Mark's City Grill — Restaurant in Columbus

We ate here for the first time tonight and were unimpressed to say the least. We frequently visit the Black Cow and this restaurant is owned by the same person so we figured it would be just as good, but it wasn't. When we first got there we stood by the door ten minutes before a young girl would even acknowledge us. I actually had to tell her some people left out of the other room, and could you have someone clean the table so we could sit down. Once we sat down, we got our drinks pretty quick. The girl told us the specials. We tried the fried lobster tails which were the appetizer of the night - they were expensive. $9 for on small tail - literally three bites total and mostly thick greasy batter. So on to ordering our meal. I asked about the meatloaf which is one of our favorites at the Black Cow. I asked if it was the same recipe, and the waitress said it's better. Ok-so my husband got the meatloaf. It was good, but the whole bottom was burnt. It's a generous portion so he just left the burnt bottom behind. The green beans were good - mashed potatoes real good. My meal - I asked the server it the crab cakes were lump crab meat or claw meat with a lot of breading. She said they were big with lots of crab meat. I'm picky about my crab cakes so I always ask. They were gross...I only ate half of one. They were like frozen crab cakes - they were not lump meat, but bready with a pimento like taste. They were also overcooked and dry. They were served with a lemon butter sauce that was also horrible - it was sour with a strong lemon taste. The sides were mashed potatoes and broccoli casserole. Again the potatoes were good, but it wasn't a broccoli casserole - it was broccoli with a thick cheese goo... We won't be going back - $50 of bad food and bad...

We were seated right away. However, it was at the booth by the door, which was way too big for just two people. The server was attentive she came right away and took our drink and appetizer order. We had the fried green tomatoes. It was five tomatoes served with a sauce with a kick but not too spicy with fetta cheese on top. Great choice if you are looking for a southern appetizer. After she returned, she took our food order. I ordered the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli cheese casserole. She asked me if I wanted gravy for my potatoes. I told her on the side.The food came out hot. The meatloaf was well seasoned, the broccoli casserole was tasty, and I am glad that I asked to have the gravy on the side because the potatoes were well seasoned and didn't need gravy at all. The portion size on the meatloaf was huge. They serve a cornbread muffin, which was nice and buttery, very good. The lighting was the only issue. I get that the want soft lighting, but it was actually dimly lit. There was a sports bar type atmosphere, which was okay, but not really what I am used to. That is only why I gave the review 4 stars. Would I go back?...

Unfortunately our experience at Marks City Grill was not a very pleasant one. After reading the great reviews online we drove about 40 minutes from our house in Fort Mitchell to try it out. We came on a Saturday night- so it was busy, but not super busy. We ordered our appetizer and our food. Our appetizer arrived relatively fast, but it's a whole different story about our food. There were two tables around us that came in a good 10-15 minutes after us, one of them being a party of 6, and both of them got their appetizers, food, and one table even paid their bill and left before we got our food. The whole time we waited our waitress did not stop by even once to ask us if we needed anything or give an update on our food. By the time we did finally receive our food; my husbands buffalo burger was extremely burnt, my green beans were cold, and we were completely out of drinks. We were definitely not impressed and will not...