I don't understand the hype about this place. My husband and I went to an event in the upstairs part of Bar Marco which apparently serves as an art gallery by day. The art is a bit abstract for my taste but to each his own. One thing that did strike us is the fact that the room was completely unfinished. I remember the upstairs bar when this place was the Firehouse. Wasn't really my taste back then as well but at least it was finished. Right now, it looks like they have ripped everything out of the room except the beat up bar and the "art" on the walls. I have no idea why they would host a party in a room like that, I guess they needed the money and the company was willing to pay. The bathrooms are also a mess with one huge sink that looks like it has been used by the artists. There was splattered paint everywhere. When we first arrived, the downstairs was almost competely empty but by the time we left, it was packed.
As for food and drinks, Bar Marco seems to go out of the way to have some interesting and eclectic offerings. The bartender for the event dreamed up a cocktail for us which included rum, rose water, mint and a few other ingredients. The crowd seemed to really enjoy it though I stuck with a basic white wine. I'm boring, I know. For appetizers, we had a nice range of foods including a meat and cheese board with beef and lamb, meatballs, beans and greens and my personal favorite, dates wrapped in bacon (love the sweet and salty aspect). For the entrees we were served short rib over what I assume was polenta and a vegetarian risotto. The rib was tender, juicy and delicious. All dishes were served family style which didn't work out to well for my end of the table where all the big eaters sat. Other tables had entire plates of food that were untouched. It also seemed to take quite awhile between courses. I'm talking like half an hour for entrees and at least that long until dessert. Up until this point, I thought that the decor and ambience were severely lacking but at least the food made up for it. Then they brought out the dessert. Two chocolate cakes with different types of buttercream icing. unfortunately the servers could not tell me what was on either of them. To me, it resembled a basic, single layer chocolate cake with buttercream icing one having cut up cherries on top and the other golden raisins. It was a big dissappointment.
In the end, despite some the tasty and interesting food, I doubt I will be back to Bar Marco. There are so many other great restaurants in pittsburgh without all of the inconsistency.