What?! More Pittsburgh restaurants? Yep! Heather and I spent two whole food-filled days in Pittsburgh recently, and I have the restaurant reviews to show for it.

And, what better to start our day in Pittsburgh than with brunch? Bar Marco has been on my to-try list for some time (not sure how it got there, but alas). After finally finding parking on a Saturday in the Strip District, we made our way inside.

One of the cool things about Bar Marco is that they've done away with tipping. Instead, they pay their team a salary, and that is reflected in the prices. I like the convenience, and I think it's great to make sure all the staff are paid a livable wage. But, I do wonder if it removes the incentive to go above and beyond for service.


We were seated quickly as soon as we walked in, without reservation. Heather ordered some cinnamon donut holes that had a warm creamy center. Donuts and cinnamon aren't necessarily my favorite things, but Heather seemed to be a big fan.

Instead, I ordered a cocktail: The aviation had gin, lemon and violette. It is a bit small for $12, but it packed a little bit of a punch. It was different, and I'm still on the fence about whether or not I liked it. But, it was different.

The menu for brunch had salad, pancakes, gemelli, eggs, fried chicken, a burger and, my selection, smoked salmon benny with biscuit, egg and hollandaise.

I'm not sure what happened between our order and the time the food came out, but two other tables that came in after us were served and left before we even got our meal. I think it took about 40 minutes - a tad long in brunch land. And, without explanation from our server.

When it did come out, though, it was tasty. The salmon, the eggs and the hollandaise were top-notch. I expected more from that biscuit though. It was a bit chalky and hard; not inedible by all means. Just not the warm, flaky, buttery one I was hoping for.

Overall, good food. But, there's some stiff competition in Pittsburgh. I might have to continue the search for best brunch.

Grade: B

Oh, Pittsburgh. You beautiful land of exquisite restaurants, you. There are so many options that I could have a different meal each day for a year and still have a ton of incredible options leftover.

During a day trip to Pittsburgh, we decided on Eleven for dinner. "Glitzy, stylish restaurant with modern, refined American fare plus cocktails & a separate bar menu," according to Google. Sold.

Well, we had early dinner reservations that landed us a small booth on the lower level. The open area had tall windows, sleek features and lots of sharp, modern edges.

First, Heather got a small heirloom tomato salad to start. She let me sneak a bite, and it was quite lovely.

Then, we were served with three varieties of bread. I opted to try one of each: sea salt focaccia, semolina and a raisin bread. The sea salt was my favorite.

The main menu features swordfish, lamb loin, hanger steak and pasta entrees.

I went for the Beef Tenderloin ($38), which was served with potato gnocchi, forest mushrooms, warmed blue cheese, spinach, pistachio pesto and jus.

This was quite good. It was cooked well, the blue cheese was this light cream, and the pesto on top was nutty and added some nice crunchy texture. Those potato gnocchi were too good. And the meat itself - nice char on the outside, beautifully pink inside. Well-cooked, moist and flavorful.

For dessert, Heather got this cute assortment of ice cream and tasty treats. I went with the banana cream pie, which has banana pudding, vanilla wafter and dulce de leche mousse. This is a house specialty, and I can see why. It's incredible. The crunch, the bits of meringue, the soft, the light but sweet. SO GOOD.

This was quite a lovely dining experience. Great food, great service. A lovely way to end a fun day. And, before we left, we had these complimentary bites of dark chocolate. Nice!

There are a few well-known festivals around the state that I haven't had a chance to visit yet: Blues Brews and BBQ at Snowshoe, Brew Skies and, until this weekend, Kirkwood Winery's 25th Annual Grape Stomping Wine Festival.

So, I have been to Kirkwood Winery a few times now, but I've always wanted to see the Grape Stomping Wine Festival, because, I mean, how often do you get to see people stomping grapes?

Since the winery first opened in 1992, it has been host to the Kirkwood Grape Stomping Festival held each year on the third weekend in September. Kirkwood Winery strives to maintain a strong family atmosphere during the festival believing it to be the most conducive environment for the continuing preservation of Appalachian history and culture. The goal of the festival continues to be the selection and promotion of the very best of the multi-talented people of West Virginia, most of whom provide demonstrations of their artistic and musical gifts.

The festival had food vendors, artisans, wine-tasting and live music. All of this, plus your wine glass, for $12. Unfortunately, it was raining pretty consistently all day, so there wasn't a ton of dancing. And, our time there mostly consisted of running from tent to tent to try wines and check out the rest of the festival.

But, what I mostly wanted to see was the grape stomping. They have little contests of grape eating and grape stomping throughout the day. And, there is this large communal stomping pit that the kids kind of dominated.

So, I asked if we could stomp in our own buckets just for fun - not as part of a contest, because lord knows between the rain and balance, I would not be able to stay upright (aka this). The woman was so kind and filled our buckets up with extra grapes. Mine had mostly purple; Heather's had a nice mix of green and purple. But the purple gave off more juice, so if this WERE a competition... I think I would've won. Muahaha.

Stomping grapes is a weird sensation. It's, well, exactly how you think it would feel. Little cold, wet, orbs that pop when you exert pressure. But, I mean, how often do you get the chance to do something like this? Not often.

Have you been? What was your favorite part?

So, a small restaurant has opened up roadside in Cheat Lake. Rosa's Cuisine is located in a small blue building with a giant parking lot perfect for truckers to swoop in.

The restaurant, located along Fairchance Road, serves hot dogs, chili, fries, burgers, tacos, quesadillas, spaghetti, biscuits & gravy, breakfast biscuits and burritos from a small window.

Much of this is general fare, but I noticed a sort of Mexican theme, so I wanted to try something from that genre. I found out tacos are only on Tuesdays, but Rosa, I assume, was so kind as to make me a quesadilla.

They do accept credit cards, so we paid and waited for our meal over in the sheltered area. Many of the customers were truckers or workers who would eat in their car or get it to go. Eating outdoors was a bit warm this time of year, but we made do.

And, we were beckoned when our order was ready. The woman asked if I'd like sour cream or pico, and I said both please. So I waited back a few minutes before taking my delicious bounty over to the table to devour it.

The quesadilla is large and cut in half. Tons of cheddar cheese encased hunks of chicken - which is tasty. I don't think the chicken is the highest of quality, but it was fine. Lots of cheese can help with many things. The sour cream and pico paired with the quesadilla made for an overall decent meal.

This is probably a good option for folks on the go, and I'm not sure that I would specifically go seek it out with so many great options in the area. But I do think it fills a void for a particular audience.

Grade: B
 

One of the most popular restaurants in Pittsburgh is Gaucho Parrilla Argentina, a counter-service busy lunch place that draws patrons from all walks of life.

The line to get inside was nearly out of the door, but we were fortunate to sneak in at the tail end to stand inside. The owner (or manager? Someone in charge) was quite strict about not having people stand past a certain area and would routinely tell people they have to stand outside until the line dies down.

Inside, it was very warm and apparently the kitchen was put on hold for a solid 15 or 20 minutes due to a large order. So, we were crammed in this very warm space, shoulder to shoulder, without the line even moving for quite some time. They did start passing out waters, but we weren't part of the first 15 or so in line to receive the drinks.

Finally, the line started moving. And, we inched closer and closer to the counter. I wasn't starving, but I definitely wanted to try something. I noticed they had daily empanada specials. On this particular day, they had "Beefy," with carmelized onions, red pepper and egg, "Veggie," with potato, pepper, onion and tomato, and "Chicky," with corn and caramelized onions.

The woman behind the counter was quite pleasant and thoroughly explained the ordering process before I requested one of each of the empanadas. I paid, got my drink, and that owner/manager directed us to a place to sit. It was less than a minute before a server yelled me name out and delivered my warm empanadas.

I went up to the station to refill my glass and get one each of the sauces: chimichurri, ajo, pimenton and ceboula before diving in. I think, overall, all the empanadas are fine. They're kind of doughy, and, I admit, I don't know what an empanada SHOULD taste like ... but if it's like this, they're not my favorite. I think the texture is fine, but a bit more bite could really hold up and contrast with a mushy interior.

The beef was my most favorite, with a good bit of spices to enhance the flavor. The veggie was a bit flat for me, but the chicken was decent. Everything was made better by the ajo sauce, which had delicious notes of garlic. I really wanted to be blown away by these. I wanted my first real taste of empanadas to be life-changing. I can't say that these were.

I did, however, have a pretty good final bite in these Argentine cookies. This coffee and coconut cookie was light and crumbly but rich. Quite a nice finish to my snack, and I think if the rest of the menu was more reminiscent of this cookie rather than empanadas, I can see why there's a line out the door.

Grade: B