Overpriced and okay. What actually is this place? The owners can’t make up their mind…beer garden? Fancy main st restaurant? Sushi? Stick to one thing and do it well
Dwayne Ford
Always enjoy an evening at Main
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Cheryl B.
Fabulous food! Amazing brunch on weekend!! I'm talking home-made waffles, made to order omelets, and buffet!! Awesome cocktails too! Staff r friendly and helpful! Ambience is up-scale! I also loved their live entertainment!!! I recommend!!!
ShanikaG
Wasn't what we thought based on previous reviews. Located two different menus for venue, the menu wasn't appealing. When initially arrived person checking in acted like he couldn't find our reservation. I repeated name 3 times and watched him scroll past name each time, I finally had to inform that my name was right there on the list. Not saying it is horrible but wasn't what we were expecting on a Friday night to celebrate my birthday.
Georgette
Greeted by the manager, he was great! Waitress was great!! Band was setting up for a show at 7pm so we got to hear their sound check which was nice because we weren't stay for the show. BTW, they sounded awesome during their sound check. What was annoying was that some "guy" KJ kept getting up running by our table and was extremely silly and loud...as if "he" wanted to be seen. It was getting on all our nerves. But we eventually tuned him out. He wasn't a guest, so we thought perhaps he worked there and was on break. The drinks were perfect, but the food could really use some help. Ordered pasta Alfredo and it was awful (the tasteless watered down sauce and the overly thick noodles). My friend ordered shrimp and grits (she couldn't even eat the grits) so the manager replaced it with a side of Alfredo pasta (it was awful too) so she didn't eat it. My other friend ordered the flounder, she said it was ok! Our birthday girl had Salmon with Mac and Cheese( same watery Alfredo sauce was on the noodles) so she didn't eat it. The best part was the French fries and charcuterie board that we ordered for appetizers. I spent $122 on my food and the birthday girls food and drinks. And I tipped the waitress $18. The chef really needs to correct these problems or make a menu of food the he/she can cook appropriately. I honestly feel I wasted my money and was embarrassed for suggesting this place to celebrate our friends birthday. I've been several times throughout the years,but always sat in the back portion of the restaurant (which is now a totally different restaurant) and the food was really good then. Not sure what happened! Won't be back for food. And at this point, I can't recommend The Venue to others! Wish I had my money back!!
Nicholas Varriale
Went to the Grand across the street, they had a sign showing half off their beers on a specific wall of taps. However, none of the taps worked. I asked the manager if we could just grab beer from the regular taps and honor the happy hour. He said unfortunately, no - wasn't rude or anything but I struggled to find the logic in that. He did mention Main Course across the street was owned by the same person and they have 75 beers on tap and also half off during happy hour. That sounded awesome so we went across the street. We were greeted by a kind young lady who was helpful but vocal about how she doesn't drink - it felt a little odd being the main product here is self serve beer. Here's the part that was disappointing... Without exaggeration more than half of the beers had a sign saying they kicked and half the beers that didn't have a sign were also empty, leaving a choice of probably 10 beers. Still, a solid selection but very disappointing when you appear to have so much more. The concept here is you pay per ounce, nothing crazy. However, 50% off and I still paid 45 cents an ounce. That's $14.40 for a pint of beer at regular price. We didn't order food so I won't comment on that. I'm rooting for this place to turn around but this was a disappointing experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 4
AdriB
I took my family to eat here for Father's Day and there were fruit flies everywhere. When our food came, we had to constantly battle the flies to have them not land on our plates. It got so frustrating that I just asked for the check and boxes to pack up our food. I would rather take my meal to go, then to fight the fruit flies for it. I barely was able to take two sips of my cocktail before a fly landed in it. When I complained to the server and asked for the check he had absolutely no compassion. He simply said the total is $130 in it and took my card to charge. The least he could have done was take my cocktail off of the bill since it was clearly sitting there still full with a fruit fly in it.
Laura C.
Since it has changed ownership (and names several times) this place has increased their prices but decreased portions and quality of food. They also regularly get Cs and Bs from the health department. Several times I've gone in during lunch and left because I sat at the bar and there was no bartender.
KTinSC
We had a wonderful brunch for Mother's Day. Service was great. Drinks and food were out of this world. Background music was classic rock (just right for our group and not too loud). Already planning to come back next year!
Tai Ford-Norman
First time visit was exceptional! Food was very tasty and a great proportion. It was fresh, made to order for sure.. Great location with outdoor seating options. Waiter was very polite and attentive. Definitely will return once back in Columbia...
We were seated at 6:40pm for our 6:45pm reservation. We sat at our table which was dead center in the restaurant, not tucked away hidden at all. We watched multiple staff walk back and forth. Zero eye contact. We were sitting 16 minutes and NO ONE came over to us. 16 full minutes. We got up and left. Bartender said have a nice night thinking we probably were there for a while after enjoying a meal. I was so excited to try this place and enjoy some piano music. Now before people saying they were short staffed of slammed, there were only 3-4 other tables on the main floor with patrons and several upstairs for what seemed to be a small graduation party. There were a ton of empty tables and no excuse for someone not to say hello and offer to take our drink orders. Disappointed was an understatement.
Music4Fun
The Dueling Pianos at the Venue are always a fun experience. The menu offers a better variety of food that has been offered in the past. Drinks are a little price. Overall, it was a very pleasant experience!
I was celebrating my recent graduation from UofSC with a MBA and brought my family to experience the dueling piano's. The atmosphere and piano playing was a lot of fun. The food was average and service was horrible. We had to ask for silverware numerous times, asked for crackers numerous times for our charcuterie board, food was Luke warm, my steak wasn't medium well and didn't eat it all. It appeared to me that most likely the restaurant wasn't fully staffed which caused the waitress to be overstretched not allowing her to properly serve her patrons. I will go back to see the dueling pianos but eat elsewhere prior to going.
JwC011
This place has SO much potential. It's a beautiful venue. The entertainment was great and saved the night. The menu is great and the food is good. Our server was good and did the best she could but the bar service was beyond terrible. We waited about 30 minutes for our first round of drinks and over 45 minutes for the second round. We ended up leaving before we wanted to and went elsewhere because the bar service was so poor.
ChristopherM
The food was really good and our waitress was incredibly pleasant. Once the "piano bar" portion kicked in though it all went downhill. We've been to over 10 piano bars and this by far was the worst. They did all songs sped up and had virtually no personality. We left after about 45 minutes.
Overpriced and okay. What actually is this place? The owners can’t make up their mind…beer garden? Fancy main st restaurant? Sushi? Stick to one thing and do it well
Always enjoy an evening at Main
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Fabulous food! Amazing brunch on weekend!! I'm talking home-made waffles, made to order omelets, and buffet!! Awesome cocktails too! Staff r friendly and helpful! Ambience is up-scale! I also loved their live entertainment!!! I recommend!!!
Wasn't what we thought based on previous reviews. Located two different menus for venue, the menu wasn't appealing. When initially arrived person checking in acted like he couldn't find our reservation. I repeated name 3 times and watched him scroll past name each time, I finally had to inform that my name was right there on the list. Not saying it is horrible but wasn't what we were expecting on a Friday night to celebrate my birthday.
Greeted by the manager, he was great! Waitress was great!! Band was setting up for a show at 7pm so we got to hear their sound check which was nice because we weren't stay for the show. BTW, they sounded awesome during their sound check. What was annoying was that some "guy" KJ kept getting up running by our table and was extremely silly and loud...as if "he" wanted to be seen. It was getting on all our nerves. But we eventually tuned him out. He wasn't a guest, so we thought perhaps he worked there and was on break. The drinks were perfect, but the food could really use some help. Ordered pasta Alfredo and it was awful (the tasteless watered down sauce and the overly thick noodles). My friend ordered shrimp and grits (she couldn't even eat the grits) so the manager replaced it with a side of Alfredo pasta (it was awful too) so she didn't eat it. My other friend ordered the flounder, she said it was ok! Our birthday girl had Salmon with Mac and Cheese( same watery Alfredo sauce was on the noodles) so she didn't eat it. The best part was the French fries and charcuterie board that we ordered for appetizers. I spent $122 on my food and the birthday girls food and drinks. And I tipped the waitress $18. The chef really needs to correct these problems or make a menu of food the he/she can cook appropriately. I honestly feel I wasted my money and was embarrassed for suggesting this place to celebrate our friends birthday. I've been several times throughout the years,but always sat in the back portion of the restaurant (which is now a totally different restaurant) and the food was really good then. Not sure what happened! Won't be back for food. And at this point, I can't recommend The Venue to others! Wish I had my money back!!
Went to the Grand across the street, they had a sign showing half off their beers on a specific wall of taps. However, none of the taps worked. I asked the manager if we could just grab beer from the regular taps and honor the happy hour. He said unfortunately, no - wasn't rude or anything but I struggled to find the logic in that. He did mention Main Course across the street was owned by the same person and they have 75 beers on tap and also half off during happy hour. That sounded awesome so we went across the street. We were greeted by a kind young lady who was helpful but vocal about how she doesn't drink - it felt a little odd being the main product here is self serve beer. Here's the part that was disappointing... Without exaggeration more than half of the beers had a sign saying they kicked and half the beers that didn't have a sign were also empty, leaving a choice of probably 10 beers. Still, a solid selection but very disappointing when you appear to have so much more. The concept here is you pay per ounce, nothing crazy. However, 50% off and I still paid 45 cents an ounce. That's $14.40 for a pint of beer at regular price. We didn't order food so I won't comment on that. I'm rooting for this place to turn around but this was a disappointing experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 4
I took my family to eat here for Father's Day and there were fruit flies everywhere. When our food came, we had to constantly battle the flies to have them not land on our plates. It got so frustrating that I just asked for the check and boxes to pack up our food. I would rather take my meal to go, then to fight the fruit flies for it. I barely was able to take two sips of my cocktail before a fly landed in it. When I complained to the server and asked for the check he had absolutely no compassion. He simply said the total is $130 in it and took my card to charge. The least he could have done was take my cocktail off of the bill since it was clearly sitting there still full with a fruit fly in it.
Since it has changed ownership (and names several times) this place has increased their prices but decreased portions and quality of food. They also regularly get Cs and Bs from the health department. Several times I've gone in during lunch and left because I sat at the bar and there was no bartender.
We had a wonderful brunch for Mother's Day. Service was great. Drinks and food were out of this world. Background music was classic rock (just right for our group and not too loud). Already planning to come back next year!
First time visit was exceptional! Food was very tasty and a great proportion. It was fresh, made to order for sure.. Great location with outdoor seating options. Waiter was very polite and attentive. Definitely will return once back in Columbia...
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
We were seated at 6:40pm for our 6:45pm reservation. We sat at our table which was dead center in the restaurant, not tucked away hidden at all. We watched multiple staff walk back and forth. Zero eye contact. We were sitting 16 minutes and NO ONE came over to us. 16 full minutes. We got up and left. Bartender said have a nice night thinking we probably were there for a while after enjoying a meal. I was so excited to try this place and enjoy some piano music. Now before people saying they were short staffed of slammed, there were only 3-4 other tables on the main floor with patrons and several upstairs for what seemed to be a small graduation party. There were a ton of empty tables and no excuse for someone not to say hello and offer to take our drink orders. Disappointed was an understatement.
The Dueling Pianos at the Venue are always a fun experience. The menu offers a better variety of food that has been offered in the past. Drinks are a little price. Overall, it was a very pleasant experience!
I was celebrating my recent graduation from UofSC with a MBA and brought my family to experience the dueling piano's. The atmosphere and piano playing was a lot of fun. The food was average and service was horrible. We had to ask for silverware numerous times, asked for crackers numerous times for our charcuterie board, food was Luke warm, my steak wasn't medium well and didn't eat it all. It appeared to me that most likely the restaurant wasn't fully staffed which caused the waitress to be overstretched not allowing her to properly serve her patrons. I will go back to see the dueling pianos but eat elsewhere prior to going.
This place has SO much potential. It's a beautiful venue. The entertainment was great and saved the night. The menu is great and the food is good. Our server was good and did the best she could but the bar service was beyond terrible. We waited about 30 minutes for our first round of drinks and over 45 minutes for the second round. We ended up leaving before we wanted to and went elsewhere because the bar service was so poor.
The food was really good and our waitress was incredibly pleasant. Once the "piano bar" portion kicked in though it all went downhill. We've been to over 10 piano bars and this by far was the worst. They did all songs sped up and had virtually no personality. We left after about 45 minutes.