Uptown Piano Bar

I love that I found a new Piano Bar to frequent, but I was also let-down a bit.  There is no cover charge (awesome) but then the piano player/singer was not the best... and when he starts to play a Journey song that starts to sound really good, and then requests an additional $20 to play it, I was disappointed.  He instead opted for songs that do not lend themselves to piano as well and sounded terrible... and were out of his voice range... and singing that way is only funny for like 15 seconds.  My friends were also disappointed that the wedding cake martini was not on the menu, was still being served, but tasted totally different from the last time they were there--- and unfortunately, it was the main reason her bachelorette party even ventured to this place.  Maybe if they add another pianist to make it a dueling piano bar and perhaps solidified thier drink reicpes??  The place was not as happening as one would think it should be on a Saturday night.

I love the historical, mellow, & mysterious ambiance of this place. You walk down some creepy broken rock stairs into a basement of an old bed and breakfast and once you go inside it's kind of dark but classy. There is unique art on the walls and an older gentleman playing the piano. This is the best place to go when you want to just chill with some friends and drink some amazing chocolate martinis.

Last night I went to New Braunfels to hang out with at Uptown Piano Bar where local chanteuse Ashleigh Stone performs requests from 8-12 PM every Thursday night. The upstairs B&B reminds me of New Orleans architecture with an adjoining outdoor garden paved with flagstone and surrounded by a vine covered iron fence. It's pretty gorgeous, private and a good place to chill and converse on a pleasant evening with friends or a date. Down the stone steps and into the bar you are immediately reminded of a swank speakeasy with dark rich colors, gorgeous art and an intimate feel. There are chandeliers everywhere even over the toilets in the bathroom! The tables are dark wood, there's lots of comfy couch and chair seating amongst dinner and bar height tables. The flat screens behind the bar seemed too modern for such a lovely lounge environment but they couldn't detract from the main focal point, a bright sounding baby grand located in the center of the bar. I totally want to live here.

The crowd was small most of evening and included several locals and a birthday group on a pub crawl that stayed a while to hear the music. Ashleigh was welcoming to every patron who entered and entertained all our requests from Guns N' Roses to Les Miserables. She played a diverse set through out the night with contemporary hits from the likes of Alicia Keys and Adele to jazz standards and classic Jerry Lee Lewis. I hear the specialty martinis are to die for but any bartender that can pour a perfectly blended simple Beam and Coke gets my kudos and Josh never let my glass empty and was nice as can be. It was a pretty magical time and there were some solemn sacred moments shared including her amazing rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come".

She did me the ultimate honor by inviting me up to sing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" as her closing song. We traded verses and harmonized on choruses and I truly just felt this wave of right with the world wash over and through me. It was powerful like the spirit moved through Uptown Piano Bar.

There's not much a well tuned piano can't heal, salvage and celebrate in my opinion. I needed a respite from the daily grind of the past few weeks and I got it last night thanks to this wonderful hidden gem of a bar and Ms. Stone's amazing piano stylings.

I will definitely be back for martinis in the future and send more friends from Hill Country your way who have grown weary of the smoke caked walls and college masses of San Marcos.

Cheers!