J. Mark's Restaurant — Restaurant in Pompano Beach

I am not a big fan of giving ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on Google maps, because I feel like a lot of people have one good meal some place and think thats good enough for such a high rating. If you give ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ there should be a laundry list of reasons why they deserve so much praise, so here we go!

I have been coming here for years to this location and the one in Fort Lauderdale. I personally choose this location for several reasons, but it starts with Dani. To my knowledge she is the manager seen wearing a lot of different hats on any given night. She may be greeting guests, helping the hostess, running food, helping behind the bar, giving a hand to a server, or even calming down an unsatisfied guest....this is how I first met her. Yes, not every dinner I have had here would be considered a home run. I have had issues with a server or two before, and the food has not always come out perfectly but that's life. I can say that Dani has always heard me and my complaints, listened to my reasoning, and then acted on it in order to make things better. That is what really makes her different and why I have come back again and again over the years.

I'm reluctantly going to share the next bit of information, but mostly because I hope the secret doesn't get out and she is able to be our server again. Katherine is absolutely top notch with everything that she does. She is very attentive and knowledgeable about the entire menu. If you happen to get her, you'll end up wanting her to take care of you every single time you go back there 💯 She alone can be the difference between an amazing experience and one that could be considered marginal.

Now, I am not going to say that everything on the menu is my favorite or something my palate enjoys. There are quite a few things that I have ordered and would never order again, but there are also things I keep going back for again and again. First and foremost would be the off menu special they have had lately, the 15oz wagyu steak shown in the pictures. It comes with a peppercorn sauce and any side you would like. I order mine medium rare and they even slice it to perfection. I love the peppercorn sauce, but the little berries themselves are not my particular favorite when biting into them, no problem because I just push them to the side. I order the wagyu steak at almost every single restaurant that puts it on the menu, and I would say this one rivals any other place I have ordered from, period. Now, the chopped salad happens to be one of my favorite salads hands down. I will say that I am not a salad kind of guy, but I have to order at least a chopped side salad, if not the whole one, every time I am here for lunch or dinner...just that good! It's always consistent and one of the things I have never sent back to the kitchen. The chicken tenders are another big hit! They are not premade and frozen, coming off the Sysco or Cheney Brothers delivery truck. They actually make them in house and you can tell the difference. Someone in the family usually orders them almost every time we go. Also, my wife or son usually will order the salmon for dinner as well. They both really enjoy it and will often ask for it when we go. I don't have a picture of it shown, but I would venture to say if you order it that you won't be disappointed. Last but not least would be the cheeseburger sliders. Normally, I do not order them during dinner. I prefer to order them for the mid day happy hour or the late night happy hour. Normally, sliders are just the little brother that no one really wants to deal with but still tags along. Not here, they really take pride in the cheeseburger slider and I usually can't help myself during those happy hours moments. It just happens to be extremely satisfying.

Look, I have read other reviews that are posted about this location. I cannot say that I have never had an issue with the service or food here, but what I can say is that Dani has always tried to make things right. She is the heart and soul of this place 💯 and Katherine is an absolute...

I'm leaving this review today in hopes it betters the current staff's lives for they are some of the strongest and most supporting coworkers ive ever had the pleasure of working with. And they deserve much better than what they have. And to hopefully detours future applicants from making the mistake we all have, applying to this restaurant in hopes of stable income and stable management. Only making this because the managers have actively dodged my attempts to share my thoughts to the owner privately, because all three of them are aware of their incompetence.

The short description on management of Jmarks is the prime example of the The Peter Principle.

The long answer is that there are three glaring issues in the running of this business. While the person in charge of managing you is the main root, she is not the entire problem.

Firstly, there is a very large disconnect on what is said and what actually happens. In short get used to being lied to and being told it is 100% your fault. Scheduling is HEAVILY preached that it is about numbers and performance. This is almost never the case, in reality it is all emotional based scheduling on how much either of the managers like you. Don't dare be sick or have an emergency because the next two weeks your schedule will be screwed. The laziest route of marketing manager making the schedule then the floor manager changing it depending on her mood that day is going to happen, get used to it. Pray to God the Dolphins don't lose or your shift is hell that day/night.

The floor manager will constantly tell you about their glory days and how they were the best of the best at what they did and you will waste maybe 20-35 minutes each shift listening to the drivel before anything important happens. You could be making money during this time but the self importance rant is far more important. Yet I've never heard so many customers complain about the unprofessionalism she exudes in any business I've been apart of.

The second is the strange biase the floor manager has for those she finds attractive. If you are a person who gets on her good side you will 100% be able to strike any deal you want. Especially if you're pretty. You can adjust your shifts, come in at weird hours, have no closing duties AND have the most tables over closers/openers. For obvious reasons not dropping names for terms of safety but every employee knows exactly what is being mentioned here. Come out of a shift half the time and work a closer has with double or even more so in tips.

The third issue, and I believe this is just due to floor manager's overbearing micromanaging of lanes they do not belong in. The floor manager HAS to dip her toes in every aspect of the business or they 'will not be run correctly'. For the kitchen, she often has to come back and run the expo line, with three perfectly capable workers including the kitchen manager back there, because a handful of things aren't being done her way or a table or two is behind. Causing discontent not only in the kitchen, but the ENTIRE restaurant as servers have to constantly apologize for her screaming at the top of her lungs like a child. You'll never go to a 'steakhouse' (it's not) that makes you feel as uneasy and unwelcoming as this one. The front of house will be disorganized and thrown completely out of order if you have a reservation or not because again, her way.

There are many more points I could make but the most glaring ones are above, I don't want to make this a novel. This place desperately needs a new coat of paint management wise and the customers are slowly starting to notice. That's why the slow encroach of lower end clientele is overshadowing regulars. Hope the owners at least read over this and reflect on what can be done better for their employees at least. They're the main victim of this abuse.

Thank you for your time -An 'unhappy with being there'...

Pre pandemic, we were weekly (sometimes twice weekly) patrons of J Marks in Pompano Beach. The food was great and the service was excellent. We lived on the east side then and the restaurant was close to our home. We stopped being regulars during the pandemic and then moved to west side of the county and only occasionally went there. We watched the prices rise and rise. The prices of entrees, it seemed, rose higher than many places we dined at. Yesterday we decided to go for a quick dinner and I ordered my favorite: the kale salad. I can’t tell you how many times I ate this dish there and truly loved it. I was shocked that the price of the salad had skyrocketed especially the protein add ons such as chicken. The salad had gone from the low $20s to $27. But it had been my favorite so I ordered it anyway. When the salad was served I got another shock, the serving size was at least a third, maybe half of what I used to get. For the $10 of chicken, I saw a few small strips instead of the full slices chicken breast that used to grace the salad. For $27 I got barely a lunch size portion of salad. I know this because the previous times I ordered the salad, I would have to ask for a takeout container and would have the rest of the salad for lunch the next day. If I hadn’t had to share my husband’s baked potato, I would have left the restaurant hungry. I understand that prices at restaurants everywhere have risen. But nowhere have I seen the prices rise and the servings sizes decrease. We should have known that this restaurant was playing games with serving sizes when we received the basket of rolls- 2 rolls. Not the usual 4 or even 3. Can you spare it? What a disappointment. Unless something changes , we won’t...