Mimi's Restaurant and Piano Bar

11/14/09

Great service, food, and atmosphere

by CosmicGirl303 at Citysearch

We found this place walking around the area. It seemed a bit crowded when we entered, but they seated us right away! The food was great, the waitstaff was super friendly, and the atmosphere was fabulous! Definitely want to visit again.

• Pros: waitstaff, music, food

07/17/09

Best fun-bar in Midtown East

by eat_club at Citysearch

The place was half full. There was a table with Spanish tourists. Another family with kids and Statue-of-Liberty hats. There was a piano, and an older guy... er... doing stuff. He put on Spanish drag to flamenco (with castanets) for the Spaniards. Then he put on a flashing glitter I-don't-know-what to do HAPPY BIRTHDAY for one of the little girls in the family. The girl and her brother and sister then performed ITSY BITSY SPIDER karaoke. As the night grew later, the Spaniards and the family left.

Then it was US. And we got the Japanese national anthem and a whole lot more fun. This is my new favorite bar in Mid-town East. I can thank PJ Clarke's for making me find it! (I was escaping from that awful place!) --Drink Club is a roving group of NYC drinkers

• Pros: Piano man, clientelle,
• Cons: There's only one of 'em

06/24/09

Beware the heavy blonde waitress!

by nycrocks11 at Citysearch

I have been coming to Mimi's for probably 15 years. I'm not a regular but I go there 4-5 times a year. Unfortunately, I lost my small purse somewhere in the restaurant. I looked for a little while but I couldn't find it. Not only would nobody help me look for my purse, since I couldn't pay for my drink without my purse, the heavy blonde waitress (most likely in her 60s) threatened to call the police if I didn't leave right then. She threw me out in the street with nothing. Had it not been for the kindness of a stranger who gave me some cab money I'd have been stuck walking home and it's not a short walk!

It's not like I just walked in off the street trying to get a free drink making up some story about losing a purse I never had. As I said I've been coming there for 15 years and this waitress knows me.

I called the restaurant the next afternoon. The purse was found the night before by the cleaning people. There were 4 hours left until closing time. If she had let me stay to look for it I probably would have found it. I had to pay $565 for a late night locksmith to get into my apartment because nobody had my keys.

This is not the first time this particular waitress has been rude but it was never to this extent before. There is no excuse for this kind of ill treatment of customers. At probably any other restaurant, someone would have offered to help find the purse, especially since it wasn't busy that night.

I have always enjoyed Mimi's until now. The food is good and the entertainment is fun. I've gone there primarily because Mimi's can be a fun place to sing and singing is my passion. Hunter, the piano player, can be a real hoot!

I doubt I will ever go back there again though. I have a very bad taste in my mouth thanks to this waitress. I advise anyone who goes there to sit at the bar or ask for another waitress or move tables if she comes up to you. You'll get better service without any rudeness.

I am appalled that any waitperson would treat a known customer this way. Not only would the right thing to do be helping me look for the purse and giving me enough time to exhaust my own search, they should've offered to lend me the cab fare home if the purse wasn't found. I'm currently unemployed because of the recession, and losing the $565 really hurt.

If it weren't for this, I'd give the bar/restaurant 4 stars.

• Pros: Entertainment is fun
• Cons: Extremely rude 60-something heavy blonde waitress