Bobby McKey's Dueling Piano Bar Near Washington, DC

Went there with my husband and two other couples, including a coworker who was researching a possibility of renting the place for a corporate event a couple months down the road. The waitress put her in touch with the manager who was fairly helpful. But since it was my friend who dealt with the manager; I will talk only about my experience from an average customer's view point. The piano players were good and funny for the most part. Definitely a bit racy at times, which is ok as long as you continue drinking. We ordered three appetizers (as the waitress suggested that the portions are generous and one will easily be enough for two people): 1. chips and guacamole, 2. artichoke dip, 3. hummus and veggies. The guacamole tasted like was sour (old avocados), the artichoke dip was fairly good but the portion was very small and had only four slices of baguette, the hummus came with (good) celery sticks and very soft and slimy carrots. Everything was very also overpriced. As a designated driver I ordered water. However, they have a strange policy and do not serve iced water; they only sell bottled water. I decided to order Sprite instead. Sprite came in a glass and was good (as good as Sprite is), but when I reordered it, it came in a plastic cup (I guess they run out of glass, although the place wasn't really fully packed) and tasted like it was mixed with tap water (totally flat and tasted funny). The waitress was nice enough to get me another cup, which unfortunately didn't help. She offered me bottled water instead. Unfortunately the water didn't arrive until AFTER our bill arrived and we were ready to leave. We were not charged for the water though, which was nice. The drinks were nothing special, just below $9 each (small glass), which may not be a killing but certainly is not a good deal either. I had a peach drink that smelled very yummy and tasted just ok. Other drinks were ok as well, with a generous amount of alcohol. At the end, we all calculated how much each of us owed. We handed the waitress three cards with instructions to put $65 on mine (that's my husband's part of drinks as I wasn't drinking alcohol) and to split the rest between the remaining two cards. I signed my bill and left. Only three day later when checking my credit card bill online I found out that she put $65 PLUS $11.70 ""gratuity"" (I guess included for parties of 6+). I still think that if I say put $65 on the card, it is understood that the whole bill on my card shod be $65 and I will decide on the tip. If gratuity needed to be included it should be already part of the $65, OR I should be informed verbally that it will be added to the $65. Summary: entertainment good, food very bad and expensive, drinks fairly ok but also not cheap, overall experience - bad (partially due to the confusion with the bill). Add lack of parking in National Harbor (we paid $11 in the garage, when downtown DC has a flat $5 in the evenings!!) and you can be sure I will never go back.

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