Monkey Cat

Name: Monkey Cat
Address: 805 Lincoln Way, Auburn, CA, United States, 95603
Telephone: (530) 888-8492
Price range: $30 and under
Rating: 4.6

4.6 (1451)

$30 and under

American

805 Lincoln Way, Auburn, CA 95603

Make a reservation

2 people

Jul 29, 2025

7:00 PM

Booked 7 times today

About this restaurant

Neighborhood gem
Good for special occasions
Great for creative cocktails

Located in historic downtown Auburn, The Monkey Cat is a popular destination for both locals and visitors who are looking for a unique dining experience. Monkey Cat offers a wide selection of dishes, with something for everyone. The lunch menu has hearty sandwiches, delicious tacos, variety of salads and wonderful entree options. For dinner there is a variety of steaks, seafood and poultry dishes that will leave your mouth watering. Vegetarian and Vegan options are available on the menu, and most diets & allergies can be accommodated. Placer County is home to fantastic wineries and breweries, and Monkey Cat is a proud supporter of that. Try a local drink on your next visit. Looking to take care of a larger group? Ask about private dining. Everything from Happy Hour, to Wine Down Wednesday, to Holiday Specials, Monkey Cat has you covered.

Additional information

Dining style
Casual Dining
Price
$30 and under
Cuisines
American, Asian, Steak
Hours of operation
Lunch Tue–Sat 11:30 am–3:00 pm Dinner Tue–Thu 5:00 pm–8:00 pm Fri, Sat 5:00 pm–9:00 pm
Phone number
(530) 888-8492
Website
http://monkeycat.com/
Payment options
AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
Dress code
Casual Dress
Private party facilities
Private dining room available with a bar and Internet connection. Seats up to 24 for dinner or up to 50 for cocktails. Customized menu. Please contact Jennifer @530-888-8492 or jennifer@monkeycat.com to reserve the banquet room.

Location
805 Lincoln Way, Auburn, CA 95603
Neighborhood
Auburn
Cross street
Cherry
Parking details
Street side parking, parking lot located on Cherry Ave as well as Lincoln Way
Additional
Banquet, Bar/Lounge, Beer, BYO Wine, Cocktails, Corkage Fee, Full Bar, Gender Neutral Restroom, Gluten-free Options, Happy Hour, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Takeout, Wheelchair Access, Wine

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What 1,451 people are saying

Monkey Cat reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.6

4.6 based on recent ratings

4.6Food
4.6Service
4.5Ambience
4.2Value

Noise • Moderate

Loved For

Sacramento / Sacramento Valley
American

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews

Monkey Cat offers a charming dining experience with "excellent food and service" and a delightful atmosphere. Guests enjoy standout dishes like the shrimp corndogs, short ribs, and halibut special. The restaurant is praised for its "friendly and knowledgeable staff" and "perfectly cooked" meals. It's a favorite for special occasions and gatherings.

1,451 Reviews

l
laura
Sacramento / Sacramento Valley4 reviews
1.0
Dined 3 days ago
1. Overall 1
2. Food 1
3. Service 1
4. Ambience 2
We’ve dined at Monkey Cat many times over 7 years. A couple of misses, but mostly good service and food. We have even defended Monkey Cat when friends have complained about their food. Unfortunately, we can no longer defend them, nor will we return to that restaurant. Our waitress was loud, obnoxious, full of “quips”, and touchy feely. The volume of her voice was something out of an SNL sketch. She didn’t listen when we passed on dessert numerous times, and waved the dessert sample plate in our faces at close range obnoxiously. The. Food. Sooo bad. The 2 appetizers we ordered weren’t what the menu represented. There were missing elements and a small bowl of stale tortilla chips came because they were out of bread for the dip. Why didn’t they let us know? We would have ordered something else. The chopped salad was salty & packed with fresh dill to the point of inedible. And we love fresh dill. The seafood “risotto” at $38 was molded lukewarm rice with 3 overcooked scallops, mystery seafood bits that were supposed to be lobster, and cream sauce poured over top. The lamb was godawful. I should have taken a picture. Everything on that plate was overcooked, and the side of unidentifiable dark brown peach compote looked liked slimy baked beans. And plenty of it. None of it eaten. The beet salad was good and the guys ordered burgers which were good. The fries arrived cold, but served in a lava hot metal cup. We enjoyed conversation with our friends, so that was lovely, and we love Auburn, but what an expensive dinner and disappointing service and food. What happened to Monkey Cat?
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K
Kenzi VIP
Sacramento / Sacramento Valley5 reviews
3.0
Dined 4 days ago
1. Overall 3
2. Food 3
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 3
I’m not sure if they have new owners or what, but the menu has completely changed. It seems like they are trying to be an upscale, hip new steakhouse type of restaurant. The drink menu is now weird and expensive,they overcooked my steak, the place is SO loud, and my favorite’s are completely gone from the menu. This used to be my favorite restaurant in Auburn, but won’t be coming back.
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S
Shana
Sacramento / Sacramento Valley2 reviews
5.0
Dined on July 13, 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Had a lovely dinner with friends visiting Auburn from Seattle for the first time. We enjoyed the shrimp corndogs, short ribs, halibut special, and stroganoff. Our friends were impressed with the food, ambiance and service. Thank you for well-representing our community's food scene and providing a nice evening out with our guests.
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B
Brooklyn
Sacramento / Sacramento Valley3 reviews
2.0
Dined on June 29, 2025
1. Overall 2
2. Food 3
3. Service 4
4. Ambience 3
I wish I could give this place more stars, because I was really hoping to love this place. We were here for a celebration, and was really hoping to have a lovely meal. We even drove from Folsom to try this place. When we arrived, we noticed that the restaurant looked different from the photos, and the menu was more limited then online. Waited a long time to get water and menus, we were there at 5:00 and the place was empty. The best thing about our visit was our server though she was great.. She was bright, very friendly and funny. The rest of the service lacked, there were several staff just milling about, and passed our table several times without filling our water or even asking how we were doing. It also took a long time to get our food. My steak was cooked perfectly mid rare (yay!) but the rest on the plate was not very good. My husband ordered the risotto - I LOVE risotto so we were excited, but it was cold- bland and soggy-and we were expecting seafood on the risotto as described, but we only got 2 scallops on it... frankly was the worst risotto I'd ever tasted. SO disappointed. The portions were also very small for the price. Again, We really wanted to love this place, but for the price of what we got, will not be back.
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S
Shana
Sacramento / Sacramento Valley2 reviews
5.0
Dined on June 17, 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Our girls-day-out lunch at Monkey Cat was terrific. We started with a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and split the Polenta Shrimp Corn Dogs with Aioli appetizer. I had the Chopped Salad with chicken. Beautiful presentation and flavors. My friend had the Cauli Garden Bowl. She shared a few bites and it was delicious! (The chipotle lime coconut sauce was amazing.) Service is always good. We will definitely be back!
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J
John
Sacramento / Sacramento Valley12 reviews
5.0
Dined on June 15, 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Great food and good service in a great location for access to Auburn City Limits.
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J
Jenny
Sacramento / Sacramento Valley5 reviews
5.0
Dined on June 8, 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
We absolutely love Monkey Cat! We come here often and the food and service is always above and beyond! The staff are all friendly and kind and very knowledgeable of the menu and drink selections. We always recommend Monkey Cat to friends and neighbors!
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T
Tim VIP
Los Angeles18 reviews
5.0
Dined on May 29, 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
had a great business lunch with our team. Food was delicious. Service was excellent and were able to hold a conversation without noise in the background.
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R
Rob
San Francisco Bay Area3 reviews
5.0
Dined on May 28, 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
The service was great. Urka was a fantastic host. The food was excellent.
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D
Dena
Sacramento / Sacramento Valley2 reviews
5.0
Dined on May 25, 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Both of us thoroughly enjoyed our meal. The service is very good and i liked our location in the restaurant. We were planning on staying a bit longer after the meal but the noise level was higher than we liked.
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FAQs

Monkey Cat offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (530) 888-8492.

Monkey Cat is rated 4.6 stars by 1451 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation

2 people

Jul 29, 2025

7:00 PM

Booked 7 times today

805 Lincoln Way, Auburn, CA 95603

Additional information

Cross street
Cherry
Neighborhood
Auburn
Hours of operation
Lunch Tue–Sat 11:30 am–3:00 pm Dinner Tue–Thu 5:00 pm–8:00 pm Fri, Sat 5:00 pm–9:00 pm
Price
$30 and under
Cuisines
American, Asian, Steak
Dining style
Casual Dining
Dress code
Casual Dress
Parking details
Street side parking, parking lot located on Cherry Ave as well as Lincoln Way
Payment options
AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
Additional
Banquet, Bar/Lounge, Beer, BYO Wine, Cocktails, Corkage Fee, Full Bar, Gender Neutral Restroom, Gluten-free Options, Happy Hour, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Takeout, Wheelchair Access, Wine

Website
http://monkeycat.com/
Phone number
(530) 888-8492
Private party facilities
Private dining room available with a bar and Internet connection. Seats up to 24 for dinner or up to 50 for cocktails. Customized menu. Please contact Jennifer @530-888-8492 or jennifer@monkeycat.com to reserve the banquet room.

Featured in

56 Sacramento Area Restaurants to Love This Valentine's Day

Monkey Cat

Make a reservation

About this restaurant

Additional information

Featured in

56 Sacramento Area Restaurants to Love This Valentine's Day

Ask Concierge
AI Beta

Menu

What 1,451 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Loved For

Review summary

FAQs

Does Monkey Cat offer delivery through OpenTable or takeout?

How is Monkey Cat restaurant rated?

Is Monkey Cat currently accepting reservations?

Make a reservation

Additional information

Featured in

56 Sacramento Area Restaurants to Love This Valentine's Day