The Godfather Bistro Cigar Bar — Restaurant in Shelby Charter Township

Preface -

I live nearby and pass the establishment at least twice a week, but have never visited. When three of my friends decided we would have our yearly dinner/cigar x-mas celebration here, I was stoked to try it out and thrilled that it was so close to home. We typically go to Big Rock in Birmingham, or some other upscale restaurant and spend a small fortune on steak, bottles of wine, and cigars but our schedules were conflicted and this was our only opportunity to get together for the holidays (Monday night (12/16)).

Experience -

I walked in just before 8:00pm to find my party already seated and with empty glasses in front of them - they arrived about 30 minutes prior. They had just finished their first round of drinks and I showed up just in time to enjoy their company, some drinks, a nice meal, and perhaps a cigar afterward. It was over 20 minutes before anyone came to take our order or ask if I wanted a drink. There was only ONE other party of about 8 people in the place - they were taken care of pretty well from the looks of it and were all packing up to leave. We ordered a round of drinks. I ordered a 'super' dirty martini. My friends ordered a beer and a Manhattan, and glasses of water were requested by all of us. Another 20 minutes passed before my drink (and ONLY my drink) arrived. The martini was crystal clear and had not even a tinge of olive brine. I found it extremely odd that no other drinks came and no water either - just my martini was delivered. We ordered dinner and my friends reaffirmed their drink selections. About 15 minutes later, the waitress came by to tell us the kitchen was out of ribs, buffalo chicken egg rolls, and charcuterie boards and asked if we would we like to see the menu again... Also, she claimed to also be out of the beer (Hacker Pschorr) which was ordered by one of us. We attempted to piece together our meals with other menu offerings, but ultimately, we decided on taking our business elsewhere as we were concerned that the lack of attention to detail we witnessed might also reflect the quality the food. We affirmed with the waitress that only our flatbread was already in the making, and we canceled the rest of our food and drinks. We asked to be cashed out, but after waiting another 15 minutes for our bill and with no waitress in sight, we decided to leave $50 on the table and we took our business elsewhere.

Afterthoughts -

Not exactly sure why this place fell so short - I've never seen anything like it. The waitress appeared to write everything down we asked for, but the follow-through was beyond poor. Never an apology was offered and she actually breathed a sigh of relief when we said we were thinking about going somewhere else. It WAS a Monday night and super slow in there - perhaps they didn't have the staff or kitchen personnel available to accommodate us. If they cannot serve their full menu on weekdays, they should keep the kitchen closed or provide a menu with current offerings. We had no idea what was even 'available' to order on the menu that they would be willing to cook for us. We headed down the street to Black Label Tavern (also a new place for me). Despite it being late (they also close at 11:00p), we had a great meal and the waitstaff was friendly and...

I don't know where to start... Upon entering for the first time, I was confused as the entry door looked like an emergency exit door, and once inside it looks like a disheveled garage sale, with random counters and haphazardly strewn displays. So I kept walking and finally saw the bar and seating area. The seating reminded me of a banquet hall, square tables pushed together with a black table cloth and push in chairs. There were a few couches and chairs, but definitely a NOT a cigar lounge vibe. Their description says, "Steakhouse type menu" it is far from that, it was overpriced, small portions of blah food. Especially the calamari, no sauce, come on, they served it dry. Steak tips were hard to find the portion was so small and covered in a beef/mushroom type gravy. The cigar humidor is small and cramped, especially when the Shrek Donkey Sized guy (later found out not an employee, just some lurker from the bar they use to let you in the locked humidor) is breathing down your neck. The service, almost non existent, we had to continually flag down one of the two girls working that night to spend our money and get our bill. The "smoked old fashion" was NOT smoked and had a paltry pour for the money they charge, but it did have an ice ball. The atmosphere was more like a sports bar with the tv's turned up for a game and people yelling and screaming, keep in mind I did not hear or see a sound system, just the individual volume of the selected TV's. What appeared to be the owner dressed like a 70's tv mobster in a track suit, was polite and was running around changing stations and getting cigars for people. Overall, my group said not what they expected, will not return as there are many better cigar lounge choices in the area. Don't believe the hype unless you don't expect much, and have low standards. PS The men's bathroom had paper towels all over the floor and worse yet, one of the two urinals is directly next to the sink and mirror so anyone washing their hands or waiting...

Last night was my first time going here and we had high hopes. My friends and I walked in, atmosphere looked really cool, we were able to get a table, it looked promising.

The service we received was hands down one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had. We got there a little before 10 PM. The waitress came over, asked us what we wanted to drink, and told us we can go grab our cigars. She brought us our drinks, let us use her torch, and left. My drink had 0 liquor in it. It was literally just sour mix. My friend ordered a double, said he couldn’t taste any liquor in it all.

No worries or complaints, we’ll just order another one when we finish. Well over an hour goes by and she never once comes back. Not to check on us. Not to ask us if we want anything else. She’s going to other tables multiple times, but never to us.

Finally after an hour, we ask another waitress if she could send ours over because we wanted to order another drink. She informed us they work in teams and she’ll help us. So she takes our order, this time there was a little more liquor in these. The first waitress still has not come over to check. It’s almost like she was avoiding eye contact. This new waitress doesn’t come back either after we finish our drinks to see if we want anything else. We’re just sitting there. Midnight hits, the bars closing, still being completely ignored. Bringing everyone their bills except for us. We were one of the last people to get the bill. In a little over 2 hours, we were only served twice as other tables around us were served.

Unfortunately, all of us will probably never come back based off of...