Market On Main — Restaurant in Columbia

Me nn my mom go out to eat once a week to spend time with each other. We chose this place on a Sunday at bout 5pm we came in to the restaurant was not busy at all they had two groups inside 2 groups in the sun room and maybe 6 groups outside we chose to sit outside nn enjoy the nice afternoon with the live music.. after we was seated we sat there long enough for the greeter’s to seat 4 more ppl before a waiter came to the table by the time he go there we was ready to leave every time the wind blew it smelled like a stinky old wet dumpster was next to the table it was terrible. We ordered a tea nn corona that took over ten minutes to get then he informed us no corona just lite my mom said ok that took another ten mins to get. Two ppl who was seated way after us got their drinks nn food at this point. The guy finally brought the drink we ordered they took our food to wrong table nn brought us out food that wasn’t ours. The food was dropped off no one asked if we needed refills on our empty waters nn tea. Or did we need anything to go with the meal. I ordered the lobster rolls after being informed that the steak doesn’t come with a side which seemed weird to me Nn my mom the pork chop. At this point I’m getting upset because I ordered a main lava drink that still hadn’t made it to table yet. He finally came nn told me something about that drink was missing I ordered another drink that was purple nn super nasty tasted like liquor with food coloring nn ice I couldn’t drink it nn I noticed that other ppl who had it wasn’t drinking it either. I had to flag down someone to find my waiter to get straws napkins (only got 2) a refill nn ranch. By the time it came my food was definitely cold. I asked for a Togo box nn drink guess what that took ten minutes to get. I decided to get dessert tiramisu that took another 15 mins to get nn they took it to wrong table before I got it. I tried to tell the guy it was mine but seems as if u have to holler at everyone to get there attention cause nobody paying any attention to Customer’s. Ik this cause I watched several ppl do the same thing. I told my waiter that my drink nn dessert was unsatisfactory all he did was say I’m sorry so we asked for the check go figure that took another ten mins to get nn another ten to bring back something said look at the ticket it was extremely high we noticed the regular corona. Mom ordered, was on it, but didn’t get it .. to drinks was on it but I only got 1 that I made myself drink before we left because he didn’t offer to replace it with something else nn I didn’t want to wait all day on a different drink. The bill was 124$ all we got was a tea, 1 corona lite, 1 lobster roll, 1 pork chops, 1 cocktail that was pose to be 9$ but they charged me twelve nn the dessert we calculated our food nn drinks should have been around 90$. We sat there a long time waiting on him to come back but he never did we had to go inside to find him again. Due to his lack of attention he didn’t give us our receipt to recheck our ticket just gave us the copy that needed to be signed nn didn’t give card back had to stop him from leaving with it. Got to car nn realize we still over paid by about 20-30$ with something but no receipt to prove it. I’m going back by because that’s to much to just give away on a terrible experience. I use to be a waitress so I’m a very generous tipper so my mom says. That service i didn’t even leave 1$ over charging nn under servicing is a no no. The restaurant it’s self is very nice n live music was very nice other than that I wouldn’t go back there was nothing special about it might as well go between 3-4 nn just listen to the music. The pic is the dessert nn 2 bites is all we ate it was not good to us. Lobster roll was ok but nothing I would come back for , mom said the same about pork chop. but I had a lobster roll for 38$ some where else nn it was delicious couldn’t stop eating it lol. They need to do better HIGHLY...

First time visitor over restaurant week.

Despite the COVID pandemic, you would never know it existed here. Despite many social distancing signs, all tables were extremely close together inside. I’m surprised at this, especially as we made reservations ahead of time and I had hoped tables would be more adequately spaced out. We didn’t visit the bar, but sat close to it and it was truly packed with nearly every seat filled and people standing by the bar talking to people sitting at the bar. Which just isn’t a good look, again, in the midst of Covid.

For restaurant week, I got the Caesar salad, top sirloin, and berry crumble. My husband got the salmon spread, top sirloin, and creme brûlée. I really enjoyed the Caesar salad and it was very nicely sized, especially for a restaurant week menu. It tasted like dressing had real anchovies in it and the salad was topped with dried prosciutto which really increased the quality/tier of the salad. The sirloin was fine. We both asked for ours medium rare. My husband’s came out true to order, mine was more medium. It was fine. Nothing particularly flavorful or special, but not bad. I also experienced the extremely dull steak knife along with my husband, which honestly brought down the experience of enjoying the steak. It was like trying to cut it with a butter knife.

The berry crumble was good. Also nothing spectacular, but not bad. Service was good, but also not exceptional.

Overall, probably a fine experience outside of Covid. I would be interested in trying again in warmer weather to perhaps sit in their nice outdoor space and maybe try their lunch fare.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

———————— UPDATE:

Went back about a week later for lunch. Was much less crowded and had a more relaxed atmosphere. Got the ham sandwich with truffle fries. Was a quite generous portion, although overall it’s still a pricey lunch for almost all items on the menu. However, the lunch was very good, the fries in particular were very good.

Increased rating to ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

———————————

Visit #3 (4/2/2021): Rating back down to 3/5 stars. Went for live music and dinner. Live music was fantastic but the actual restaurant experience was so subpar again. Maybe only okay to come on off lunch times? Clearly understaffed which resulted in slow service and an alcoholic drink that came very late (was obviously forgotten about as after it was asked after again, it came out within 2 minutes.) We got the rib eye for two and subbed fries for roasted potatoes. The quality of the steak was very disappointing- small amount of edible meat and very grisly. Honestly, I’ve had better steaks at mid tier places like Outback. May come back for drinks only in the future...

Extremely Disappointed with Graduation Lunch Experience

We made a reservation at Market on Main in Columbia, SC three weeks in advance to celebrate my daughter’s college graduation. Given that we had a large party, I called the week of the event and again two days prior to confirm everything for May 2, 2025, including the final headcount. Unfortunately, what should have been a joyful family celebration turned into a frustrating and upsetting experience.

Things started off well. We had two servers—a waitress and a waiter. The waitress was absolutely phenomenal (I regret not getting her name). She was kind, attentive, and professional throughout the ordeal. The waiter, however, seemed frazzled and disorganized from the start.

Most of our party received their food, but 10 of us were left waiting. When we repeatedly asked the waiter for updates, he kept assuring us our food was “on the way” or “being prepared.” This went on for over 45 minutes, and at that point, the kitchen had closed at 3pm to transition for dinner service—without our food ever arriving.

When we finally brought this to the attention of the waitress, she was shocked and immediately got the manager. The manager then came over full of excuses, attempting to shift the blame onto us and minimize the situation. I calmly explained that we placed our order at 1:30pm, received appetizers and drinks, and that members of our party who arrived later had already eaten and left.

To make matters worse, some of our guests are diabetic and have health concerns, and sitting hungry for over two hours was both uncomfortable and dangerous. Meanwhile, we watched kitchen staff eating food they had prepared for themselves right in front of us. Eventually, we learned that the waiter never submitted half of the food orders, despite assuring us otherwise. The manager admitted to being “great friends” with the waiter and simply said “he did his best.” That response was completely unprofessional and dismissive. No real accountability was taken.

The only bright spot was our waitress, who we suspect had to split the generous tip we left despite her stellar service and the waiter’s incompetence. She deserved better.

All we received from the manager was a half-hearted, “I’m sorry this happened.” That is not enough. This was a once-in-a-lifetime celebration, and it was ruined by negligence, poor communication, and a lack of leadership.

I hope this review serves as a warning to others planning important events. Market on Main let us down when it...