Piano Cafe

A weird logo, two names, weak espresso drinks, and cupcakes they CLAIM are made fresh onsite? I think not. Another reviewer said «Sysco-​esque» desserts and I couldn’t agree more. They all looked EXACTLY the same and with so much variety, especially late in the date, I find it very difficult to believe they are made onsite fresh.
The owners are as nice as could be but the shop is just too all over the place, ghostly, and desperate feeling for me to enjoy. The lattes we both tried were very weak and tasted mostly of steamed milk. We’ve been three times out of convenience and always had that experience. It’s unfortunate too because that part of Midlothian needs something like this.

Meh Coffee, Sysco-​esque Desserts, but nice atmosphere. An odd little place for sure.
Piano Café is a small «coffee and ice cream» place attached to a piano shop, it has a unique character with a piano, fireplace, and nice atmosphere. It’s coffee is slightly better than corporate coffee (Lavazza beans), none of its desserts are house made, and it’s couple of food items looked kind of sketchy. In a lot of ways Piano Café is the inverse of Bagel Lox off Hull Street. Piano café gets the atmosphere right and the food and drinks wrong.
I headed to Piano Café after seeing it on Google Maps, and had a hard time finding it, it’s tucked off the inbound side of Midlothian Turnpike in a very unassuming building that predates the corporate growth opposite it. On my arrival at about 1pm on a Thursday the place was dead empty. The single employee working took at least a minute to come out from the back and work the counter. She was very knowledgeable and could answer my questions, but did have somewhat broken English (maybe I made her nervous when I asked about food being house-​made). I later found out she was the owner and was probably in the piano shop itself next door.
My cappuccino ($ 3.25), was good, but I decided to skip the food and dessert items. The desserts looked okay, but were all made off-​site and didn’t perk my interest. The food on the other hand just looked sketchy. Places where I’m not sure they’re turning over enough product to keep their items fresh make me really nervous, and places with tacked-​on food menus bother me even more. Maybe you’ll go and the food will be great, as always, your mileage may vary.
The atmosphere at the Piano Café was the best and most interesting part. There was a piano («for performances only») and an electric fireplace. The fireplace and piano are nicely separated from most of the seating, creating good lines of sight and a felling that the place s even closer than it is. The layout and random stack of expensive A/​V gear make me think the Piano Shop side of the business uses this area for informal performances.
Piano Café offered two plush style (but fireproofed uncomfortable) chairs near the fireplace and nicer polished wood tables everywhere else. Not quite as nice as it could have been, but comfortable enough and it matched the atmosphere well.
As with all the coffee shops I’ve visited in suburban Richmond, I wish this place had more people. I can only sit for so long in an empty place by myself enjoying my coffee and sorting out my e-​mail. That said, in the evenings or mornings this may be a great place to hang out and catch some piano with a few friends over half-​decent coffee.