Big Shot Piano Lounge & Restaurant

Dario, the main attraction. Willing to play anything and blows it out of the water. The food is great and great portions! The drinks are on par. Can’t get enough of those manly martinis especially the dessert ones, but my figure would say otherwise. Staff is great. Found me in a huge crowd to seat us when our table became ready.

Loved this idea! Piano bar in the burbs! Great place for a date or a group of friends.

We’ve gone to this place through many, if not all, of its transitions over the years. It started out as a live jazz place called the Boiler Room, switched to an ear-​splitting twenty-​something bar, and finally evolved into the current piano bar venue. Part of the charm and attractiveness of this place is its unique setting. Buried in the basement of the Metropolis building, right below Circa 57, its entrance is right next to the Metropolis’ Vail street entrance. It’s well lit and quite often the piano music is being piped up to the sidewalk. When you go there, be aware the place has two personalities. Earlier (7 — 8ish) it’s a nice, dimly lit place to talk, eat, drink and enjoy a talented pianist like Wayne Richards (or others). At that time the piano style is more background music, perfect for the dinner crowd. But once 10, rolls around the place gets jumpin’. Especially if you are there when John Jones is playing. He brings fun and high energy to the place and you’ll really enjoy his spirited renditions of today’s top radio hits. Beyond being a talented pianist, Jones is also a showman who works the crowd and gets everyone moving in their seats and by the end of the night, dancing around his piano platform. And even though, the menu doesn’t show pricing (at least from what I could see), the drinks and food are reasonably priced. So when you go, eat, drink and have a great time!

Krystal makes a great Martini! It was a nice scene. Next time I’ll go on the weekend.

Outstanding entertainment and ambiance for dates and group outings! Extraordinary vocals from some of the pianists here. Food is very good. Tried the crab cakes loaded with crabmeat, quesadillas fully layered with cheese and meats, and salad portions adequate so you won’t go hungry! Pesto pasta was rich in flavor, scallop dish was PERFECTLY cooked (which is difficult to execute). Also, of course, service was awesome.

First time here. Came on a Wednesday night to celebrate anniversaries with another couple. Fun to walk down into the place. Wayne Richards, the pianist and singer, was excellent! He could play and sing almost anything. The food was very good (a tad expensive) and our server was very good as well. My only complaint is that the music volume was set for a Friday night when it is probably really busy and when we were there, there were only a few tables full, so the music was really too loud for talking and we were at the furthest back booth. We will definitely come back again, though.

First time at Big Shots and we enjoyed it. Nice crowd and a great area. Drinks were good and had great service.

John Jones is one of the worst singers I have ever encountered. I would rather go to amateur night at a dive than listen to him sing one more verse from Royals, or his original repertoire. No one has ever requested that at a piano bar. He didn’t even play the piano during these songs, instead relying on terrible back up instruments and repulsive gyrations against the piano. I come to a piano bar to hear a voice and a piano, not something that was created using Garage Band. Overall the bar is fine, with a good wait staff and nice atmosphere, but avoid visiting nights when John Jones is playing — most likely you will be put off if you hear his voice over the loud speaker right outside the bar.

Have been here a handful of times since we’ve moved here but I do have mixed feelings. It can be really fun and something different to try.
Last time we were there, we ordered a French martini. Usually this is a somewhat blood orange color and the one we had served to us was a dark purple color. I thought it was weird but gave it a shot, I couldn’t really pinpoint if it was the correct drink or not seeing as it didn’t taste like ones I’ve had in the past. I asked our waitress what drink it is (maybe she misheard my order since it can be so loud) and she quickly grabbed it without asking questions. I didn’t even ask her to remake it, just wanted to double check what drink it was and became very short with me. My previous experiences haven’t been very impressive with their staff either.
The other thing is the seating issue here. If you have a booth you are fine but a regular table. Not so much. There’s barely any wiggle room and not to mention if someone accidentally knocks the table. Last time, people keep running into it and almost knocking our drinks over. I know that isn’t the bars fault but maybe they should reconsider their seating or not let so many people in at one time.

Nice environment for drinks, music is ok, but it’s the SAME entertainer everytime we are there. It would be nice if they mixed up musicians once in a while. Servers/​bartenders are very friendly, hostess, not so much.

Defiantly a fun spot to stop in for drinks and music. Upon checking in and asking for a table the hostess seemed uninterested and said she couldn’t tell us if or when she could get us a table. Might want to work on that. Anyway I have no shame and bellied up to the bar and got my drank on. Not many bar stools and crowded to get a drink might have to fend for yourself for a good spot. Anyway the music is really fun and makes for a nice evening. I do have to say the performer we saw was not really a pianist but more a singer with a programed keyboard he played hiding behind an actual piano. So I am hoping other nites they have actual pianist rather then what we saw which after a few songs seemed to turn into a 1 man karaōke ensemble. But with all that said a piano bar is not easy to find anymore and it’s great to have one in the suburbs. Oh and they have a little area to dance and get your groove on if you are in the mood.

I have to say Big Shot Piano Lounge & Resturant proceeds it’s reputation for being an outstanding Classy Bar! The drinks were phenomenal! Jen did an absolute fantastic job with handling all are complex orders and even laughed at our corny jokes ;), The staff was equally as good. They greeted us with a warm smile right as we enter the place. The best part of our experience was that when things got super busy the GM Eric was quick to step in and lend a hand! For that I will be forever a customer! Thanks Jen! I hope she gets the raise she deserves

Been coming here since we moved to AH in 2008. Love it!!! Great atmosphere. Really good menu and the food awesome! Aga is the best and has been here off and on since then also. Wayne is fun and I don’t know the later performers, but so far all are really good. I would highly recommend.

This place is fantastic. Its classy. The regulars aren’t creepy broke people you find at dive bars. They’re respectable and very friendly.
The martinis are to DIE FOR. They have such a vast and wide variety of flavors from Banana split to Watermelon!
The opening pianist seems to have classic piano training with plenty of jazz. He’s excellent and has a nice clear voice. Its easy listening but not like that stereotypical easy listening your parents play in the car when you’re in 5^th grade and snap thwir fingers and shoulder dance while you cringe.
The pianist who plays after the first guy (I will update this review once I learn the real names), is excellent. He has a lot pf young hip energy and has a lot of sass in a good way. He even composes his own songs you can find on iTunes! !!
PS Do NOT request «Piano Man». Rookie mistake.

This place is AWESOME! My company holiday party will be held here again this year and they sure make you feel very warm and welcome.
In the winter this is the perfect cozy place to hang out grab a drink and sing along to piano songs with your best friends/​loved ones.
The food here is good too… It does get a bit crowded on weekend nights but I like that «Chicago nightlife» feel, all other bars in the area are dead and this one is booming… that says something.
Check it out! you wont be disappointed.

Update #2: I spoke to the manager and the owner, both very nice and apologetic about our experience. They made me want to give this place another chance, but definitely when a different musician is performing.
Update: the piano player has now contacted me directly twice, in an aggressive and derogatory fashion, and even suggested if I returned to the bar, he would have me removed, all because of my unfavorable review. He closed his second email by saying he’s insulted, hopes I am as well, and good riddance. I have reached out to management, and will be forwarding all exchanges to them.

One lovely evening, three friends, my husband, and myself gathered in this candlelit basement of a restaurant for an evening of drinks and piano sing-​a-​longs. We laughed. We cried. We bonded. All in this little circular booth in the corner near the piano. The piano player wowed us and the crowd was a perfect mix of people in the small, dim space. It was such a splendid night, that when the time came, I suggested coming here for my bachelorette party.
The bachelorette party wasn’t as fun. The piano player was OK, the crowd was thin, our group just sat there awkwardly with small side conversations, and nothing on the drink/​food menu appealed to us. We were kind of bored and didn’t stay long. I’m not sure if it was the group of people I was with, the night we went to the bar, the piano player, or the high expectations we had, but this experience has stuck in my memory more than my fun experience. Boo. I guess a night here really depends on a variety of factors.
Big Shot CAN be fun, and I know it has been for me, but sometimes it can just be OK.

First visit on last night — 7÷15÷14. I tried this place on a GroupOn. There was no one here besides the waitresses under the age of 45… ok fine!
85% of the guests were very nicely dressed drag queens… Ok fine (although I felt like we were intruding on a private gathering/​meeting).
Food was fine, no complaints there.
Piano player… was ok! (I tipped him… so fine).
The billing process! Disgraceful! While the meal was payed for with the GroupOn, my bill should have been $ 19 for my two drinks and the steak up-​sell. Instead, my bill was $ 40 Plus tip. I asked the server how it was possible, she could not give an explanation– however she did explain that several GroupOn customers were displeased to say the least. The manager explained that if they did not up-​charage, they would not make any money from GroupOns.
We paid the ridiculous bill, seeing no need to perform and continuously contest/​question the extra charges. We tipped the server, and left — never to return or recommend this place.
Note to manager: Not every customer is going to remain calm and courteous while knowingly being overcharged with absolutely no explanation! If you are not willing to HONESTLY honor GroupOn — do not enter a contractual agreement for such.

I walked past here 3 times and didn’t even notice it was a piano bar. Lo and behold you gotta walk downstairs to enter the bar. The place has a lot of potential and a great location to attract customers by being near a metra.
The scene here can vary on the weekends. However, for the most part it is typically the cougar crowd and late 30 and early 40 somethings. This is fine by me since I don’t have the patience for bars that play Miley Cyrus or have a crowd that uses YOLO in a sentence. What makes this place even better is the 6 dollar martinis on Tuesday! They also have martini flights, which I highly recommend since you get three mini martinis. Small in size but big in liquor… think of it as three shots for 8 bucks.
Of course they always have a singer playing the piano and taking requests. Just a
FYI, the older gentleman playing until 10pm won’t play certain songs. Perhaps they’re just not in his song catalog? However, the guy who takes over after 10p pretty much will play anything. Good drinks, reasonable prices, piano player/​singer, and a decent drink list… what is not to like?

Ok so there was a guy singing and playing piano when we got there. This was the reason we went there. I am always hesitate to visit any piano bar /​any places with live music because it could be a disaster. You could hate their singing or they are way too loud or they pick terrible songs etc etc.
This guy was OK. We pretty enjoyed it and you know it’s free live music (except we did left him tips). +1
Food, unexpectedly, was great. We had flat bread (that was in a very large size, like a pizza). Then a broiled salmon with rice. Surprisingly all tasted pretty good, so +2
Martinis. Plenty of choices. Enough alcohol in every glass so since I am not good at drinking they got me high. Yummy martini!!! +1
I wanted to visit them again to see if I should give them 5stars ;)