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The Piano Bar
Across the carriageway from the Main
Bar is the ever-popular Piano Bar.
In the evenings, the line to be seated in this bar extends
through the carriageway to the main entrance, but is well worth
the wait.
The large room offers green cushioned
chairs poised around copper-topped tables. The front stage
boasts two copper-topped baby grand pianos. The dueling
entertainers perform your favorite sing-alongs from requests
written upon napkins passed up from the audience.
Green-coated waiters pass through the
audience to take your drink orders and deliver Hurricanes by the dozens. Or, if you prefer, a Pat
O'Brien's bartender in a signature green velvet bow tie, will
serve you at the copper-topped bar.
Mr. Eddie Gabriel
(1910-2005)
Remember Always.......
 Amongst all the
fun and excitement of the Piano Bar stood a "true"
Pat O'Brien's tradition -- Mr. Eddie Gabriel. A 60-year
veteran employee, Mr. Eddie takes his place on the stage between
the two pianos to played his aluminum tray with thimbled fingers,
keeping time for the audience and entertainers, just as he had
six nights a week since he invented the act in 1945. (See Press Releases - August 26, 1997
for more info on Mr.
Eddie!)
Excerpted from article
by Jennifer Lange, December 1995. |