Marlo's Restaurant — Restaurant in Crescent City

I was looking for a nice restaurant to take my family to after a day of exploring the redwoods, and everything about Marlo's looked good on paper (attractive assortment of menu items and overall good Google reviews), but it was a downright overpriced and mediocre experience.

We ordered the Saganaki Flaming Cheese as a fun way to kick things off, but it was delivered to the table and lit without much fanfare. For a dish that is 50% about presentation, there wasn't much presentation, and the flavor was bland (my family of cheese lovers didn't finish the appetizer, and we were pretty darn hungry).

For the main courses, we ordered the Basil Pesto Tortellini and the Steak and Goat Cheese Fettuccini. The tortellini dish was okay - the overall flavor was good, but poorly balanced - the sauce was so overwhelming that it overpowered the dish and made it difficult to want to eat more than half the serving - enough flavor was enough! The Fettuccini dish was downright awful. The "slices of tender steak" were in fact thin strips of what must have been microwaved steak given how tough and overcooked they were. But then the pasta was as bland as the Tortellini dish was powerful - the only hint of flavor was from a lemon, which wasn't an ingredient in the dish description.

In the end, we ate half the Tortellini dish and took a couple bites of the Fettuccini dish before leaving - after shelling out an awful lot of money for a meal that made my family want to find a DQ on the way back to our motel.

I feel like the restaurant had the best of intentions, but failed on the execution and the presentation. There are far better...

I am so disappointed with the customer service. We had looked forward to eating here. We were staying 20mins away and called in a pick up order from our hotel parking lot. We headed over as soon as we called in the order and 5 mins later were stopped on the 101 where we were informed that the road was closed for 1 to 2 hours. We turned around and within 10 mins of placing our original order, called the restaurant, informed them of the situation, and cancelled our order with deepest apologies for the inconvenience. We waited two hours and attempted to head north once again. We arrived and called to place our to-go order from their parking lot and were happy to wait. (We didn't want to place an order back at our hotel and run into travel issues a second time.) A short while after placing our order, they called back to say the only way they would fill our order was if we paid double. I am sorry that we were stuck in a situation where we had to cancel originally....but we called when we could have just not ever shown up. I am doubly sorry that the manager felt that the solution to the problem was to decide to double the price of the order after already accepting the order. I would have understood if the manager had declined to take a second order from the start, but to accept the order, let us wait for a time, then offer a "deal" by doubling the cost was completely unacceptable. I am sure your food would have been lovely and wish your business the best in these trying times, but perhaps you would do well to not treat potential customers...

The highlight of my meal was the seafood linguini, which was nothing short of exceptional. The dish arrived beautifully presented, with generous portions of perfectly cooked linguini, fresh mussels, and a delightful sprinkling of parmesan cheese. The pasta was cooked to perfection, maintaining a tender yet firm texture that complemented the rich and creamy sauce wonderfully. The mussels were fresh and flavorful, adding a touch of the sea to every bite. Accompanying the linguini was a side of freshly baked garlic bread, which was soft on the inside with a delightful crunch on the outside. It was the perfect accompaniment to soak up the delicious sauce.

Overall, my experience at Marlo's was outstanding. The quality of the food, combined with the excellent service, makes this restaurant a must-visit for anyone in the area. I highly recommend trying the seafood linguini—it’s a dish that truly showcases the chef's talent and the restaurant's commitment to excellence,

My wife had the Greek sampler with a side of tomato soup. It was rich and flavorful, with just the right balance of sweetness and acidity with a hint of smoky flavor. The soup was a perfect starter, warming and comforting, and set the stage for the wonderful...