To Dine or Not to Dine: 3 Monkeys Bar & Grill

Brunch. It's classier than lunch, but still being served when you wake up. And it was just what two lovely ladies and I were craving the Saturday morning of Halloweekend. The perfect restaurant for quenching our hankerings was 3 Monkeys.

After a terrible parallel parking job, my friends and I were quickly seated in a booth on the well-heated, glassed-in porch that faces the street. The porch is connected to the main restaurant, which holds more booths and a cozy wooden bar.

For those who can legally drink, 3 Monkeys serves morning specialties like the 3 Monkey Bloody Mary with Absolut vodka, pepper and three olives, as well as the Royal Monkey with Chambord and champagne. (Chambord is a tempting black raspberry liquor blended with French cognac, Madagascar vanilla and herbs, according to Chambord's website).

I sampled the coffee and can absolutely say it was the best I'd had in weeks. Nothing tops good diner coffee.

The brunch menu was an incredible show of egg dishes that included Virginia-style ingredients such as Chesapeake crabmeat, which you can add as a topper to almost any dish for $2. I was drawn to entrees such as the French toast monkey cristo with prosciutto, turkey and brie cheese, and the Belgian waffle, topped with whipped cream and sauteed bananas. I eventually settled on the eggs crabmeat benedict, a 3 Monkeys' spin on the classic. One of my friends ordered a chicken, pesto, and three cheese omelet, and the other ordered the tri-pork omelet. That's right, a restaurant has finally acknowledged that sometimes you just can't pick one. The tri-pork omelet embodies a breakfast trifecta: ham, bacon and andouille sausage.

While the lunch menu at 3 Monkeys has a larger selection, it's more expensive. I'd recommend sticking to the brunch menu. Entrees hover between a reasonable $6-$8.

The best part about 3 Monkeys is that it attracts patrons with pink hair and piercings, as well as those in Ralph Lauren quarter-zips. It makes for great people-watching and is a gathering place for all elements of Carytown's clientele.