Merry MixTape: Garfield Bar Gets Its Glitz On

Garfield’s popular bar, MixTape, known to some patrons as a venue for DJs cutting their teeth and to others as a regularly dark bar with irregular hours, just opened as a “pop-up” bar for the holidays. 

The awning at 4907 Penn Avenue tells us this month that MixTape is something different. Red and green stripes fill the background with retro type that reads “A Very Merry MixTape.” Ah, the holidays! It’s a time to catch up with old friends and toast each other’s successes for the year. For many, too, it’s a time to experience mesmerizing displays of twinkling lights, over-sized decorations of candy canes and snowflakes, or favorite animated characters from Christmas specials or holiday movies of our childhood.

Indeed, stepping into the bright white wonderland at the entrance to A Very Merry MixTape is the figure of the abominable snowman from the famous, stop-action animation of Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer (first aired on NBC in 1964.) With an $8 “cover” paid and circus ticket in hand, one enters the  usually dim, but now dazzling interior of MixTape. Passing a flank of pinball machines, a DJ spins his records. Above the open floor are thousands of white, fuzzy snowflakes, and streaming down the walls are curtains in red or green suspending even more flakes. In the back section is a long festive bar bedecked with a few illuminated snowmen. Over-sized inflatable Christmas tree lights hang in one corner.  And the walls and ceiling are strewn with ropes of tinsel, tree ornaments, more fuzzy snowflakes, a few “prop” candy canes, and, well, it’s hard to say what else. That’s because MixTape’s holiday pop-up decor is as dense as a fruitcake; it’s best to leave what’s all inside it a dark mystery.

One wall screen beside the DJ’s station informs us that we are inside “A Very Merry MixTape.”  Of course, this is where we hoped to be, but is all of this what we hoped to find? What makes a pop-up bar popular? How should a local watering hole best embrace the Christmas season? Or are pop-up bars just meant to attract attention to a venue not often visited? 

MixTape manager and co-partner Grace Emmerling explained, “Call it a pop-up or call it installation art. It’s all in the spirit of the holiday and makes us happy to do this each year.”  In fact, this is the third year MixTape has been transformed for tinsel time. Set designer JohnMichael Bohach used his theatrical talents to adorn most every square inch of MixTape, from an arctic entrance to the rear Santa’s Candy Cocktail Bar. (Somewhat more famously, Bohach, who often works with the Pittsburgh Opera, installed an “Alice in Wonderland” theme in February of last year.)

Frankly, I have always thought a legitimate pop-up bar is one that has sprung forth from an unusual space not known to have a liquor license. For ten years now, Spencer Warren of The Warren on 7th Street downtown has managed to open a vacant storefront for patrons who appreciate a novel change of venue for the holidays. This year, at 130 7th Street, you’ll discover his “Miracle on 7th,” a pop-up featuring a kitschy collection of holiday glassware which is all for sale. Of course, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership has worked with the city to allow for mulled wine sipping on city streets in December. And even certain hotels have set up outside venues for alcohol service during light-up nights. I guess I’ve just never considered that swapping out a tavern’s everyday decor for holiday tinsel and large snowflakes constituted the appeal of a “pop-up” bar. No, wait, that’s not wholly true. The famed Bob’s Garage in Blawnox is all about changing its interior decor for every holiday. Unless you’re a regular there, walking into Bob’s Garage can be a transformative experience. In any given month, you might feel oddly Irish, passably patriotic or just-plain-spooked. 

Yet, this month, MixTape is a very merry one. With our circus ticket in hand, my friend and I went to the bar to redeem it for a free drink. Our choice was but one–a shot of Malibu Rum, topped with pineapple juice, Sprite and a skewered red cherry. I’m sure we were told the name of it, but it really matters not. A repeat visit to A Very Merry MixTape offered up a completely different complimentary beverage that evening. Mind you, of course, MixTape’s bar features any other spirit, wine or beer you might prefer, just not free with admission.

And, yes, DJ Strange Way spun a lot of fun music. Madonna sang “Material Girl,” Pink performed “Lady Marmalade,” and, I think I remember, Annie Lennox doing “Sweet Dreams.” And, yes, patrons danced. That, to be sure, was the DJ’s intention. But why no Christmas music? Not a single ”I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,” no jingle bell a-rocking; nary a Mariah Carey! And then I thought about it. Very little Christmas music is danceable! Maybe that’s what sets it apart. At least, after a pleasant hour otherwise expecting to hear chipmunks or sleigh bells, that’s what popped into my head.

Pittsburgh hosts many a pop-up bar this season. But I‘m gonna guess that few feature more glitter or glitz than Garfield’s MixTape. Over the top decorations, a  dazzling dance floor, and a DJ who knows better than to play “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” can make a very merry start to the season. 

Photos: C. Prentiss Orr

C. Prentiss Orr is a Pittsburgh-based writer who covers live theater, film, and other topics for Entertainment Central. He is the author of the books The Surveyor and the Silversmith and Pittsburgh Born, Pittsburgh Bred.

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