D'Marcos Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar

12/13/2024, who said Friday the 13th is bad luck? We drove over to Rochester Hills to see the Christmas lights and decided to eat here. Our first time to the area since relocating from Southern California this past summer. The hostess was so kind to seat us up front by the windows overlooking downtown. Our waitress was very friendly, suggested a few dinner options and checked on us regularly. FIRST let me tell you their breadsticks are to die for!!! Although they are baked off site at a local Italian bakery and brought in daily we simply didn't care. Calamari w/jalapeño peppers was our choice for an appetizer and it was prepared perfectly! My husband had Vodka pasta w/shrimp and red wine for a drink and I opted for the lasagna w/Diet Coke and lemon which was delicious as well. Afterwards we walked the downtown to check,out the variety of shops and restaurants along with the colorful Christmas lights.

We had a very disappointing visit to D'Marcos last night, with a group of friends. Some specifics:The minestrone soup was barely warm when it arrived. By the time the waitress checked in with the table, the entrees were arriving, so it was too late to request that the soup be heated. The house salad was limp with far too much dressing. The smoked provolone pieces mentioned in the salad's description were nowhere to be found. It contained only one-quarter of a single slice of tomato and exactly two beans. Here again, I couldn't request a fix because the waitress did not reappear until the entrees were being set down. While the meat and pasta on the braised short rib entree were very good (albeit just barely lukewarm), the celery and carrots in that dish were cold and raw. Not undercooked. Raw and icy. Pretty stunning for an entree that was priced at $30. Bread wasn't placed on the table until we were almost done with the entrees. The pumpkin pie cheesecake was very tasty, however at $14 for a very small piece, it was vastly overpriced.Entrees for two of the people in my group were completely inedible and had to be sent back.With no beverage, my tab was a whopping $59 before the tip. I wouldn't mind the amount but nothing about this meal justified it. The service wasn't bad but it also wasn't good. Our waitress seemed bored and disinterested. She didn't check in with us. A hostess stopped by the table as we were paying our bill, however that's far too late in the meal for anything to be corrected.In an area with many great places to eat, D'Marcos was a big, expensive disappointment.

Grace may be one of the best servers we've ever had. Cheerful, attentive without being intrusive and an absolutely delightful part of the meal. Eggplant parm appetizer is enough for an entree and is delicious- no bitterness, crust was good without being overpowering. Maple butternut squash ravioli was amazing... fettuccine was divine. Nice and quiet atmosphere.

I was exploring Rochester and this is a really cute place!! It is quite large so can accommodate many people and they had a lot of staff to ensure diners were well taken care of. Service was excellent! The food was delicious! The bread was very soft although not super warm when it came out, the pizza was a beautiful thin crust pizza. The pasta dish was excellent with great sweet notes. The waitress was able to give amazing recommendations. Overall, I would come here again! It is a little bit on the pricer side but worth it!

Celebrating my niece's 24th birthday. D'Marcos is pretty open with a lot seating and a large bar. It was pretty noisy, but you could carry on a conversation. Our server was very nice and made a few recommendations. I opted for the short rib pappardelle and my wife the butternut squash ravioli. The pappardelle was amazing! The meat was very tender and the ragu that accompanied was very flavorful. The ravioli were a little to al dente for her, but the flavor was excellent. I had a glass of an Italian red blend that I absolutely loved! Great meal and I look forward to returning.

I loved the warm inviting ambiance. The bar is also beautiful and the tables in the front with the large open windows. The whole place was just lovely. We had a birthday celebration for 4 and we could actually hear each other across the table, unlike other restaurants we almost went to where we had to yell over each other. Tristin who waited on us behind the bar was delightful and made a perfect Manhattan! We moved from the bar to a table and had an amazing dinner. It was so fresh and authentic. Our waitress Grace was wonderful! She got everything right and was very attentive, helpful and pleasant. Great Experience all around! Thank you!

As a resident of Rochester that began living here when D'Marcos was still Rojo, I have passed by D'Marcos the entire time it has been around in downtown and never gone in. I'm kicking myself now because I finally went last week and had such a ball here!I think from the outside you get the sense that it might be super bougie and upscale, but it's actually so beautifully designed while still feeling cozy and accessible to all. There are walls of wine bottles, different seating areas in almost different "rooms" throughout the restaurant, and the inside just feels so big, open, and inviting!I don't drink wine or any form of alcohol, but you really don't miss it because their food was delicious and affordable! They are probably best known for their pasta, so I'd highly recommend you get something from their pasta section. I got the vodka pasta, which was exactly what I needed. It was only vaguely spicy, which is how I prefer it, and just hit the spot. It doesn't normally come with a protein, so I ordered the calamari from their appetizers section to pair with it. The calamari wasn't the *best*, but it was still super solid and delicious! All in all, the food was so good that I didn't even remember to take pictures of it upon arrival before digging in! A rare occurrence where the phone did NOT eat first!!For dessert, my friend and I split both the Godiva chocolate torte and tiramisu and both were insane! The chocolate torte stole the show, sinfully decadent and the richest chocolate cake I've ever tasted - you NEEEED to try this! The tiramisu did not taste "traditional" in the slightest, but was also somehow super good! The ladyfingers in here needed more time to soak as it came away pretty dry. There was an overwhelming amount of creme layers, which was alarming at first but tasted so good I truly did not mind it. The main issue with the tiramisu was how strong of a flavor the amaretto had. It was POTENT and that's why it could've benefitted from soaking up some coffee of some sort, which was lacking from this dessert. But overall, we were so happy with all of our food!The service was also incredible! We had such a warm and welcoming waiter. She checked in the perfect amount, was super helpful, apologetic when things took a little long (even though we didn't even notice a moment when things took too long to arrive), and just really took the service above and beyond!Thank you D'Marcos! This has easily shot to the top of my list of places I'd recommend to people coming to visit Rochester for a great meal in the heart of downtown Rochester! Love it and will be back very soon!!

Poor excuse for a wood fired neopolitan margarita pizza. Bland and cheese was undercooked

Woooow is the only thing I can say. Very upscale vibes, but the prices are great. The drinks are standard pricing. Getting a seat isn't generally hard on the week days, and depending on where you sit you get an amazing view on Main Street. Service is pretty good nothing crazy, but not bad.

My friends and I went to D'Marcos for dinner. Our reservation was for 8:00 and the table was ready when we arrived. The restaurant was lovely and had a pleasant atmosphere. Our waitress was excellent. She was attentive without being intrusive.We were very pleased with the food. The bread was nice. The calamari was perfectly cooked and our meals were delicious. We had chicken parmesean, fettuccine Alfredo with chicken, and vodka pasta with shrimp. We all truly enjoyed our meals. I will definitely return.