Cliff Bell's — Restaurant in Detroit

First and last time ever setting foot in this establishment. Had reservations for a Saturday night milestone birthday. Our reservations were for 6:30 PM and we arrived slight later than that due to the weather. Seated promptly and received water and menus. Our waitress "J" made it over to take our drink orders and they arrived fairly quickly. We then proceed to place an appetizer and entree orders. The appetizer came fairly quickly and was hot and freshly prepared. At this point the service went downhill terribly. A party of 4 that arrived before us was given superb service - water refills, replacement ice water, entrees served, desert, coffee, plates removed, etc. This table was right next to ours. Close to an hour after we arrived a couple was seated next to us (elbow distance). This couple was served their meals almost right away and had desert and coffee while we were still waiting on our food. I watched as the waitress was super attentive to this couple and all the other tables around us by bringing over ice water refills numerous times. So, while everyone around us were eating their meals and finishing them as the band played, we sat there with our water glasses half empty. When we asked the waitress where our food was, she said she would go in the basement to check. This was at 8:00 PM!! The waitress also made a remark about how we were 'hard to get to' although she got to the tables all around us without an issue. Our food finally arrived close to 8:30 just before the band wrapped up their early evening set and the house lights came on. I'm pretty livid at this point because the food arrived on a warmed plate, but the two $50+ entrees were not freshly prepared. I suspect our food was sitting in the basement the entire time. I expressed our displeasure to the server and mentioned the disparate service she provided. She offered to buy us cocktails but the night was pretty much ruined and we declined the offer. A manager came over to apologize and take the cover charges ($50) off of the bill. We felt totally ignored and disrespected by the service for a final $240 bill ($30 for parking).

Really can't understand how your own people can treat you the way this establishment did us. Give ALL of your paying customers the SAME service and not cater to your...

We had a reservation for a dinner but arrived a little bit early which worked out as we had to find parking which surrounding parking lots were offering for $50-$70. That by itself is to decide if you want to dine downtown. While waiting on my husband who dropped me off,I sat at the bar waiting on him to figure parking situation. After he arrived, we decided to get a table and the waitress by the name Jeanette (hopefully, I didn't misspelled) took our order. Food arrived all at once, steak bites were not medium rear,as requested, more like well done with lots of end pieces that were tough to chew,jambalaya was spicy as promised yet lacking flavor. Once the food arrived, we were left out - waitress never stopped by to ask if we needed anything. People started coming as the show time was getting closer. Waitress literally left us be, getting busy with everyone else, passing by multiple times yet we were unnoticeable. My husband had to flag her finally for another drink .I asked her for coffee.I went to the bathroom and back hoping, she would be back and at least offer us coffee and dessert, giving her time to take care of other patrons. Nope! Half an hour came and went, nobody stopped. We finally decided to move to the bar as we saw two seats and decided that we might get better luck there. Ordered a dessert and after dinner drinks, and listened to the music, that was great!We asked bartender to let someone know the lady who waited on us that we will finish our dinner at the bar and will cash out with her, so she wouldn't worry about us, thinking that we walked out on her. She never came back or stopped once. The gentleman working at the door delivered the check we requested to close the tab we had started at the table. Above all, music is what we really enjoy going there as there was never a time we listened to a bad music. Service and food, not so much, especially when you are being left out in the midst of...

I can't say enough of how much I LOVE Cliff Bell's. The beauty of this establishment is like stepping back into an era that is gone and some have forgotten. An era when beautiful music is played and people clapped, cheered, and had a great time. The food....AMAZING! Drinks are greatly crafted. Scenery....Nothing like it and absolutely gorgeous. I hope it never changes honestly because it would be a shame if it ever did. It once was a speak easy and some of Detroit's most famous people once stepped foot and played in this place. Keith Sweat frequently hangout there, Andre 3000 did a set in February and the young talent that was there tonight was great to see because it shows that a new generation is appreciating music from a very distant past. When is the last time you saw a 16 yr old on the trombone and a 19 yr old on the bass? I saw it tonight. The staff is absolutely wonderful, kind, and professional. I brought my mom here after the Tiger game because I sent her a postcard from here (you get one to send out for free after dinner) last year and told her we would he coming here after a game. She reminded me that places like this existed all over the place back in the day.....and this is literally one of the only ones I've been too around town and I love it each and everytime. We had Jeanetta (sorry if I spelled it wrong) tonight serving us and what a wonderful woman. She works the weekend and I suggest having her serve you. I will be back forsure on a date night with my wife next time as we have been planning it for years once we get a babysitter for a night. This is a must stop in Detroit....if you never come, you are missing out on one of the top notch places not only in Detroit, but all...