Dish | New tropical menu for The Monkey Wrench

The Monkey Wrench (@502MonkeyWrench), 1025 Barrett Ave., has rolled out a new menu featuring Cuban- and Asian-inspired cuisine on its rooftop patio — a space dubbed Lono Lounge. The first floor offerings continue to emphasize Southern fare and whiskey.

“It doesn’t make sense to eat country food in a beach setting,” bar manager Jared Schubert says. “Food sometimes takes a special space. (The new menu) is a menu for outside. Fried chicken and 90 degrees just doesn’t work.”

The menu is a celebration of Asian and Cuban foods, Schubert explains, two areas of the world with similar ingredients — and warm climates. Chef Dustin Staggers “is super creative,” says Schubert, noting that Staggers developed an appreciation for Caribbean- and Asian-influenced menus while living in Florida. Among the dishes on the Lono Lounge menu: udon noodle and Bulgogi beef bowl; grilled shrimp on sugarcane; and tamarind and cilantro charbroiled Dungeness crab. The patio will also feature tropical drinks like the Caipirinha, Singapore Sling and Mai Tai.

The upstairs and downstairs menus are only available on their respective floors. “We don’t want to muddy the waters,” says Schubert. A new menu on the first floor includes cast-iron fried frog legs; summer seafood boil; and smoked bison meatloaf. Also new: Down Home Sundays, with family-style, all you can eat dining available for $19 ($11 for kids) from 5 to 9 p.m. Sundays.

Tell Dana! Send your restaurant “dish” to Dana McMahan at thecjdish@gmail.com and follow @danamac on Twitter.