Banana Cafe & Piano Bar

Our Cuban food fix. This is the place, a short walk from Eastern Market metro, parking in this area is difficult at best. Outdoor seating available.
Be sure to get the Cuban beans with olives and squash. Decent salsa and chips but it's the pinones we come for

So I got the grand French toast and it tasted interestingly not good in my opinion. The bread was very strange. It was a huge portion size tho if that's something you care about. I also received the eggs on the side which are definitely not shelled eggs. I was really excited to come here. Oh well.

Banana Cafe and Piano Bar is a great place for live music. The piano bar has orange and green them to it. On the orange portions, there are musical instruments with colored light up lights that accent the instruments.

There is a $12 minimum per person per seat. Everyone must order everything at the bar / service station. They have nice variety of cocktails including Mojito, Sangria, Pina Colada, Daquiri, Caipirinha, Rum Punch, and Margaritas, as well as, nice variety of beers including Bud Light, Blue Moon, Miller Lite, Sam Adams Lager and Seasonal, St. Pauli Girl, Yuengling, Corona, Corona Light, Dos Equis Lager and Amber, Heineken, Negra Modelo, Modelo Especial, Pacifico, Presidente, Red Stripe, and Sol and Tecate.

I enjoyed a Banana Daiquiri while listening to a talented singer and musician who played piano and trumpet. He was friendly and took many requests.

I was craving Cuban food so we stopped here since it was nearby and had a broad menu. We tried the ropa vieja and the mofongo. That was the biggest mofongo that I've tasted in a while! There aren't many places in the DC area that offer monfongo so I was up to try it.

The service is good here. I enjoyed the mojito. The prices and the portions worked for me!

I'm torn about a fair review here, however I think an adequate rating is about 3.5 stars. I've been here for brunch, dinner,HH and karaoke and I never felt compelled really to write a review. That's how I feel about most places that are just "okay."
Food: mostly savory, typical Latin fare and Cuban dishes.
Drinks: really good prices for HH on margs and the like. I tried the "Dirty Banana" drink yesterday and it was really good.
Atmosphere: really depends on what you go for. Brunch can get really busy, dinner time never seems unreasonably packed but I have had my issue with inattentive waiters.
Didn't keep me away though!
Upstairs is a piano bar and karaoke on specific nights. I went to karaoke to observe the crowd, but I'm not sure it was exciting enough to go back.

Alexis:
I honestly do not even want to rate them one star. My boyfriend and I are here today. The meat (steak) in my dish was good, everything else was disgusting. I tasted my boyfriend's food and I instantly spit it into a napkin. I wanted to throw up so bad. The food tasted contaminated or something.

TieTie:
I on the other hand thought it was decent, but I highly doubt I would not eat here again.

I have been coming here for many years and I will continue to come here as long as I live in the DMV. I've come here with coworkers, friends, and by myself, and every time I enjoy my visit. I always go upstairs to the Piano Bar and take a seat at the bar. The bartenders are so friendly, attentive, and sociable. I love coming here just to chat it up with the staff and the other regulars that come to the restaurant. The restaurant is LGBT-friendly; they have a rainbow flag near the entrance of the restaurant to make that clear. The clientele is overall very diverse (age, race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, personality, etc).

The food is typical bar food, but is good quality. I love the fried calamari (always crispy and golden brown) and the mango sauce that comes with it. I've also gotten the empanadas, queso dip, buffalo wings, and pulled pork sliders. My favorite drink is the frozen mango margarita, which is so creamy and sweet. You can barely taste the tequila, but you can definitely feel it ;) They have a full bar for you to choose from.

They have different events going on just about every night of the week. They do a lot of karaoke and there is usually some live music from some very talented musicians. They also have happy hour 7 days a week from 4pm-7:30pm!

I honestly have no complaints about this place and I highly recommend that you stop by if you're ever in the Eastern Market neighborhood.

Two and a half stars feels generous. The only reason I'm rounding up is because our server was able to riff off of our girls' night out vibe... and for their satisfying margarita pitchers. Each of us were divided on the salt vs sugar rim debate, and long story short I ended up double-fisting one each. Extra awesome that we ran into Nate H at the downstairs bar, less awesome that I have yet to witness the famed Gordon play here. Some tables and lounge space surround the downstairs bar, which is good since that's more comfortable than patio seating. We were told that the dinner menu could only be served upstairs, but less than an hour later we saw a pair near us chowing down on fajitas.

Ceviche was the best thing I had but as far as comparing it to other ceviches, it's fairly middle of the road. Flounder and squid dominated, with a smattering of shrimp and a few chunks of scallop. The potato weirded me out a little, but they didn't have any raw bite so I got over it fast. Super filling for one! Calamari ranked average as well; the mango-ginger sauce it came with was interesting, but ultimately I preferred them with just a squirt of lemon wedge. The bar hors d'oeuvres were greasy zucchini sticks and onion rings: pass. I didn't think much of the quesadilla or the nachos al carbon, but I may have sung a different tune had we the luxury of including meat. (No pun intended on their Sunday night karaoke.) I'd also take a pass on the con queso and salsa next time. I'll still come back to try the ropa vieja, and to see Gordon Kent work his mojo over more drinks.

I had a "Dirty Banana"!

We stopped by here on a Friday night after our first party at Belga Cafe in the same block. So called "Nijikai" in Japanese, that means "second party'. I got a glance of the drink menu and my eyes immediately caught "Dirty Banana". What's that? I tried it and it was sooo smooth and easy to drink even after enjoying several glasses of Duvel with mussels and other Belgian dishes at Belga. Dirty Banana had banana liquor, real banana, etc. (i was too pleasantly plastered to memorize the other ingredients...) and I really enjoyed it. It was like a dessert and after dinner liquor in one shot.

Waiter was friendly, as was the other staff. But...
Bathroom smelled like piss and had no toilet paper. We walked in towards the end of the day, but that's no excuse. The restaurant was for the most part empty.
We started off with the alcapurrias. They were good.
I ordered the mofongo with shrimp. The sauce tasted like a can of tomato soup. That ruined the dish for me. It was all over the mofongo. Not traditional.
My fiancé ordered the paella for 1. He says it lacked in flavor. Disappointing for such a beautiful dish.
We ordered a side of white rice and "Puerto rican" style beans. The rice was so gross. It smelled and tasted like white rice from the Chinese take out spot. The beans were super thick. It was full of ham, beans and olives. Great, but no flavor.

Overall, disappointed. Not worth your time and money.