#88 in NYC

Monkey Bar

Name: Monkey Bar
Address: New York, NY, US
Price range: $$$$

Midtown, Manhattan

5.8/10

#88 NYC · AVERAGE

Brotherly Breakdown

Our own take, from eating it. Written by Brotherly Burgers.

Monkey Bar's burger was dry from top to bottom, and the bacon was the only thing holding it together. The bun was dry and flaky, the patty was overcooked and dry, and the meat's flavor was not good.
Every bite without bacon in it was underwhelming. For an upscale Midtown room from the team behind 4 Charles, this was poor execution and bad value. The best thing we ate all night was the carrot cake.

Best for

We found nothing here to recommend on the strength of the burger.

The catch

The whole burger was dry. Bun and patty both, with the meat overcooked, and only the bacon carrying enough flavor to make a bite worth eating.

What it's actually like

This was the first burger we reviewed, which is context and not a discount. Monkey Bar is a historic Midtown room that reopened in 2022 under the team behind 4 Charles and Au Cheval, with a menu close to theirs. This assessment is based on one visit.

The failure was dryness, and it was everywhere. The bun was dry and flaky. The patty was dry and overcooked, and its flavor was not good. Those are the two components a burger cannot afford to lose, and both were gone at once, which leaves a sauce or a topping nothing to work with.

What was left was the bacon, and it carried. Any bite with bacon in it worked and any bite without one was underwhelming. That is a diagnosis rather than a compliment, because it means the flavor was coming from a garnish instead of from the beef.

The pickles did not help either. They were floppy, which on a burger already this soft is another texture going the wrong way.

Our conclusion was poor execution for an upscale burger. Separately from the score, since price does not affect how we rate a burger, the value was bad.

One thing worth flagging for anyone ordering: the restaurant's own ordering system lists this as a Wagyu Cheeseburger, while other descriptions call it a double cheeseburger with prime beef. We are not certain which name belongs to what we ate.