Marin Joe's Restaurant — Restaurant in Corte Madera

Very disappointing. This 70's style hamburger joint turned overly priced steakhouse is not worth your hard earned dollars and definitely not going to turn any tastebuds. The service from hosting to serving needs to really go through a crash course on "service". With the menu being priced as is you expect at least a smile, "happy to have you here" , can I get you a refill, etc. All you get is smirky comments and blame put on ownership for how terrible an establishment it is. Now onto the food, know that the menu is overpriced and under delivered. I ordered a Ribeye at around $40 (not cheap), it comes with plain steamed veggies and fries or potatoes. No thanks. Ask for a salad side instead and they will NOT allow this as an option, by the way, they do have salad on their menu. At $40 I would highly recommend bring a little more flexible on the side options. The steak was tender but bland. I grill a much tastier steak at home. The drinks are $3 a pop and non-refillable.. I mean, come on people, will a $0.25 refill break the bank when you are paying $40+ on an average steak and some fries! The chicken breast is bland.. literally grilled chicken breast little to no seasoning on a plate. No tenderizing, nothing special.. its chicken breast out of a packet, cooked and slapped onto a plate, same unappealing side options. The salmon, meh. Over priced. I would have been ok with the poor service, angry workers, dated establishment, lack of refills, bland flavors, and very limited options at half the expense but not at $60 pp. Ask the server why and she will frustratedly tell you, "the owner passed away a while ago and the kids that own the restaurant now dont want to make any changes. It doesnt make sense, I wouldn't do it this way, but this is how it is." I definitely suggest another local restaurant to eat at and will not be returning....

Last night I spent a 5-hour marathon holiday dinner with some friends at Marin Joe's. While the company was excellent, and I enjoyed myself, it took about 3 hours to shake off the insanely curt service.

As soon as we walked in at 4:03 pm to an almost empty restaurant, the host (middle-aged blonde woman) barked at us. It was an uncomfortable interaction while we established we didn't have a reservation (per the suggestion on their website); we wanted to start with drinks while waiting for our 3rd, leading to dinner. She was so bent out of shape. I get it. You've done this for years, and you don't really feel the need to be overly friendly. (Insert her eye roll here).

As soon as we got a table, the server asked us what we wanted to drink. As we were arriving at the table and taking our coats off. It was so hasty. It wasn't like we were lingering. We were walking up to the table. We had to be slightly assertive not to feel a bit bullied.

Any request went like this: "Do you have a cocktail menu?" – "No. We have a full bar." I joked and said, "The world is our oyster!" to which our server said, "No, it's not."

"I'm not familiar with dore. Can you explain?" – "Look on the menu. It's right there." (No, it says dore, not what dore is.)

Our server got more friendly as the night progressed. But we all had to shake off the blunt interactions.

As for the food, now this may be harsh, but it's old people stuff. I know it's beloved, and I appreciate an old establishment but the food was nothing worth the price. You are paying for the atmosphere and the "this is what older white people in Marin do".

I do love a good old-timey place, but I'll hovel back to SF for my holiday celebrations...

One star is not for the food or service , it's actually for the owner one of the brothers , the younger one , I came in for lunch with my two years old son and my mom , we have ordered two cheese burgers and a side of two scramble eggs not the baby , when I got my bill , I saw that the waitress charged $12.50 for the side of two eggs , so when I went to pay I asked the hostess about the price for two eggs , and she looked shock and she went to look for the owner , so when he finally came , without a hi or anything, first thing comes out of his mouth is what's the problem , I told him that there s none I'm just wondering about the price of the two eggs , he looked on their pos system and he brings me to show that it's actually $12.5 , so I told him this the meal price , and he agreed that it's a meal and he told me that it comes with potatoes and vegetable , so I told him I never got no potatoes or veggies, his answer was I will chop couple dollars from the bill , making me feel that he s doing me a favor , I told him you don't need to chop couple of dollars, just charge me what two eggs actually cost , I don't need no favor from you what so ever give me what's mine and take what's yours ,by THE WAY HE END UP NOT GIVING ME NO DISCOUNT OR LOWERING MY BILL AT ALL , I been going there for years , his brother is way nicer with a great customer service , no attitude, I'm in the restaurant business and we have few dinners in Sonoma county and I know and everyone know that 2 eggs don't cost 12.5 even if you are in a high end restaurant, they won't cost that much , fix your way of dealing with people man other wise you will be loosing...