Mark's Prime Steakhouse — Restaurant in Gainesville

I went to Mark's for Valentine's Day. They were featuring a limited menu of about 4 choices per App, Salad, Entree, and then 3 desserts. I knew this going into the meal, but it was still disappointing because they had none of their most interesting full menu items.

The overall feel of the meal was that we were animals being mass processed as fast as possible. We were seated in a room that was clearly made for 20+ person events, and they just put ~20 two person tables right next to each other. The lighting was far too bright, there were no decorations on any walls of any kind, and there was no division between tables. We could see and hear everyone else in the room. Also, there were about 10 waiters running around crazily at any given time which was very distracting. For the price, the food was TERRIBLE. The price was $145 per couple and two items we ordered were inedible. I know it was Valentine's day so they wanted to get people in and out, but for the price you really should get a better ambiance than the conveyor belt.

For appetizer, we chose the Oysters Rockefeller. They were poor and not what one would expect to get from such a dish. They only managed to put bacon on half of them, and they were waaay too heavy handed with the olive oil. They were very one note. Still, this was only the 3rd worst item we ordered.

The salads were fine. I mean, they were salads.

For main course we each got Filet & Lobster tail. The filets were good, for filets. It's not our favorite cut of steak but this was by far the most interesting main dish on the limited menu, especially based on the price tag of the meal. My girlfriend's lobster was good but mine was a little overcooked and chewy.

For side dishes, we both attempted to order mashed potatoes. The waiter convinced us that the sides were "huge" and that we could easily share the potatoes and get a second side dish. From the start, I wasn't thrilled about this because the other side options were cauliflower, spinach, and asparagus, but I took his recommendation and went with the cauliflower because it was au gratin. In reality, the mashed potatoes were definitely not big enough to share. It was a single serving. Also, I'm pretty sure the cooks never even looked at salt while making them. Very bland. The cauliflower WAS big enough for two people, but it was undercooked and inedible. It tasted like it was raw; it was far too crunchy. I took only one bite.

For dessert, we tried the "strawberry cheesecake". It was actually plain cheesecake with strawberry sauce on top. This dish was also inedible. The sauce was cloying and completely overpowered everything. It tasted like it came from a can. A gross can. We took only one bite.

Post Review Bonus Update: After my review, a manager contacted me and apologized for the poor experience I had, which I appreciated. He asked if I would give Mark's another shot if he sent me a gift card in the mail. I said I would, and gave him my address. He never responded or sent the gift card. After my experience in the restaurant, I am not surprised with the lack of follow through. I did not EXPECT a freebie after leaving my initial review, but the fact that one was offered and not delivered is...

We had been to this restaurant before and were very pleased. However, this time we had a bit of an issue. We had a reservation for 7:30 and arrived at 7:20. We were quickly seated and then greeted by several young gentemen who quickly set us up, gave us menus, poured water, and gave us a wine list. My husband quickly picked a wine and told one of the guys setting us up what bottle of wine we would like. Glasses were brought and then our main waitress showed up. Her attitude was less than pleasant. She asked us about ordering wine and my husband said he had given his request to "the guy who was just here". Her response, "well since he cant take an order you need to give it to me". Now, it would not have been a big deal but she could have 1) tried to figure it out from who set us up or 2) been a bit more friendly and polite instead of arrogant and demeaning in her tone and attitude. We also at this time gave her our order. Then things went from bad to worse. After an hour of waiting for food and a second bottle of wine later ( there were 5 drinking wine) we still did not have food. When I asked the waitress about our order she quickly replied it was our fault for not ordering appetizers or salad. Say what????? Then she said let me check and came back and said there was a delay in the kitchen. What the???? In my mind, if there were a delay in the kitchen she could have told us about it instead of me having to ask, could have been nicer in her response ( really... you have to wait for your food if you only order dinner? ) and maybe should have offered something to tide us over until the order would arrive? Finally, our dinner arrives and everyone had their steaks as ordered except for me. It is now 8:45 and I am sitting there with a well done instead of medium rare steak. I tried to eat it since I was hungry but could not choke it down. She came by to ask how my steak was and I said over cooked. She asked me if I wanted to have a new one prepared but honestly, after waiting over an hour the first time, no... I am not waiting again. Also, everyone knows what happens in the kitchen after you complain :} Everyone will be finished before I even get my steak!! So.. the next thing you know a manager shows up with a brand new filet. Overall, I will say the food was GREAT!! However, I expect when I am spending $500 on dinner, the staff better be polite, well trained, ...

TL;DR: There are other good steakhouses in Gainesville go there instead.

My wife and I went here for the first time on our ten year anniversary, hoping to have a special night. We've been to all the other steakhouses in town and were looking forward to try this one.

The reservation process was easy and straightforward and we had no problem getting seated. That's about where the good time ended. The waiter was very inattentive and didn't even ask us it was our first time or if we were celebrating anything special. Meanwhile, for comparison, we went to Ember's down the street a few months before and they asked if we were celebrating anything, we told them a promotion, and they brought us free dessert and brandy. I'm not looking for free things and I don't need a stranger to celebrate my anniversary, but when these expensive places are supposed to focus on customer experience, it's disappointing that our waiter didn't care at all.

Looking past that, we ordered cocktails. They took forever to come out, pretty much right before our meal. I wanted to like mine but it was 90% chipped ice. I ordered an old fashioned. That's not the kind of ice you put in there. It almost immediately became mostly water. If you're spending $15+ on a cocktail, you don't want water.

The bread was fine. It's sourdough. If you don't like that kind of bread, skip it.

Finally the meal. The fish we got was somehow the best part, at the steakhouse. The potatoes were good too but that's where things end. The steak had no char or crust. I got the New York Strip and it was mostly gristle. I also don't think they seasoned it. The Brussels sprouts were supposed to be roasted with bacon and they honestly tasted like they were pre-frozen and boiled.

By the time we were done, we were asked if we wanted dessert but we just wanted to get out of there. It took forever for the waiter to bring us our check and we ended up spending the second most we've ever spent at a steakhouse in Gainesville while getting almost the same exact things that we usually do.

I sincerely mean this, you could have a MUCH better meal and experience at Texas Roadhouse for half the price. Obviously go to one of the other fancy steakhouses first but I'm just saying, TR would have been way better.

If I'm going to spend the money, I'm going to one of the other great places in town. I'm skipping this...