The Monastery Mesa

If your looking for a fun place to hang out at with great food, this is NOT your place. The food and service were awful! I have never been to a restaurant with a worst staff. They are very unfriendly and make the experience miserable. This could be a great venue but it is very poorly ran.

Would love to give a half star, this is an old business with no updates, tv’s are from the 80’s, bar service slow, servers slow and forgetful. They have been in business for 45 years, how I don’t know. Please someone give them the number to bar rescue.

The single worst experience I’ve ever had at any establishment!!! We brought 12 people for a work function on a Sunday night for food and drink. Asked for happy hour pricing to be extended to our party or simply free pool for the evening due to the fact we would be spending a fair amount of money not to mention it was a Sunday night. I get that a business to make a profit but come on a little effort sure goes a long way!!! Since we do these functions once a month I’m happy to say we will never be back!!! I

Service sloooooow. Food is just so/​so for the price.
Won’t go back. There are BETTER places to go!

Smells like old people. Slow service, wings are decent but mostly fried food. More about attraction than food.
Don’t bring kids after 8 pm. Over priced for bar/​fry food

I’d give it no stars if it was an option. I went there last night with some family. We walked in the door and stood there for a minute not sure if we were to seat ourselves or wait, no host/​no sign so we sat ourselves.
Our waiter was sweating and very rude, almost seemed bothered that we sat in his section. I ordered the tacos, which are hard shell and were stale along with the tortilla chips served with them. When I told our server he stated that they were just thicker and probably not use to them. So I shared with him to tell the cook and owner they were disgusting. The beef in the tacos was not seasoned either. Just plain olé hamburger. My parents had the fish fry which I’m sure was frozen fish sticks. Everything was served in paper plates and cups. You needed something you had to get up and get it and find the waiter. There are a TON of unattended children running around shoeless and full of sand while their parents sit and drink. My Mother and I went to use the bathroom and decided to just wait. Floors were wet, and just filthy all over. My father said that there are nude photos all over the walls in the men’s bathroom. Totally disgusted by the whole place and would never recommend to anyone!

My favorite bar in the country was the Monastery in East Phoenix, mostly because of the sand volleyball court, but I also loved the self-​serve BBQ, the fire pit, ping pong table, free water jug, the bench swings, shuffleboard, dogs, feral cats, 80’s semi-​porn adorned bathroom walls, etc. (Nice bushes.) The ultimate unpretentious hang out place.
Monastery Mesa doesn’t have the same charm, and it’s much further from the homes of my siblings, and I’ve only gone twice, but I guess it’s technically my favorite bar.

I was brought here since I was 10 and it is still the place I come to on Sunday’s for family volleyball. It is an awesome place to bring friends for relaxing, watching a sports game, listening to live music, and play recreational volleyball!
They have good food at decent prices and certain days they have good specials on beer. You have to be 21 or be with a parent to get in as it is a bar.
They have league volleyball on certain nights and I know Sunday’s it’s open court.
They also have lots of games to keep your kids busy and they are pet friendly!
Well known spot for bikers to come and relax and have drinks as well as lovers of outdoors and volleyball.

Very fun place. We went on a Saturday night and played sand volleyball against some other people. It helped that neither of us were very good, so bad volleyball playing equals lots of laughs and overall a great night.
The place was very busy when we got there, but calmed down soon after. The bartenders were slow, and the servers were non-​existant. The restrooms were a mess. Overall the place is fun, but service sucks.

its a great time. I love going here because its like hanging out in your yard with family.
always have a good beer selection and food is bar food.

This place keeps getting worse and worse. Slowest service EVER! Came for some drinks and was told the person to access the taps won’t be here until 3. That’s just one example. Someone needs to buy this place and actually teach people how to run it.

great place for adults and for families! they have great food, the cheesy fries are crispy and gooood! the burgers too are awesome, and they have one of my fave foods: deep fried cheese curds… yummm!
it gets quite crowded in the evenings and there have been many birthday and going away parties held here. we always sit in Ashley’s sectionshe is very friendly and efficient be sure to try an ‘angry balls’ drink: it’s hard apple cider and cinnamon whisky. delicious and refreshing

First time here for a meet up group and tried to order a beer in the inside bar. The bartender talked and talk and talked. The girls were doing their job but he just wanted to talk. After a half hour I walked out. People were complaining about the fact he gave a beer away but charged someone in our group for it. Seems the wait staff are really confused.

Come for the outdoor atmosphere, and with a big group you enjoy being with. Otherwise don’t bother. The food is barely above fast food, takes an ungodly amount of time — an hour a try for us– and most came out wrong and cold.
The worst part though is the service. These people need to be kept away from the American public and maybe even wildlife. My wife has food allergies and ordered a sandwich without mayo. They brought it with mayo, which is an easy enough mistake, but instead of just fixing it they argued with us that it really didn’t matter. The manager was worse. After sending back the sandwich (one of our whole party) they were really surely, wouldn’t refill drinks, slamming things and making sarcastic comments. It was awful. We won’t ever go back.

This place is really, really fun! There is stuff going on all around you. The service was good even though we had almost 20 people in our group. We had a hot dog, slider and soft pretzel from the happy hour menu (goes until 7 which is nice) and it was all delicious and fresh. I heard the wings were especially good too. We will definitely be coming back.

This is a great place to hang out especially if you have children and want to actually be around adults for a little bit. They have several yard games that you can play.
The downside the food isn’t that great and you do have to make it yourself which, on another hand, is kind of fun. Pretty much bar style with extra amenities.

The Monastery is definitely somewhere you go for the atmosphere, not really the food. They offer a «grill-​your-​own» ore pre-​cooked menu with options ranging from hot dogs and hamburgers to pasta. The service is extremely slow and can be confusing if you have a large group. Sometimes it is quicker if you order at the bar, but can also be delayed depending on what the small kitchen offers.
This las time, I ordered a grill-​your-​own bratwurst and onion rings. The onion rings came out about 15 minutes after I was giving my brat to cook. It actually worked out well, as I waited until my friend got hers and we were able to grill together. The O-​rings came out right as we were finishing. The chips and salsa used to be better, but now it seems they use Pace. :(
They offer a decent selection of craft and domestic beers.

The Monastery could be an amazing hangout in Northeast Mesa… but it’s just not that great. It’s such a unique outdoor venue, but the service is so poor I always wonder why we return.
Pros:
–They allow kids.
–It’s a very cool outdoor space with volleyball, horseshoes, ping pong, and fire pits.
–Live music on the weekends.
–You can bring the dog.
Cons–
–They allow kids. Yes, I know I listed that as a «pro.»
–Food is pretty average and healthy options are nonexistent, but I’m happy to see a full service menu.
–Service is ABYSMAL!!!
Let me illustrate our most recent experience:
Incident #1
As we were waiting at the bar for our drinks, a waitress walked by and spilled most of a beer on my sister. She did say «sorry» as she continued to walk by. A minute or two later she came back and apologized to ME, as my sister stood behind me emptying liquid from her shoe. Accidents happen, but we both thought this was at least worth a free drink.
Incident #2 (different server)
Sister: This seems like a fun place to see live music. What types of bands play here?
Server: I don’t know
Sister: When do you usually have bands?
Server: I don’t know
Future Husband: What beers do you have on draft?
Server: I don’t know.
Incident #3
It’s been quite a while since we last saw our server, but when he finally comes back I order «chicken strips with a side of ranch and barbeque sauce.» 45 minutes later the food comes out drenched in barbeque sauce.
Me: Hey, I think I have the wrong order.
Server: No, you ordered chicken strips with barbeque sauce.
Me: No, I ordered chicken strips with a side of barbeque sauce. Can I just get regular chicken strips?
Server: This is what you ordered. You didn’t say «side of barbeque sauce.»
He continues to argue and finally agrees to fix the order.
Server: You need to understand that the chicken strips are going to come out exactly the same way. I just want to make sure we’re on the same wavelength.
Me: Obviously we’re not on the same wavelength. Will they be covered in sauce?
This whole thing was ridiculous. I’m pretty sure that Serving 101 is don’t continue to argue with the customer.
Incident #4 (at the table next to us)
Server puts down glass of white wine.
Woman: I ordered pinot noir.
Server: This is pinot noir.
Woman: No, I ordered red wine.
Server: Are you sure?
Obviously our night was a fairly extreme case of bad service, but this isn’t too far from the norm. We’ve been coming here for years and it’s always been this way.

It was a packed house for Halloween and they were on top of their game. The servers were out all night. The band was fun. They were all dressed up as Doctors or Nurses. Even the band was dressed up as Hospital Staff.
Veronica was our outside server and she was really wonderful. We never had to wait and she was really fun and friendly!
They have volleyball, horseshoes, a fire pit, an outside live band, fun friendly staff. We are come back every time we want a night out.
So much fun, thank you for one of the best nights ever!

Sunday afternoon visit.
The entire place seemed «hungover.» The tables were a mess, all random squished together. The servers (if there were 3) were slow and seemed to be running on empty. There was 1 bar tender inside and he was exceptionally slow.
When we asked about the burgers (fresh or frozen etc) she said «Nothing here is fresh.» Welll she was not kidding. The chicken wings went uneaten, the burger was gross, the carrot had frost on it still. The tortilla chips were stale. The fries {all 12} were blah.
The drinks were all sub par for a bar. The only one that liked it was the beer drinker.
There was zero music or anything fun going on.
Bathroom was a mess too.
I see this being a fun place on a nice Saturday night but other then that… MEH