ideal spot for a first date — at least not on a Saturday night.
My overall feeling on this bar was that it was not a typical New Orleans bar. In fact, it felt more like a New York bar. This is not necessarily a bad thing or a good thing. Just something I sensed.
I’d head back to Monkey Hill again. I want to try some of the food, see if it’s a bit more low-​key on a weeknight, and that shuffleboard table is calling my name!

This place really surprised us. On the outside it looks sort of old time New Orleans-​y. But when we walked up we could here bumpin’ music like it was some sort of club. Kind of ironic for Uptown or NOLA in general outside of Bourbon St.
It is pretty cool setup inside with a lounge seating area complete with couches and comfortable chairs. There is one long bar so plenty of room for a lot of people to belly up to it. Also, there are pool tables for people who aren’t the sit-​and-​drink type.
It was however, a totally weird crowd. Old, 50-​something crisis-​looking dudes smoking cigars and ogling big-​boobed 20-​something waitresses. College-​age kids. 30-​somethings. Rando!
We will come back especially since they apparently have bottomless mimosas brunch on Sunday? Good neighborhood spot. I’d like to check it out to see what it’s like late afternoon, early evening before it gets super crowded.
I liked it but didn’t love it, as I like bars with a less upscale feel. I could also do without the disgusting cigars. I still want to come back and lounge on the couches and try some of their signature cocktails (we just had gin and tonics).

Wonderful atmosphere (be sure to dress in your «swank» attire), decent drink deals, and a great little nook in which to play pool.
I’ll dress up just so I can go to this bar on a Thursday evening for a glass of wine.

Wandered in here after doing a lot of shopping and walking on Magazine. I was surprised when I saw the inside — it’s much nicer than what it looks like outside. Big couches and chairs for people to sit on, a HUGE projection screen TV, and a nice, long bar.
It was mid-​afternoon so the place wasn’t crowded. They had a huge drink menu, which I love, with things like bananas foster and cupcake martinis. They are pricey though.
They’re also smoking, which for some reason didn’t fit considering how classy the décor was inside. As my friend and I stayed longer time started to push up against the start of an LSU game and the crowd began to grow exponentially. Seemed to be mostly a 20 – 30 something professional crowd with men and women who were dressed nicer than they would have been had they only been there to watch a football game.
Pros: beautiful bar, excellent drink menu
Cons: smoking, expensive, the crowd on a weekend night brought me back to my 20s before I was married and still «dressed up» to go to the bar. It’s not them, it’s me.

They were playing «Candy Rain» (by Soul for Real) as I walked in, how cool is that? Seriously, any place daring enough to have random music from when I was in like 8^th grade is good in my book!
I went to a lot of bars while in NOLA and would have to say this one was more my style than most. At about 1am or so on a Saturday night the couches in the lounging area were available so we eventually made our way towards those, although shuffle board would’ve been a nice option if I didn’t want to mainly relax, and if I were any good at it.
It may not have been too packed, although there were like 3 bouncers out front when we approached. They made sure we didn’t bring our own booze inside. I think I mainly had Abita Amber to drink, but don’t completely remember (since my friend got my drink and I went to so many places it’s easy to lose track).
This was the end of night 1 for me while in NOLA and was a great start to my trip…

This place is such a departure from your average New Orleans bar that I don’t even know where to start. I really dig the lounging areas with the couches and what not. I also really dig the fact that my friend and I had 8 (?) drinks between us and the bill didn’t break the bank at all. But I think my favorite part of the place is the ladies restroom– by far the fanciest I’ve seen on Magazine. (And we know I have a thing about bar bathrooms…)
What I don’t understand is the mix of people that were there. It was a Friday night, late-​ish, and I feel like the general scene was hipster frat boys who were trying to NOT be hipster frat boys. But not «Dude lets get WASTED!» frat boys; more like «Man, I don’t know where I’m going to park my yacht this weekend». Or maybe I’m just use to dive bars where everyone is in jeans and t-​shirts. I’d say the average age was mid to late twenties, which was a plus, but then there were also a random amount of older people, possibly pushing their 50’s, and THAT is who I noticed getting wasted. I had a good time though, and this place was great for people watching if nothing else. I do think I should probably ditch my SoCal ways next time and possibly wear heels, or at least not my flip flops, which truthfully is kind of a bummer, but definitely not out of the question.

Monkey Hill — Not great, but better than AT2.
Like my friend Marielle said «Monkey Hill is one of those bars that you want to check out during the week, and avoid like the plague on the weekends».
I have been to Monkey Hill on the weekends and weekdays and the weekdays are significantly more enjoyable. There is a large lounging are with couches and chairs which was quite comfortable on a weekday. When I went on a Saturday, this area was jam packed, and there was no possibility of carrying on a conversation.
The bar has a decent beer and liquor selection. In addition, the bartender was very cool filling my water over and over when I wasn’t drinking.
On my last trip I pretty much ignored the other clientele, but the weekend trip was not my kind of place.
In short, disregard my entire review except for the part i plagiarized, and you will know all you need to know.

**ALL MONKEY BUSINESS WITH THE HH DRINKS**
I liked this place.
It was my speed.
Cool and comfortable.
Bartender was friendly and efficient.
We sat at the bar but I noticed there were couches nearby for lounging, if needed.
I liked the lofty ceilings and it felt airy on extra-​hot days.
HH drinks were solid.
Not sure if it’s a place for craft cocktails, but it was good enough for a decent Sazerac.
RECOMMEND.