Grand Piano Bistro
| Address » | 506 E Grand Ave, Des Moines IA (Map) |
| Phone » | n/a |
| Website » | n/a |
| Downtown » | No |
| Type » | Bar | Restaurant |
| Tags » | Lounge |
| Avg User Rating » |
  (based on 9 reviews) |
| Details » | The Grand Piano Bistro is tentatively set to open May 18, 2007 in the East Village.
Owners Tony Bohnenkamp, a local musician, and Sara Middleton, former manager of the Hessen House and Court Avenue Brewing Company, are renovating the 5,097-square-foot building, which formerly housed AAMCO Transmission. The space will feature live piano acts Wednesday through Saturday, including Bohnenkamp's Pianopalooza, jazz piano nights and national piano acts. The chef is Tag Grandgeorge. He is planning a menu of Italian, Japanese, Mediterranean and French dishes. |
| User Reviews | |
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User Reviews (9 reviews)
May 12, 2008 
Michelle
Was excited to sample this bit of piano bar/bistro culture in the big DM. Went to dinner (7:30 reservations) this past Saturday night. What a disappointment.
1 - Service. Slow. Turnaround time on drink orders from order to serve was 20 minutes - consistently. We were provided one waitress for a party of 12. We were not her only table.
2 - Food. Awful. My meal was served cold and out of order - salad came after entree. The roasted chicken dishes were served under-cooked. The grilled portobello was rougly half the size of the bun and the roasted red peppers featured with the portabello consisted of a sprinkle of diced peppers on top.
3 - Atmosphere. Fun for awhile. Good sing-along after 9:00ish but the humor from the dueling piano players was so raunchy. I'm always up for a good crude laugh but there were more references to garden tools, body parts, and bedroom acts than an x-rated comic.
Overall, if your intent is to have a good college-type party night with no expectation for good food, service, or decency then this is the place for you.
May 06, 2008 hojo
Went for lunch. Had a prime rib sandwich that was cooked to almost well done! Service was EXTREMELY slow, and we were one of only three occupied tables. Drinks rarely refilled.
May 05, 2008 Steve
Just went for drinks and entertainment, so I can't comment on the food. The service was extremely slow, and the drinks were not that good. We went on a Saturday night, so I can understand that it's slow, but you would think that the staff would figure things out: more drinks = more $$ and more song requests, which also = more $$. I've been to a few piano bars/bistros, and this was not good in comparison. The accoustics were bad (high ceilings; brick walls), and the talent was not that impressive. Seemed like everyone was clearing out around 11 PM--we got very bored and left. At least the waiter was quick with the check!
Feb 04, 2008 Janet
We went there last Saturday night around 7:20pm. This place is usually very hard to get seated. Our friends finally got us a small table since they arrived early. We couldn't order food in that section because the table is too small??
And then we talked to the waitress and she finally let us ordered food. Let me tell you, the food is overpriced and is horrible! I ordered their vietnamese vermicelli noodle salad for 12. I got two tiny pieces of eggroll and 4 pieces of duck meat with plasticky noodles. And my friends got some goat cheese crepes and it was overpowered by the balsamic vinegar.
The music is good and it is a fun place if you just want to enjoy the music. If you plan to have dinner, go somewhere else. But then if you want to get seated, you need to arrive early and hence, having to end up eating there.
Overall, bad service, bad food, overpriced but good live piano music.
Jan 12, 2008 Liz Peterson
Went to GPB last night for the first (and last) time. We had a group of 6 and arrived at 7:30 on a Friday night. We were put on the waiting list and waited for almost two hours by the door and never did get seated. We saw about 50 people leave and another 50 people get seated who came in after us. Were told we couldn't order food in the waiting area and finally left this horrid establishment at 9:30 and went elsewhere to get some dinner. The hostess staff was totally incompetant and no attempts were made to accomodate us. We will not be back. What a disappointment.
Dec 11, 2007 Jessica R
Okay...it's sad to see the reviews of this place based on bad or two bad waitresses, because this place is a blast and amazing! I am 30 year's old and have been search for an entertaining night in this town without having to go to a club or a cigar bar! THIS IS IT!
First off, the chef is excellent. The seafood lasgna was superb and I am definitely someone that searches for a great dish in this city.
Secondly, the dueling piano players are nothing short of amazing. Tony, the owner, is such a great entertainer, after dinner the entire place went from wonderful dining experience to "on fire" with sing alongs, plenty of waitresses, great music, and every single person in the place was having a great time!
There are a few things to improve on, the hostesses were very slow to seat us and seemed to forget about us waiting at the bar, so service can and needs to be addresses apparently. The only other improvement would be that Tony performed more evenings than not.
I definitely recommend going to this place for dinner and entertainment after dinner...it's worth trying it for yourself on a night they have the dueling pianos!
Aug 03, 2007 robert hoelscher
It's about time a nice piano bar came to des moines and there is a ton of space inside. You don't have to worry about being too crowded even if they are at capacity. The bartender and wait staff were great, and the entertainment was fabulous. My food came in a timely manner and was delicious! Will go back as soon as I can.
Jul 26, 2007 mike M.
I came to the restuarant by myself. The hostess set me close to the stage on the east side. I told her it was a perfect seat.
After looking at the extensive beer and wine menu I started to pick out my food item. I was never asked by anyone for a drink or if I had been helped. A watress who was helping tables on both sides of me walked by four times and never said hello, go to hell or nothing. I saw her go behind the Hostess stand and have something to drink. She came and checked on several more tables, never stopping at mine.
I went to the Hostess and told her I thought it was a perfect place, but was never waited on. She apologized several times and was going to get the waitress. I told her she walked by me four times and never did acknowledge me.
The menu and beer looked good, but the waitress needs a new place to work before I will come back again. She ruined it for me. I wonder how many more customers she runs off. How can they afford to keep her?
I was there on 7/26 at 8:20 p.m. if you care to figure out who had that area. I will not return
Jul 18, 2007 aeongrey
One of the worst dining experiences of my life. Nothing about this place really is satisfying. For a dueling piano bar only having deuling piano's one night a week doesn't make much sense, but i don't think that could of saved the place. The menu was nothing special, and the food was pretty much reflective, hot dishes came cold, sauces that give instant headaches are used, and the overall experience was pretty terrible. Our waiter was by far the worst, only paying attention to the end of our table where the females sat, taking payments for drinks and not bringing change expecting it was his tip (a $5 tip on a $6 drink, don't think so buddy) The highlight of the night had to be the bland ok curry dish, that when I asked for something spicey to add to it, they brought me the 6 pack of ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, and steak sauce in a glamorous empty beer bottle carrier. Basically something straight out of lonestar steak house. In the end, the guy ended up with about a $5 tip on a 120 dollar bill... and I was told I was being too nice. And you would think that getting stiffed on tips for drinks all night might have sparked the manager to come over and ask if everything was ok... it got better.. we left.