Bobby's Monkey Bar

Signed up for 2 karaoke songs, waited over an hour, never played. So much for all inclusive.

Perfect dive bar for my partner and I. Could be a gay bar or could just be gay friendly, not sure it has a designation. Cash only bar with decent prices for wells. We visited at least 3 times while on vacation in key west.

Great stop while we were walking around Key West…laid back vibe with good drink prices. The bartender was friendly and fun to chat with! Stop on for a drink you won’t regret it!

Nice bar off the beaten path. Cash only. Happy Hour 1-8.

In a town where everything is expensive, Bobby's Monkey Bar is the exception. Drinks are strong and cheap, and the staff is friendly. We made it there nearly every day during our stay.

Great local dive bar!

The bartender and local folks in the crowd were great. 5 Stars! Aramis the KJ, well, not so much. -1 Stars. What happened. We are an older couple and we enjoy singing karaoke. We came to this place with a local friend of ours for my husbands 65th birthday. Put our names in to sing as soon as we got there with Aramis, the KJ that night. It was busy, but only a few of the folks there were actually singing. Two hours later, after a few rotations of all the same people I got an opportunity to sing. It was not even the song that I put in, but it's in my repertoire, so I belted it out anyway. Then another hour later, my husband checked on his song and was told that he was in the next rotation and not to get an attitude. He did not. Never raised his voice, simply asked if his song was still in the queue and was told he was in the next rotation. We went back to our friends and started chatting again. Then about 5 minutes later, Aramis came over to where we were and quite aggressively told us both that we were not allowed to sing because we both had an "attitude". This was completely out of the blue and took us both back a bit. He was aggressive enough that I defensively put my hands up, palms out, to show him that we were not a threat and to try and back him off. Quite frankly, for a man of his age to approach to seniors like this was very unsettling and scary. We are a couple of older grandpas and about as laid back as you can get! The locals that were there that night were very welcoming. The bartender was exceptional and had a great voice! (She belted while she was pouring!) We love little dive bars like this one, but the experience with Aramis pretty much ruined the night for us. He was rude, condescending, and just unfriendly. If you go and Aramis is the KJ, enjoy the drinks and the atmosphere, because you're probably not going to get to sing for quite a while, or, in the case of my husband, not at all. Our local friend said that he gets like that sometimes, which, from some of the previous reviews here was apparent. My recommendation: Hit up Bobby's for friendly locals and great drinks! But, if Aramis is the KJ that night, and you are not a local and want to sing, seek out your fun somewhere else where the KJ knows what they are doing and uses a fair rotation. I get that public service in an island town/vacation paradise is tough with surly and sometimes, self-important and entitled customers, however, we were entirely respectful and quietly enjoying ourselves until we had Aramis come at us. I worked in restaurants and bars for over 40 years and I intimately understand what types of "challenging" people that you have to deal with on a regular basis. Normally, I don't say anything and just leave and never return if the service is bad or there are other major issues, so I don't go out of my way to ding anybody with a review, but Aramis' complete lack of professionalism and downright rudeness lost our business for this bar and compelled me to offer this review. We will be advising all of our friends and anyone who asks, to make sure that they check who is the KJ that night and if it is Aramis, we will advise them to seek entertainment elsewhere and maybe try them on a different night when he is not there.

Awesome

Best dive bar in Key West!