Margie's Kitchen & Cocktails — Restaurant in Andover

After a very bad experience on Mother's Day in 2021 (see below), our subsequent visits to Margie's have been largely positive. All the items we have tried from the regular menu have been very good especially the burgers. The service has been better though could be more attentive. Drinks are still excellent and expensive. I still consider Margie's to be over-priced for the total experience but not so much that I won't go back and I have. We live less than 30 minutes from Margie's. Unless we want to drive an hour or more, we don't have any options for an equivalent or better restaurant. Margie's is a place I would save for special occassions or perhaps go 3-4 times per year.

Our first visit to Margie's was on Mother's Day, 2021. Keep in mind Margie's was fairly new and the Covid pandemic was still raging. On Mother's Day, Margie's offered a limited pre-planned menu which should have meant everything would be more stream-lined and easier for the kitchen staff and servers. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case. Actually, the pre-planned menu included items which I later discovered are not on their normal menu. Maybe this was the problem and Margie's should stick to what they know because I had heard good things before going there. First our salads were served without any dressing. By the time the waitress returned so we could tell her, two of us had finished ours. For the main course, three of us ordered a vegetable egg stacker (an egg bake). Except for an overabundance of mushrooms, it was a tasteless mush. The potatoes which came with it weren't much better. The meal included a sausage link and bacon strip which were flavorful, thankfully. The other person in our party ordered prime rib (also not on the normal menu). It was served without the au jus listed on the menu,. When the au jus did come (again only after we requested it), it did nothing to improve the taste of the prime rib which was tough and lacked flavor. On the plus side, the drinks we ordered - a Bloody Mary and the Cocoa Cold Brew - were excellent (and pricey at $10 each!). Thanks to the garnish included with the Bloody, I at least came away with something decent to eat. For $160 before tip for four adults and 1 child, the entire experience was a huge disappointment and a considerable waste of money. The Blaine-Andover area is desperate for a good upscale restaurant so I'm going to give Margie's another chance at some point if their generally positive reviews continue. But at the prices they charge, they're going to need to show me something much better than what I experienced on...

There are three things that rounded out my review: the inclusivity, the food and, of course, the drinks.

First, the inclusivity.. When you walk in, there is a GIANT Pride flag in the waiting area. I'm a huge fan of a family-ran establishment being unapologetically welcoming to everyone. Then, the bathrooms. They aren't labeled mens and womens. The sign says "Restrooms. Everyone" with an arrow. They're all unisex and individual stalls with their owns doors. The one I went in even had feminine hygiene products! Like cmoooon, this is screaming "my new favorite restaurant".

Second, the food and service. My group had the mac & cheese (amazing 10/10), Margie's exceptionale burger (also 10/10), the cap steak sandwich (the steak was a touch overcooked and a little tough to eat, but the flavor was there and surprisingly not that messy, 8.5/10) and the elote pasta (the Serrano cream was a little weird, a regular cream sauce would be amazing. I'm an avid elote eater, but was a little disappointed BUT the concept and presentation were there. It just wasn't the right dish for me. 7/10). At the end, they even brought out a little plate of cookies for everyone like if this isn't screaming "these people know how to treat their guests" I don't know what does. Our server was beautiful and explained everything very well and her recommendations were perfect. The food also came out in a super reasonable and perfect amount of time (about 15 minutes after ordering) and this was a Saturday night, so that kitchen is doing WORK. Gordon would be proud.

Last, the drinks. We had the espresso martini (10/10), the frothy whiskey sour (if you're into whiskey, it's AMAZING), the purple drink (was super strong and almost tasted like kool-aid so 6/10), the Clover Club (10/10, light and airy, a great starter drink) and the Mule (pretty strong, but good flavor 8/10). The drinks were consistent, nicely potent and worth the money.

I seriously love that this family has opened a sophisticated restaurant in Ramsey/Andover. There aren't too many like it out there without going into the cities, so my group and I will definitely be back. You guys are...

I was at Margie’s Kitchen this past Friday night with a 4:30pm reservation with my mom and my best friend. We told our waitress Leeann from the beginning and repeatedly that we were not in any hurry and just wanted to enjoy our time. We each ordered an old fashion, which was delicious, however Leeann kept coming to our table asking if we were ready to order dinner. We told her numerous times again that we were not ready and were just enjoying our conversation and would more than likely be ordering wine with our dinner and she said she understood. But again she kept coming back every 5 minutes pushing us to order dinner so we finally did in what felt like we just hurried and picked something. Maybe about 3-5 minutes later I flagged Leeann down and told her to put our dinner order on pause as we wanted to order an appetizer of crab cakes and she just gave me an angry stare and stormed away. The appetizer of crab cakes for $25 was brought to us immediately and were very mushy and lacked flavor. We each maybe had 1 bite of the appetizer and our dinners were brought out to us. We were extremely upset and our waitress never once apologized. We had not even been there 45 minutes. We were maybe 2-3 bites into our dinner and Leeann came and asked if we wanted to go containers. Seriously? We never ordered a glass of wine which we were going to have with our dinner because we were not even finished with our old fashions. The whole experience was terrible and it felt like they were trying to get us out of there as fast as possible to make more money by filing more people through the doors. For $170 we should have been allowed at least 2 hours for drinks; appetizer and dinner. We expressed our frustration with our waitress but she clearly did not care and in fact other staff would walk by our table and glare at us. Leeann said she would send the manager over but one never came. We will never go back!! If you are looking for a relaxing enjoyable experience do not go there. They are clearly out to make money by rushing people through and the food is not nearly as good as when they first opened. So many other better...