Let’s face it.  Just by virtue of being on Colfax, you know the people watching is going to be beyond entertaining.  Grab a metal seat in the patio area at the corner of Colfax and Pearl, order some beer and food, and prepare to be entertained.  Within 5 minutes of taking our seats around 8pm, a 50-something dude in a leisure suit and sunglasses pulled up to the red light on Pearl in his 1984 Mercedes blaring “For The Love of Money” by the O’Jays.  And he wasn’t even being ironic.  It was beautiful.

Speaking of money, bring some.  Despite the Colfax location, you’re not getting your buzz off of $2 PBRs here.  The beer list is extensive, awesome, and full of beers with ABVs (alcohol by volume) in the 8-12% range (for reference, your standard Bud Light clocks in somewhere around 4% ABV.)  That sort of quality brew does not come cheap, with the Avery Salvation I had (10% ABV) ringing up at $7 per glass.

And it’s worth every damn penny.  The beer list is extensive, and unless you’re an uber-beersnob (I consider myself a snob-in-training) you probably haven’t heard of half of them, which is just fine.  The staff is well-versed in the ways of Belgian drink, and our waitress was firing off recommendations left and right that all hit the mark.  In addition to their standard beer and wine list, they also have a rotating tap list, with the whole range of lambics, trippels, quads, porters, IPAs, and saisons that all dance in the realm of Belgian beer goodness.

We’d already eaten prior to going out, but the beers demanded to be accompanied by something, so we dipped our toes into the appetizer menu and went with some Garlic Pretzel Bites, which were definitely Twilight proof, buttery, and served with a side of coarse mustard.  In other words, perfect.  Granted, it’s hard to screw up pretzels.  Later on, we went with the Artichoke Dip which was good (because they put bacon in it, so it has no choice but to be good), and hellaciously salty, which of course, demanded more beer.  They’re tricky like that.

The staff, from the hostess who tried desperately to help us find the rest of our party in the building (she’d accidentally wound up down the street at another bar, so it was futile, but the effort was appreciated), to our waitress, who was as easy-going as they get, were all awesome.

So, go grab your wallet, order an awesome beer you can’t pronounce, surround yourself with great staff and patrons, and go get the quintessential bar experience at The Cheeky Monk.