Le Piano — Restaurant in Rogers Park Township

While Le Piano offers a lovely atmosphere to listen to live jazz, it doesn't offer a great dining experience. My husband and I just returned from their jazz brunch, which we had been excited try, but that wore off as soon as we sat down. The small two tops that make up a majority of the room are fine for enjoying cocktails but not to eat a meal on. Not wanting to take up a four top, we stuck with the small table and proceeded to look over the menu. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted after reviewing the menu on their website, however, one thing that was notably missing online was the $5 per guest entertainment charge that appeared on the menu in front of us. While it is noted for evening performances on their website, it was not disclosed as a charge during their jazz brunch and came as a surprise. Even more disappointing is that it wasn't mentioned to us by the hostess upon arriving, so we were put in the awkward position of choosing between going and staying after being seated. Recognizing that there were two talented musicians playing for us, we decided to stay thinking the $10 we were paying would be well worth the experience. It wasn't. The jazz brunch is listed on their website as being from 11 am until 3 pm with music until 2:30 pm, but the music ended at 2 pm, so if you arrive at 1:30 pm, as we did, you're not going to be enjoying music for very long. Again, this wasn't disclosed to us by any of the staff upon arriving, so we chose to stay thinking we would be able to enjoy the music for a little bit after our meal was finished. Unaware our jazz brunch would only last 30 minutes, we proceeded to order brunch, which included the beignets, the spring vegetable frittata and coffee for me, and the smoked salmon plate for my husband. I asked the waiter if the frittata came with the fingerling frites that accompanied other entrees and he informed me that the menu was out of date and that dish now had beef in it, or chorizo, he wasn't certain. He offered to double check with the kitchen and I asked him to please do so. Upon returning, he was able to provide the new ingredients in the frittata and I decided to go for it, so he placed our order. It wasn't long before both the beignets and our entrees were coming out of the kitchen, the speed of which being one of the positives of the meal. Despite how quickly our food came out, what we got was simply not worth the money we ended up spending. The beignets cost $7.00 dollars. Having been to New Orleans, I was thinking we would at least get four or five beignets for that much seeing as how they typically cost $3.00 for three beignets at a place like Cafe du Monde, but Le Piano surprised us again by only serving two. Shame on us for not asking. The lack of value continued with the small portions of each of our entrees (in particular, the three fingerling potatoes I was served with my small frittata and the stingy amount of accoutrements to go with my husband's salmon plate). Thankfully, what we were served was good, but with a total bill of $60.98, I can't say we'll be back to dine at Le Piano; the value just isn't there. Consider joining them for a cocktail and some music, but be certain to...

TLDR: Rude and very inattentive waitstaff despite it not being crowded at all; crazy expensive food for the portions/quality; consistently poor cocktails; allows aggressive homeless people to threaten the patrons. There are many similarly priced places in this part of Chicago that are superior in every way. Go to RP Social or R Public House instead.

From the moment my wife and I arrived, the lady at the front acted like she couldn't believe we had a reservation. Not sure why, as we showed up at the time we were told on our confirmation email. We were very polite to the staff all night, despite the very bad service and other issues which I'll get into. For reference, there were never more than about 5 occupied tables and there were at least two waitstaff present the whole evening. This wasn’t a busy evening or an issue with understaffing.

Despite a heat index of 115 degrees, the concert was outside. We had to ask for refills of our water every single time the waiter came out (about once every 20-30 minutes). As other reviews have said, the drinks are significantly inferior to the drinks at the nearby RP Social and R Public House, both of which I strongly recommend over Le Piano. Eventually I walked to my home a block away to fill a small cooler with water and we just refilled our own for the rest of the night. Again, heat index over 100 degrees here, even after sunset.

The food is expensive for the laughably small portions. I paid $25 for a “steak” with frites, advertised as coming with chimichurri so I figured it was a skirt steak. What I got was about 5 or 6 oz of a steak and literally one fingerling potato cut into quarters. The taste was fine, but for that price I could have bought a pound of potatoes and an entire raw skirt steak and fed 4 people.

The wait staff spent most of the evening sitting at the bar, talking to the bartender and facing away from the seating area. This became relevant during the show when a homeless woman approached our table and asked if we would give her a drink. Since it was 100+ degrees out, I offered her some of our icewater, but I guess she wanted alcohol because she started swearing at me and saying that she had a knife and was going to stab me. Then she stumbled around the seating area for another 15 minutes pointing us out to all the other patrons and saying that we hate black people. No action by the waitstaff to remove her whatsoever. On her way out of the seating area, she came up behind me, called me a c*nt, got right in my ear from behind and threatened to stab me again. I almost stood up to defend myself but decided not to and she stumbled off down the street. As far as I can tell, the waitstaff wasn’t even aware of her being there, because they didn’t come outside from the bar area at all during this 20 minute period.

Despite living less than a block from this place, I will never waste my money here again. Chicago is full of incredible restaurants, but there are also places like this one that charge incredible prices and provide a very bad, perhaps even...

I can't say anything negative about Le Piano. First time there and I'll be back for years to come! The atmosphere was very unique and welcoming. The staff were great as well! We had Gregory to help navigate the menu for my partner and I and he was witty, tactful with his recommendations, and receptive to us as guests. He was definitely part of the reason I loved the place, and it's hard to find people like him in the service industry. Now onto the menu, it has limited (10ish) cocktail and limited(10ish) food but everything they make is truly crafted to perfection. Nothing was overboozy, nothing under/over salted or lacking depth or flavor. All the food we ate had a well balanced combination of flavors so they definitely know what they are doing in the back of house. I really appreciate that the menu has enough options to give you true variety but keeps it simple enough to where you can't get lost/overwhelmed in the menu. Truly shows how well they understand balance. Next is the interior of the establishment. Again, incredibly unique in its arrangement of seating and placement of piano. Everyone was enjoying the jazz quartet outside but when I went inside to use their facilities I had to stop and admire their interior design of the place. They keep the lights slightly dim to where you can see your surroundings and everything inside but not bright by any means to strain your eyes. The seating is generous as well as the types of seating they offer. The price was also very fair for what they provide in terms of ambiance, atmosphere, sophistication, elegance, service, quality of food & drink and overall feel to the establishment. I hope my review has persuaded you to check them out for yourself. While I'd love to keep this Rodgers park gem a secret it definitely deserves to be shared with...