Mojo’s Dueling Pianos Bar & Restaurant

Cool that there is a local dueling bar. $ 3 cover not cool. Drinks over priced. Annoying bachelorette party’s. Upstairs dance floor and music was a great alternative when the dueling bar scene for boring downstairs.

We were at Mojos with a group of 12 on 2÷27÷16. We reserved a table, arrived at 6:30pm, and left at 11:00pm. We ate dinner and had multiple drinks. We had a GREAT time with excellent service. I had read the Unilocal reviews before going and experienced none of the issues mentioned in the many negative reviews. We will definitely return and highly recommend Mojo’s!

I never went past the entry. We went next door to Flanagan’s and had a great time. I recommend Mojo’s hire doorman with more people skills. Kindness matters, even when you have a job with «authority». The doorman was so offensive to my group, that all 8 of us left.

This place is awful. I went on New Years and hated every minute of it. The music at downstairs (what they were playing on the pianos) was awful. Upstairs everyone was super wasted and causing scenes. The crowd was terrible. The drinks were bad. I will never return.

The review below mine explains it all. I did a double date on a Wednesday night and got to the door with my ID out of course around 7pm. The security guard said you cant wear hats inside. Ok understandable I guess if we lived in the dirty D or if it was a halfway classy place… Out of respect I took it off not a big deal and there just doing there job right? Security guard says «Sir you cant even bring it in the door leave it outside». Alright let me just set it on the side walk hahaaa Come on!!! Set it inside at least or behind the bar? NOPPPEE! I would recommend to walk another 50 ft to Flanagans. Great service and the door guys act like normal people.

I met up with my friends here for my bachelorette party and sadly the staff is just as bad as the reviews say. I wanted to give it hope because i absolutely love piano bars but the staff completely ruins it for you. I really hope the management adds some changes to the crew and maybe it will be worth coming back to.

Negative stars. How is this place still in business? I have never once gone to this place without trouble with the bouncers. Most recently, I had an issue with a little Napoleon with sleeve tattoos. He is a teacher during the day though. So he is miserable and broke at all times. Which is why he had to attack our party. I hope this place goes out of business soon and the owners find another piece of real estate in another town to destroy. Avoid at all costs.

Long story short I ordered a drink and received the wrong drink and was treated rudely when I said something. Also my friend wore a hat, was told he couldn’t and walked all the back to the car because the bouncers said I couldn’t just put it in my purse… Then they searched me when I went in and didn’t search anyone else in our party. This place has some of the rudest staff ever and I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. No really I couldn’t because I was ignored and it took me 29 minutes to get someone to cash out my tab. For my one wrong drink.

The Good and The Bad.
I’ve been a firm supporter of Mojos for MANY years. I love that it’s a piano bar downstairs for «the casuals» and a dance club upstairs for «the ladies». There is a bar found on both level with understaffed bartenders. The dueling pianos performances have always been fun to watch… especially if the artists are singing a raunchy song for a birthday or bride to be. (This place is not fit for conservative guests. lol) It’s amazing what these piano artists can do. They are super talented. My love for Mojos runs pretty deep. I love them so much I visit their sister bar in Royal Oak because I’ve moved. But all good things must come to an end. And here is why. I’ve come to realize that Mojos has dramatically changed since my college years. The business has become more callous and its enough to deter me for good.
Lets start with the rules. A patron is required pay a cash cover to get in and if for some god forsaken reason, they had to step out to direct a friend to the bar or they were hungry and grabbed food from a local street vendor on the corner… you’re required to pay the $ 10 cover again. No exceptions because they won’t stamp your hand to honor that you paid. All in all, girls can wear whatever they want but men? If they wear the wrong shoes or fabric the bouncers can turn them away. Which leads me to my next point.
Crossing the Line:
Birthday season galore. I drove from Detroit to Grand Rapids in full anticipation for a marvelous evening at one of my favorite bars in GR. A friend reserved a table, and we got one of the best seats in the house. We were ready to buy rounds and rounds to celebrate. In all honesty, we didn’t care how much money we were going to spend. All we knew was that it was going to be spent on three of the most down to earth and hardworking guys that deserved it! The best scotch in the house please! Keep the drinks coming! But wait–
The majority of us got in. However one of the three birthday boys was denied because he wore the wrong pant fabric. No exceptions. Even if it was his 27^th birthday and he just got out of his 12 hour shift downtown AND he helped bring 11 patrons into the bar. I tried talking to three bouncers. They all said no. The pant fabric was a big no no. So, I stepped out to talk to my friend to come up with a plan B. When I tried to go back to the party, I was required to pay for $ 10 cash cover again because I stepped out. (I was on the sidewalk in front of their doors; the bouncers witnessed my conversation with my friend.) Needless to say, I was absolutely disgusted. These bouncers let in an unhygienic bearded man in a MSU sweatshirt and jeans and old sneakers, but you won’t let my friend in with a dress shirt and black pants because of the fabric!!! Fine. Our entire party closed our tabs and took our business elsewhere.
I mean I get it. The bar atmosphere can be difficult to manage but we weren’t creating a problem. We just wanted to celebrate a birthday with some amazing friends. How can you advertise yourself to be a fun place when you can be so unreasonable? Mojos you need to train your staff to pick and chose YOUR battles. I think you really lost here. If you keep this up, you will lose a lot of business because the people you are letting in won’t spend as much money at your establishment compared to those you are keeping out. Patrons beware. Go elsewhere for fun.

As a previous resident of Grand Rapids, I was excited about the opportunity to bring friends to one of my favorite bars for my bachelorette party. The bouncer’s subjective decision making forced us to go elsewhere. This was the second time we were judged and treated unfairly by the same man. I will not be returning.

Was not impressed by the staff.

I attended a Bachelorette Party in Grand Rapids on Saturday and was severely let down by our experience at MoJo’s. We were staying at the Amway Grand Hotel, which is very conveniently located right across the street. It started out OK, and maybe our waitress was super slammed with other tables, but as the dinner went on, it seemed to take longer and longer to get anything we asked for, including approximately an hour to get our (correct) checks. The first time she brought them out, almost all of them were incorrect. She took them back and started again. In the meantime we missed our shuttle to the next destination and grew very weary of being there.
Although the singers/​piano players were talented, we did not hear songs we requested and they somewhat lacked the ability to involve the crowd and get much interaction. Again, I know we were a large party, but a place like Mojo’s should be prepared for this and train their wait staff accordingly. The food did come out rather quickly, but was very sub par and not many healthy options. My cousin had to send her pasta back because it was cold. Everything seemed to be prepackaged and merely heated up before coming out. Do NOT go here is you are a) In a hurry or b) Wanting a really good meal. A destination for entertainment purposes only.

«Drunken shenanigans» (as mentioned in an earlier review) is probably the most apt description of my trip to Mojo’s.
Being in town for the Society of Forensic Toxicologists’ Annual Meeting (Conference, as we say across the pond), this place is where we were headed after the President’s Reception on the penultimate night.
What. A. Hoot.
I think the «locals» were quite intrigued by all the very merry toxicologists that crowded into the bar. It was quiet when we arrived, but boy did things liven up.
Lorna and myself, the only foreigners (in this case I shall be representing Scotland), began to bribe, well more guilt-​trip, the dueling Pianists into playing «500 Miles» by the Proclaimers, THE Scottish anthem. Finally, we managed to persuade them and take over the stage and lead the rendition of this song. I think everybody was happy was happy when it was over. However, as we had already taken over the stage and so that’s essentially where we stayed. I believe the final song of the night was New York, New York where all the females from the conference in the bar had gotten onto the stage with us and we were were doing all the moves.
So, thank you, Mojo’s for making my trip to Grand Rapids and especially this particular night. I don’t know what you’re like on a normal night, but on this particular night, you were amazing, and exactly what the toxicologist ordered!

Skip for the food, go for the music. Drinks are expensive and nothing special, but lets face it you are there for the pianos. In that regard the musicians deliver and it is well worth the visit. Not the dueling piano place I have been to, but certainly special for the region.

Meh. This is just not my scene. I’ve been to a few dueling piano bars and had fun. The piano players were kind of awful. The crowd was weird. For a bar in Beer City USA, they had a lame selection. I think they had 2 decent craft beers. I couldn’t wait to leave.

What a joke. Staff is rude, management is rude, and the bartenders don’t know how to make a decent shot to save their lives.
The bouncers walked around as if they were police officers in Las Vegas.
All in all, Mojos was a horrible experience. I will NEVER go back, and will be sure that I let everyone know how bad they suck.

Mojo’s was the first dueling piano bar I had ever went to and since then, I’m trying to find one that I like more than it. I guess I went there for my friends bachelorette and I fell in love with the concept. For people who have never been to a piano bar before, this is definitely a great one to check out.
The drink specials and the hilarious pianists will keep me coming back every time I’m in GR.

* No Wi-​Fi
* The good is great
* The bad is terrible
* Piano music is wonderful
* Enjoyable food
* Strange lettuce served with meal
* Impossible to exit bathroom without touching the dirty handle
* Incredible drinks (Creamsicle, Music on the beach)
* Inexperienced/​Underpaid staff
* Flat beers

I hate to be the turd in the punch bowl, and very rarely give bad reviews, but I have to make an exception for Mojo’s. I went for the first time a couple weeks ago for my cousin’s birthday.
It was a complete blizzard out, I got there around 7:30, the place was nearly empty. There was a $ 3 cover, which isn’t bad but I thought it was weird they were charging a cover so early and considering the terrible weather I thought they’d be happy just to get people in the door. They ended up not charging me since I was with a big party.
Since I didn’t even have to pay the cover I considered leaving that part out of the review, but I guess if I’m complaining I might as well mention all points of contention. It’s not that $ 3 is a big deal, and I would actually think that’s pretty cheap around 10pm on a Saturday night in the middle of summer when the place is packed. However, in the middle of a blizzard in January before 8pm and the place is empty felt like I was being nickel and domed before I even got in the door.
The space itself has a pretty cool atmosphere and the piano players were talented. I did think that $ 10-​$ 20 a song that takes 5 minutes to play seems pretty ridiculous. Personally I’d rather pay $ 10 to see 3 – 4 different bands play original music, but that’s just me.
I’m assuming the $ 20 songs are for more popular requests. It seems weird to charge double for songs people want to hear most, but I digress.
My biggest issue was with the total lack of service. I was there for about two hours, only saw our server twice, both times she had to be waved over, and the second time I’m 90% sure she crop dusted our table. I could understand if she were the only server and the place was busy, but that wasn’t the case. I ended up having to order both my drinks from the bar.
Needless to say Mojo’s won’t be my new favorite hangout. If I ever do go again it won’t be my choice but hopefully I’ll have a better experience.

Whatever you do, do NOT eat here. The food sucks, and you will be waiting at least an hour. A WHOLE HOUR!
The only reason to come here is to watch and listen to the pianists perform. The name of the restaurant says «Dueling Pianos». They’re not really «dueling» per se, but more like playing together as a melody and harmony. My favorite was the lady who sang Motown hits, and anything that featured a female vocalist. She had serious talent, and really could improvise up the wazoo. The two guys who started off the evening were okay, but the crowd wasn’t really responding that well.
Food wise, it was appalling. Husband and I ordered the boneless chicken wings tossed in BBQ sauce (You have a choice of BBQ or Buffalo), and for $ 9, we got 6 measly pieces. Geez, could you be any more generous than that? We also chose to split their Mojo burger. It has lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, Swiss cheese, with a smoky sauce on Texas toast. We normally split, but this one was just too small for 2 people; definitely less than ¼ lb. of meat. Price for this was $ 10, and it felt like a $ 5 meal.
Though the food was dismal, we had a fun time listening to some music, but that’s about it.

Good Atmospher on Wed, Thurs! nice place to be to spend the evening after dinner and enjoy a couple of old songs from the 80’s