The Flying Monkey upgrades to bigger space
The Flying Monkey Grill & Bar, which opened at Hartford-Brainard Airport three years ago, has landed at a new address. The casual restaurant and bar now calls Newington home.
Owner Junior Baez, who opened the original restaurant in December 2016, closed the Lindbergh Drive eatery last month and re-opened Nov. 22 at 2095 Berlin Turnpike, a space that has housed restaurants like SAZ Jamaican, Fat & Happy, OnFire Grill and Tunxis Grill in recent years. He cited disputes with his former landlord as the reason for the move.
While Flying Monkey diners now have a view of a highway instead of a runway, the new space is nearly double the size of the original, seating about 175 guests. The kitchen is also about five times the size of the one in Hartford, Baez says.
“The space here is more comfortable for all of us,” he says. “Newington has been very welcoming to us.”
The move is actually a return to town for Baez, who’s worked at multiple restaurants on the Berlin Turnpike throughout his career, including the Hawthorne Inn, Carmen Anthony’s and Ruth’s Chris Steak House.
The new Flying Monkey retains an aviation theme, with flight- and travel-inspired decor and menu items, and a merchandise display near the lobby includes T-shirts and cuddly stuffed monkeys. Baez describes the dining room’s design as a fine-tuned version of the Hartford original, “modern vintage,” with copper and metal details, but with softer touches for a cozier feel.
FEATURED/NOTEWORTHY DISHES: Baez describes The Flying Monkey as “casual dining with upscale touches,” featuring cooked-to-order American fusion dishes.
The Newington menu features all of the favorites from Hartford: wings, burgers, bourbon almond Brussels sprouts, fish and chips, mac and cheese and a panko-crusted pork chop, among other highlights. But the larger kitchen has facilitated several additions to the lunch and dinner menus, like tacos ($11 to $13) with carnitas and street corn, mahi mahi and sofrito chicken; a “red eye” filet ($29) with Cajun coffee rub and garlic bleu cheese butter, Asian salmon lo mein ($22) and scallop and mushroom risotto ($26.)
Brunch, which is available both Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., has also been pumped up. New plates include Wella’s tostone bennies (named for Baez’s grandmother) with poached eggs and fried adobo pork on fried green plantains ($15); “Fighter Pilot” Cajun shrimp with bacon, peppers and onions over pepper jack grits ($16.) and a Captain’s Burger Melt, with cheddar, caramelized onion and “spicy monkey sauce” on buttermilk waffles. ($16) A mimosa bar offers “one way” cocktails for $5 or “round trip” for $15, with a 90-minute limit.
DETAILS: The Flying Monkey is at 2095 Berlin Turnpike in Newington. It’s open Sunday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. 860-436-5144, theflyingmonkeygrill.com.