Recommends

ny2tx

Joined 3 years ago

houston's finest dining. After moving 3 years ago from NYC to Houston, we finally decided to try Mark's and now im so upset we waited so long!

The food,service and ambience is excellent. I can't think of one negative thing to say, just perfect.

We started with the oysters, foie gras, and scallops with soft shell crab. The apps were done to perfection with flavor and presentation.

We had chilian sea bass and kobe beef for dinner and it was amazing!!! The meat melted in your mouth and the fish was the best i have ever had.

Finally a restaurant I can proudly recommend to my friends who come from out of town.

Cant wait to go back!!!

Recommends

TXFoodie

Joined 4 years ago

Great Food, Terrible Service ... Will not return. Strong: Kitchen turns out AMAZING food.

Weaknesses - sorry to be so long: Front of the house management is simply dreadful. We arrived on a Tuesday night, waited about 5 minutes for a valet which is not terrible. And that was the highlight of the service experience.

Hosting was manned by two college age people. Neither of which could read the reservation system or table list. They had to go find a manager to choose a table for us to sit at. And from there, it simply devolved into sloppy and lackluster service throughout the meal.

Since we dine out a lot, we slowly graded Mark's service and downgraded the restaurant from an "A" for food to a "B-" and being unlikely to return. There are so many great new restaurants popping up in Houston, they need to pick up the pace on their service. When you spend $250 on dinner for you, you should get an experience.

Doesn't Recommend

FoieGras

Joined 3 years ago

Bad experience on a celebratory day!. One of the most overrated fine dining restaurants in all of Houston. Forget about any form of service if you are a young professional looking to go out and celebrate a special occasion. Mark himself came out and greeted everyone his own age but ignored two tables, ours and another occupied by young couples in their late twenties. The only time we were treated well was near the end of our meal right before the waiter brought us the check!

Doesn't Recommend

food snobs

Joined 4 years ago

I actually wanted steak sauce. Too many tables too close together. the veal and steak were bland with very little seasoning or flavor. they tried too hard on entrees and there was too much rosemary on the potatoes.

Doesn't Recommend

drewno

Joined 4 years ago

Highly Overrated, much better restaurants out there. I took my girlfriend here for her birthday, had read the reviews and heard from friends that it was a good spot. Had a 7 o'clock appointment and had no trouble getting a table. The restaurant is beautiful, the wine cellar that is viewable from the restaurant is very impressive. But that is where my positive experience ended. I browsed the wine list, almost impossible finding something that is under $100. The wine we did have, Caduceus, was actually quite nice at $105, but I'm sure it can be found for less elsewhere. We started with the quail and foie gras appetizer, far from impressed. To many strange flavors that didn't compliment the dish at all. She had the Carribean Lobster special, I had the Shrimp dish. Both were topped with a heavy amount of sauce that completely took away any flavor you would get from the Lobster or Shrimp. Very sour and pungent taste that lingered far too long. She had the Creme Brulee which was the highlight of the meal, I had the Chocolate sampler which was far from memorable. Server seemed to be slammed, and his visits to the table were few and far between. Our table was terrible, against a wall and felt very cramped the whole time.

All in all, I do not understand how this place has gotten such wonderful reviews. Our bill was close to $400 and there are so many restaurants I would have rather gone to. I've eaten at some great restaurants in this city, and Mark's is close to if not THE bottom. Stay away from the Lobster if you do go, it was $94.95 and covered in cream.

Doesn't Recommend

cmk1126

Joined 5 years ago

maybe 3.5 stars on its best night (which was not tonight). Well, I just purchased a $200 lesson for two. I'll dispatch with the good first. Dessert excepting, the food ranged from fine to very good (almost great in small parts). The flavors came more from spice and salt than the simpler flavors from the ingredients, which I thought was unusual for a place that seems somewhat chef driven. The foie gras was a little burnt, not seared, and everything I ordered had something sausagey involved. Cuisine, it was not, but it was generally enjoyable and there was a lot of it. Three and a half stars for the food.

With so few choices in Houston, I probably would have gone back were the service not so terrible. The waiter, an old fellow with a southern accent, was inattentive and showed no concern for the quality of the food. It took about 30 minutes to get the check after dessert was over and I'd run out of coffee (no refills offered). And the dessert itself was a BIG miss--four kinds of boring chocolate mousse and creme brulee on the lower side of middling. He had described a souffle, but I got mousse in a souffle cup instead. And three other kinds of strikingly similar mousse. I had about four bites, trying a little of everything. The busser cleared it without any concern that I had eaten almost none of it, and without asking if I was done (which is odd because it looked like it was just delivered). We mentioned to the waiter it was not enjoyed. He shrugged, walked off, and dessert remained on the bill.

Maybe you think the service was just off and you should go anyway. To you, I say that even if the service were 5-stars, the food, though usually good, was on the very low end of what one can get away with at the price charged. So best case scenario, you almost get ripped off but not quite.

Recommends

QTPY

Joined 4 years ago

Excellent!. My husband and I wanted something special for our 9 yr anniversary. We have been to many restaurants in Houston and this was the best dining experience we have had. All the food was delicious; everything from the appetizer to the soup, salad, main course and dessert. The server was very knowledgeable, attentive and friendly. We were there for almost 3 hours and never felt rushed. We even received a complimentary dessert for our anniversary. If you want a good dining experience where not a single detail is missed, I highly recommend this restaurant!!!

Recommends

KingTumnus

Joined 4 years ago

Best Restaurant I have been to. Best restaurant I have been to in Houston. Two of my favorite meals of all time have both been at this restaurant. (and I have only been twice) Soft shell crab and kobe steak (8 oz of deliciousness) Also I had a blueberry tart here which was the best most simple dessert I have ever had. I don't understand how it was so good since it was just blueberrys (with blueberry muffin ice cream) in a tart but it was amazing!

Recommends

desjardine

Joined 6 years ago

A Unique Restaurant with Ambiance. My husband and I have been going to Marks for years. Some times we rave about it and sometimes we really enjoy it but we are never dissappointed. It's an impressive place to take foks visiting since its an Old Church building converted to a restaurant and its not a chain plus you can count on great specials. Can't go wrong if you are looking for a special restaurant. The service is great too!

Recommends

drtrumble

Joined 5 years ago

I agree with 92% of reviewers who loved Mark's. My wife and I just returned from our 17th anniversary at Mark's. It was everything I had expected and wanted for a quiet and romantic night with outstanding service and food. A few of the reviews had had poor service or food but Mark's ws at it's best for us. We were seated promptly in the 2nd floor as I had requested and the service was flawless. I appreciated the short delay time between when we were seated and when we received our menus: it made me feel that we were not being rushed. Two waiters seated us and served our water and bread. The specials were made known and gave 3 choices for appetizers and 5 entrees which where unique and intriguing. We chose the seafood trio and the lobster bisque (which had perfectly tender pieces of lobster). My wife had an excellent and spicey tuna and I had Kobe beef ribeye medium rare. The desserts were numerous and interesting; I had the coconut bread pudding and she had the warm chocolate cake. Both were al a mode. I now know why people pay high prices for Kobe beef. It was like no beef I have ever had. The setting on the second floor was quiet and intimate and the renovated church is beautiful. Our Desserts came with a candle and chocolate coins imprinted with"Happy Anniversary" on them. Who cares if they do this for all anniversaries...they did it for mine.

Overall, excellent in all categories. The perfect place for those who can afford it. Don't worry about the few negative reviews. I'm glad I went.