Bacco Pizzeria & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Harrisburg

I went here in January for my fiance's birthday. Their food looked so yummy plus we love Italian food so we were super excited. Bacco's upstairs is pretty small but the ambiance is very classy, simple, and chic. We dressed up for the occasion so we were ready to dine. However what we experienced was not good. My fiance and I both have managed in NY and LV at very high end Italian restaurants so we know our stuff. My server didn't even know Italian terms, nor did he know the menu I would ask questions and he would have to step away to double check a few times so that was disappointing. Then we ordered two different platters, the burrata and the prosciutto. The server only brought one platter, one SMALL platter not like combined them and put it on a platter with double everything. Just one small platter. But charged us for two platters. Like excuse me? Don't rip off your guests. So I had to inform him and show him the menu that we should be getting two platters. Then he fixed it but if I wouldn't have said anything he would have just charged us. Not good. So he took forever to clear our table. We wanted to order the next course. But he was too busy texting on his phone and sitting at the bar. WHAT!!!! Any professional server would know that's a no no. But there was no manager on the floor to even keep him in check. Not good. Finally we ordered the second course we got the Margherita pizza, that was super yummy. We then wanted to order a third course. He once again took forever to clear the table. So I had my fiance clear the table for us. Finally he comes back we ordered pasta with the salmon. We didnt like it. He then again doesn't clear our table. Still texting not paying attention. SITTING AT THE BAR WHILE GUESTS ARE IN THE RESTAURANT. Pay attention you are at work. So my fiance cleared the table again. We ordered desert the Tiramisu. It was pretty good, nothing special. I got the check and paid. I felt terrible because I wanted to spoil my fiance to an intimate dinner. We still made the best of it by making jokes and being good customers regardless of the nonsense we were witnessing. The bill was expensive. Definitely not worth the money I paid. I emailed them directly because I didnt want to give a bad review I gave them about 2 months to respond and nothing. So I wanted to inform future guests looking at this restaurant. Food is pretty good but experience will be...

So, we get in and are greeted by an adorable hostess who is so friendly, we sit down and it super hot but the kitchen is in the restaurant (Not a separate section) so it’s kind of understandable. We order drinks, I have a Malbec (delicious) and bf has a Diet Coke. We order fried calamari which is delicious and the marinara is amazing, then our waiter disappears. We are just sitting there and thankfully another adorable waitress notices and comes and takes our order. We order chicken Marsala, and I order the charcuterie board which they make smaller and Brussels sprouts. Our waiter shows up and walks past an obviously empty glass of wine (he constantly walks past empty glasses and dishes) the chicken Marsala which is just ok and very floury comes out first (way before everything else) then the charcuterie board (which we noticed had been sitting there) (the mozzarella had NO taste) and we are waiting and waiting for the Brussels sprouts). The waiter keeps walking past empty wine glasses and dishes and we have to ask him where the Brussels are. They obviously forgot them. He claims they are taking awhile…. There is no way they took longer than the Marsala. I have to go to bathroom because we are on the way to Pittsburgh from Philly. I walk down some broken stairs to an entry way with a beautiful mirror. Oh, cute a vault, could be a nice wine cellar, “omg what is that smell?” It’s a mix of pool and urine, I head to the ladies room “omg the floor is wet and the lock is held on by some kind of tape” I pee while trying not to vomit, flush this almost falling apart toilet, wash my hands then head to stairs where I run into the waiter who almost seems pleased that my boxed up Brussels sprouts are finally done, even though we already paid and have been here for over an hour. I am glad to not be smelling urine anymore and we leave! After...

The good: my husband liked his pizza and said the crust is good. I enjoyed my craft beer. The interior was very beautiful, I like the high top tables. My waitress was pleasant. The dessert was good - cannoli and chocolate cake for husband, but cannoli wasn’t classic white ricotta it was almost maybe a cinnamon color - not sure what that was about. Menu super light on descriptions. The OK: the mussels were good but the red sauce they were in was a little off in flavor - not as robust and developed as I would have hoped. The crostini that came with it was chewy stale not crunchy stale like it should be. It tasted like the crostini maybe sat in a plastic bag that they just reach in and throw a few pieces on the dish week after week. The bad: early in the evening I saw them using a microwave and unfortunately the dish I got was one of the microwaved dishes. I got the smoked Gouda chicken with pasta in a cream sauce which was almost inedibly rich and heavy, but maybe that’s just how cream sauces are. Long story short: it was a do over dish and not something I would normally get but the first bite was room temp and the second bite was steaming hot. They clearly nuked it and didn’t bother to hide that by mixing it to distribute the heat. Microwaved Italian food?!?! Finally a staff member was visibly upset about something, and long story short after he calmed down, which was handled well by the host, the manager yelled at the host in the middle of the restaurant - like the head turning kind! Anyone can have a bad night but Eek! Overall: others seem to love this place and maybe I got the wrong dish (the salmon looked incredible as it went by), but staff behavior was unprofessional at times, beware microwaved food, maybe go for decor, cocktails and...