Monks on the Commons

If you have not had the opportunity to stop into monks, you definitely should go and try the 18 karat drink that they carry. You will not be disappointed, by the drinks nor the amazing service they have to offer.

Beautiful set up, the waiter was very accommodating, and sweet. Food was excellent. The shrimp saganaki was incredible, definitely a must try. The dinner portion of gnocchi was semi small, but had excellent flavor. The cheesecake was very creamy, and delicious.

Great bar selection!
So, Monks is a hotel restaurant / bar, but don't let that turn you off from it. It kept me away for far too long. Not sure how 'affiliated' it is, but you do notice the physical relationship.

First things first; there's actually a great alcohol selection and if you're thirsty, it worth the stop to tip a couple alone. Nice tap selections, but an the surprising star is their extensive liquor selection, and not just the cheap options. One of the few places in Ithaca with a rum selection. Also worth the mention is the extensive whisky and bourbon options.

The friendliness of the bartenders got me to take a look at their menu, it's simple and could be called 'small' (but I'd much rather a place do a few things well than throw 100 ok options). I've 'interacted' with a few staff members there and they have all been super friendly and responsive.

So far I've only had the burger (it's very good and I'm not sure I'm ready to stray yet). A thick juicy pattie (I think I've seen smash on the menu, but this was a standard thick one). I added bacon and it topped perfectly. A little pricey for the total ($22), but it was cooked and seasoned perfectly and it's only a little above average priced here. The burger itself was $18 and the bacon another $4. I wish there was more than two stips for that.

TLDR; Great bar, very good food, friendly staff, but with a boring / steril atmosphere.

There are a lot of great bars and burgers in Ithaca and I will definitely be back. I tend to eat a couple burgers a week and Monks will make it into the rotation.

George was our server. Absolutely a class act. Food was extremely good. Hotel restaurants are hit or miss and this is definitely a hit the. Everything was great

Outstanding gourmet burger and rib eye steak. Very professional service and great ambience. Will definitely return again

We had a surprisingly good old fashioned here. We didn't eat, but it was a great nightcap.

The lamb is perfect! Unique dishes like pumpkin risotto with feta cheese and raisins. Yum. Signature cocktails to share in a carafe. My only criticism is charging for bread or giving small amounts of toast with appetizer dips.

Great practice! This was located in our hotel and wasvery convenient

Really great bar experience last Sunday (11/26), thanks much for the delicious cocktails and friendly service!

The customer service at this hotel restaurant is excellent. Our server, Jewel, was very patient with my son as he ordered things that were off the menu. This made the experience pleasant for everyone.
The Belgian waffle with the warm compote was great. Even the breakfast buffet was worth it. The fresh fruit was sweet and the assorted of pastries were great too. We would eat there again, even if we were not at this hotel.

My boyfriend and I came to Monks on the Commons for our anniversary. We haven’t really been anywhere since the pandemic shutdown of restaurants so this was a very special day for us! I called ahead and was greeted by Max, who helped me to make my reservation and went over options for how to make my anniversary very special by offering to place a candle in our dessert as a surprise at the end of the meal. Max greeted us on arrival and he had the best energy and was so friendly. He wished us a happy anniversary and throughout our meal, he continued checking on us to make sure we were taken care of. We had such an amazing time and we owe it all to max who just kept checking in and making our experiences memorable by recommending his favorites for drinks and for food. THE FOOD WAS AMAZING!!!!!! And the drink he recommended we ended up loving and kept taking shots :) He also sang us happy anniversary! Thank you sooo much Max for such an amazing and memorable night, we had the best time and will definitely be back. We love you!!!

Beautiful restaurant and bar. Prices are high but we just had drinks and they were delicious. Bartender was friendly. Great atmosphere. Lots of people walking by outside.

My Husband and I visited his daughter in Ithaca, NY this past weekend. We ate outside at Monks at the Marriott Hotel the first night. The food was Fantastic and our waitress, Nastasha could not have been more friendly, attentive, or efficient. I had the Chicken Saltimbocca over Linguine with mushroom sauce. It was to die for. My husband had the Salmon and our daughter, a large dinner salad with strawberries, both superb. Everything was so perfect that we ate there the second night too (although we needed the heaters turned on that time). It is a hidden gem, as it doesn't seem that they advertise enough. We cannot recommend Monks highly enough, even though there are many excellent choices of restaurants in Ithaca.

Decided to dine here for our anniversary and it was 10x better then we had expected. The overall atmosphere was amazing. They had a jazz band whom were wonderful. The food was unbelievable. Fresh. Beautiful presentation. As well as reasonably priced. Cant wait to come back!

This is a newly opened restaurant within the Marriott Hotel on the Commons with an upscale atmosphere and a very well-thought-out menu. As of late December they are definitely ironing out some personnel kinks that hopefully will be addressed with experience and training. If you are willing to overlook a few roadbumps (for example, our server didn't approach our table until about ten minutes after we were seated; this is a training or communication issue), you will have a great meal and a great time here.

The menu is very well done and quite inventive, featuring things like a steak and egg burger (for which medium-rare was done correctly, a rare thing to find to start with) and all ingredients taste fresh and correctly prepared. The chicken wing appetizer is absolutely delicious, the wings with a nice crispy outside and tender juiciness inside. Rather than the traditional fries with a burger, they are serving crispy shoestring potatoes that are admittedly a bit difficult and messy to eat, but quite good.

Monks recruited a bartender from Lot 10 to build the drink menu and manage the bar. The drink menu is very impressive with some of the best cocktails I've seen around Ithaca. They will compete with Argos in this department.

Food was great, atmosphere was great and waitress, i believe Leandra or something, was fantastic as well. Will definitely be coming back

My aunts and I just went in for a drink after shopping downtown - amazing craft cocktails that are priced like wine!! I loved my Monk Gin Fizz. We had great service from Jewelle, who was so down to earth in what you might think is a very fancy establishment. Definitely stop by for a drink!

Nice bar/restaurant in the Marriott. Bartender was an excellent mixologist and the manager was top notch.

We didn't order food, but the menu was tempting.

Excellent food and service. Mikayla was first rate. Victoria P(food and beverage supervisor) and Kellen C (Front desk supervisor) were able to work out confusion and secure us a table for dinner. Very professional with the way In which it was handled.

My server Arria was so sweet and I could tell she is very passionate for what she does. If I end up dining at Monk's again, I'm sure gonna try for those digits!