Not Your Typical Piano Bar, But One Of The City’s Best Nightlife Spots
Sometimes the best nightlife discoveries happen by accident. I wandered into Zurich’s Splendid Bar after spotting a glowing sign late one evening and found a lively piano bar filled with singing, laughter and one of my favorite nightlife experiences in Switzerland.
The place is absolutely Splendid!
I found it because I saw a lighted sign above the door when everything else was either closed for the night or not happening. Worth a look, I surmised.
Once again, my bar-finding instincts proved to be correct. I was in Zurich, Switzerland, and had landed in a place called the Splendid Bar. And it’s splendid, indeed.
The Splendid Bar is a piano bar, but not in the sense of what you might think of as a piano bar. If someone says “piano bar” to me, I envision an upscale lounge with a gentleman in a suit lightly tickling the ivories to tunes from the likes of Burt Bacharach. A fine place indeed, for the right moments. But hardly a “whoop it up” spot. There are other bars in Zurich with pianos – the bar at the Widder Hotel, Pianobar & Restaurant Haifisch to name two – but they are upscale and quiet lounges where the music is in the backround. Not so at Splendid Bar.
There’s a piano in the Splendid Bar, all right, but instead of “What The World Needs Now Is Love,” a guy in jeans was cranking out “You May Be Right” by Billy Joel. And I might be crazy but this was just the lunatic bar I was looking for that night!
The guy behind the piano had the place jumping. People were singing along with the tunes, laughing and drinking. A party without pretension.
My kind of place.
The Splendid Bar is somewhat of a small place, with a few tables and about a dozen bar stools. An unusual piece of decor is a small fish tank with a miniature castle, located right in the middle of the bar.
This is a very casual bar, and for me, that is preferable to a high-end lounge. The beers are not exactly cheap – 9.50 Swiss Francs during my last visit – but not out of line for other places in town. After midnight, it’s full of energy.
On the night I found the bar, I found a comfortable place to stand, and it was next to the piano man. Turns out that on that night, he was an American, Mark Rosier. He plays here each March.
My next visit to the Splendid Bar was in June, and Mark’s spot on the bench was taken by Rod Stewart! At least he looked and sounded like Rod Stewart; turns out he’s from Bulgaria and he also plays some pretty mean Elton John tunes. I was with a friend from Spain and we rocked out to Rod. It’s hard for me not to have a splendid time in the Splendid Bar.
Plus, the bartender is friendly – he told me he had been there for 11 years as of this writing – and the waitress was a knockout.
Her name is Nora and she’s one of those tall, thin, perfectly-constructed Swiss girls with a long blonde ponytail who is naturally beautiful; she needs only a light brushing of makeup to enhance what nature has so graciously provided her.
I was so happy to be back at the Splendid Bar on a return trip to Zurich that I celebrated by the same sign that I recognized on my first visit.
And I suggest that you, too, visit the Splendid Bar. If you have a EuroRail or Swiss pass, it’s even worth a side trip to Zurich. Of course, while there, check out other Zurich bars as well.
The Nightlife Blogger is the bar columnist for PubClub.com, is an award-winning journalist and expert who has covered nightlife destinations for more than two decades.
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