Pete's Dueling Piano Bar — Restaurant in Austin

Let me clarify that this review is probably closer to 2.5 starts but unfortunately, I'm rounding down. I hate leaving bad reviews for any places (let alone fun bars) but I have been to Pete's twice now and have been kind of let down both times. First time I went, my friend and I showed up with less than an hour left until closing and there was still a cover charge for $10. Now I get it. The place is popular so I accept there's a cover charge but out of all the bars I have ever visited in the SF Bay Area (and I know Austin ain't the Bay Area), but I've never seen any other bar still doing a cover charge when there's less than 1 hour left until closing. I mainly take responsibility for this though because maybe my expectations are off and I still chose into the place regardless because I wanted to take my friend somewhere "cool" while he was visiting here. The second time which was last Saturday, was also the last time I'll visit here. We paid the cover charge of $15 a person (which surprised me) but we were blessed to get a table. After listening to songs for about 15 minutes, I decided to put in a request for a couple of songs at the same time. Both of which I felt were popular enough. Salt by Ava Max and I'm Still Standing by Elton John. I went up there, tipped $20 to the female pianist, and chilled. Lo and behold, I'm still Standing played right away but after waiting and waiting, Salt never played. Even after waiting for well over an hour and a change in artists, still nothing. That's when I told my wife, let's get out of here. I'm not trying to sound privileged here or anything but I at least wish she would have acknowledged that she couldn't play the song or to just request something else like the other gentleman artist who was saying he didn't know any Triumph songs and for the person to either go up there to request another song or get their money back. Needless to say, what she did felt kind of tacky to me. TLDR: Cool place if you want to see something neat but definitely makes me want to be cheap when it comes to tipping the entertainers due to some tacky manners when handling...

Booked 7 people for a Saturday night, premium package. I debated the regular deposit and the premium but chose the latter as it was for a special occasion and I had never been to the establishment mefore. We did get 1st row behind one of the pianos. Our waitress was great, the show was fun and engaging. The talent was wonderful. I have been to many piano bars and this one is unique for sure. Spectacular musical ability and song knowledge. Next time I will skip the premium package, and go for the seats up top looking down. If you are planning on showing up without reserving a spot, show up early or you will be one of the many standing. If you are planning on booking tables keep in mind they are small round tables that they fit 5 folks to. You will not sit 5 to the table because of the arrangement of the place. You will be off to the sides. If you are long legged or thick, you may have to maneuver a bit to get comfy. They did a great job of picking up empty glasses to keep the tables as clear as possible. The only major downside was the ladies room. 3 stalls with one that has a curtain for a door. It was also extremely cold in there. Colder than it was outside. That being said, I did appreciate having 3 toilets, the line would have been much worse otherwise. Everyone had a great time at the end of the day and we...

If you enjoy a snobby, money-grubbing atmosphere, this is the place for you. I wrote a request for Leon Russell with a $5 tip. At first it seemed like they were going to play it, he pushed it to the front of the list, mentioned it to his partner, and then a few songs later, the same player says to the audience, "You do not have to tip us, some guy put a $5 tip for a song, and just so you know, we don't have to play the song you request", and then he played Margaritaville...then about 15 minutes later, another pair of players are on the pianos, and one of them says to the audience, "Someone requested Leon Russell with $5, but someone else just gave me $20 for a different song, so maybe we'll get to the Leon later."

Look, I don't care about the $5 tip. Or even the overpriced drinks and $8 door charge on a street of no covers, and I don't care about whether they even play the song. I am a musician, and I can tell you that I would never make fun of someone for tipping me. I will never return to that establishment. They could have just moved along and not said a thing about it. Clearly they are just trying to squeeze the biggest tips they can out of people, and even that is fine, but you don't have to be jerks about it.

We won't ever...