Mark's East Side — Restaurant in Appleton

Saturday, 6/20/20. Excellent experience. Made reservations for 6:30 pm and was seated right on time. I was a bit nervous as this was our first time out dining in four months (pandemic) and we had two birthdays to celebrate. All employees were wearing masks and table positioning was spread farther apart for the social distancing, as well as other precautions, and additional cleaning utilized and noted. That in itself was very reassuring. Our waitress Lisa was very helpful and accommodating and explained any questions we had with the menu. They were very busy, as it was a Saturday night, but we were there for time together, not an eat and go timeline, so not a problem. Appetizers: Artichoke Spinach Dip, and Deep Fried Cheese Curds were delicious. All five of us ordered different dinners with a few changes to accommodate tastes and food allergies and again Lisa was very patient, friendly and helpful not only to us, but the other tables she served as well. The presentation of dinners were very pleasing to the eye and delicious. One exception, was the steak, not in preparation but the actual cut. We made the problem known right away to Lisa and Chef Alex came immediately to the table. He recognized and acknowledged the problem immediately with sincere apologies and said he would prepare a new steak or whatever desired, as well as asking the rest of the table if our dinners were acceptable, which they were. What seemed like a very short time, Chef Alex delivered the hot steaming steak directly to the table and waited while a cut and taste was taken. Superb taste again, but a world of difference in the “melt in your mouth” tenderness this time. The chef did return minutes later to check if the steak, as well as all of our meals were acceptable and flavorful, which they were and we continued with a most pleasant dinner. Two complimentary sundaes were presented to the birthday guests, and the Creme Brûlée, my favorite, was perfect. Two ice cream drinks, the White Dove and the Grasshopper, prepared by Casandra in the bar, were outstanding, as always. Three out of the five of us have been known to come just for Casandra’s ice cream drinks on a whim. Oh so delicious, a comfort treat, and served by a very personable bartender. As we were leaving Casandra and Chef Alex happened to be by the check out, so we were able to express our pleasant evening had by all. The owner “Mark”, was not in, as we wanted to express our wonderful birthday dining evening experience to him, however, I will be making a call to let him know. Oh, by the way, my fiancé and I were celebrating the anniversary of our first date at Marks Eastside, which was 68 months ago. Tonight we arrived in a downpour, all soaked, but left dry with a beautiful sunset, smiles, more than satisfied appetites and a most memorable time. We will be back and we will share our wonderful time with others. Thank...

My girlfriend and I went here about a month ago on a lark, based on the recommendation of a supper club group on Facebook. Boy were we impressed! The hostess was very friendly despite a full house. The bartender encouraged questions about their specials. The manger (Sara) met us at the bar and assured us that we'd be seated soon. Our server, Allison, did a great job of recommending specials. I had to try the bone marrow (see pic), which was fantastic, generously portioned, and served over arugula and with garlic-buttered crostini. My gal had a fish fillet and vegetables. That was delicious, and even the vegetables were 'elevated', just super tasty! I ordered a king cut prime rib (perfectly med rare, very unique and fabulous aus jus, like I've never had before) and garlic mashed potatoes (hearty, flavorful). They offered us wine pours of 6 oz or 9 oz, which I'd never heard of before. We took the 9oz lol. The wine was terrific and fairly priced! We opted for a cheesecake for desert (made by one of the servers in her home business) and it was rich, flavorful, but fluffy, not heavy at all. Allison's service was terrific throughout. Another server heard us discussing the need for to-go boxes, and she promptly brought them without us even asking, and chatted us up. Then Sara came back and sincerely wanted to know how we liked it. We chatted with her for about 10 min about the philosophy there to constantly improve, every dish, all the time. And boy it shows! She then gave us a discount card for our next meal there. We go to supper clubs all the time. We've been to all of them in Sheboygan County and beyond. We both agreed that we'd never been treated better, never had better food at a supper club (or pretty much anywhere), and we couldn't have been more pleased. Now we're scouring our calendar and adjusting our future engagements to make sure we can occasionally be in Appleton to go visit Mark's again and try some of their very creative sounding takes on classic meals, prepared by a clearly enthusiastic and talented chef, and the best bartender, waitstaff, hostess, and manager you could ask for. I think our total bill for wine, appetizer, dinners, and desert came to just under $120. Unbelievable. Umpteen stars for Marks' East Side!! You blew our doors off, and we'll be back! - Kurt Coffin and Annette Koenig,...

I grew up with the tail end of the "super club" era. My parents would make us dress up and one a month or so, we would head to a supper club. Mark's reminds me of those special times.

Mark's is a place that's approachable, but classy. A place for a regular meal, or something truly special. Mark's has the rare ability to deliver both. They have standard fare on their menu. But, even that is prepared in exciting and different ways. This includes items like their Friday night fish fry. It's common enough in the Midwest to expect it at almost every sit down restaurant. But, Mark's takes that up a notch with fresh haddock and house made tartar sauce and delivers it to your table at a reasonable price!

Then we have the specials. These are items that you expect if you walk into a fine dining establishment. The chef sources something outstanding every day and prepapes it with innovating and delicious recipes.

My favorite part of the menu happens to be the German fare. The recipes are as old as time. Yet they taste as if they were concocted by a new and exciting Michelin-starred kitchen.

I would be remiss if I didn't discuss the drinks and the serving staff. In an era of 90 page drink menus that the staff might or might not know, Mark's stands out as a place where they do new and innovative almost as well as the established drinks that made supper clubs famous. The front of the house is managed like it was when supper clubs were young. When servers remained pleasant even if life is tough and a front end manager who makes you feel like you are her favorite guest.

Even if you've been in the Fox River Valley for your entire life, or if you happen to be in town for a special event, Mark's is a place that you should put on your "to do" list. It's a touch point that will have you returning physically or virtually...