Markoh’s On Main

So dissapointed. I liked the décor, music and friendly staff but my food was not good. I am 99% sure my steak tips were baked, not grilled. My scallops were barely warm (hopefully cooked). I wont be back here. Birthday dinner flop.

This was our first time at Markhos on Main. We tried to have dinner at Lucias Tavola the sister restaurant but they were booked for the night with reservations. The hostess recommended trying the sister restaurant only a few doors away and WOW! We were not disappointed. The sirloin au poivre was amazing — the best we have had in a very long time. We will definitely be back. It is a little on the pricier side but we don’t mind paying a little extra for food that is of that quality! Thanks!

We decided to try this restaurant since we had eaten at the associated Italian restaurant on the same block and enjoyed it on several occasions. In spite of the spotty reviews the close location tilted the scales in favor of a try out.
The food was actually good albeit very pricey for small portions. No complaints really. Nothing super special either.
Unfortunately pretty much everything else did not meet with expectations. As multiple reviews here and in the press have mentioned, the food takes forever to come out of the kitchen. I skipped eating dessert just because I didn’t want to extend my already too lengthy stay.
The waitress was very pleasant and well meaning but not very professional. When she placed our order she put in the wrong entrée for my wife which was doubly annoying because of the long wait time from the kitchen. The owner intervened and got the replacement entrée out fairly quickly so its clear they can improve their turnaround if they saw the need.
To us the thing that killed a positive experience was the environment. The bigger dining area was set-​up with a single huge table and anyone not part of that function was seated in the dining room/​bar area. Just like with their Italian sister restaurant this room is small and crowded such that you alternate between being too warm because of all the humans around you and too cold every time the front door opens, giving you a blast of cold air from the outside. On this night the bar was at least 3 deep with 20 – 30 patrons who crowed against the dining area giving you the feeling some stranger was standing over you while you were eating. On top of that parking is becoming a challenge in downtown Ayer.
What the owners are trying to do is admirable, but the execution is not up to par and this place has been open quite a while so we had hoped that they had worked out the kinks. With a 3^rd associated restaurant online this week (with a shared kitchen) and a 4^th slated to open soon in the next block its not looking good.
…oh and the $$ is not accurate. This is actually quite an expensive place with the special entrée going for $ 38 on the night we dined.

We’ve come back several times since my first review. I really wanted to love Markoh’s. But each time has been a step down from the previous time. This last visit, we found the servive to be excruciatingly slow. We waited for our drinks for 20 min after we ordered them. There were only two other tables seated. Reordering drinks took just as long. We ordered the stuffed peppadews as an appetizer. What a mess! None of them were stuffed – the cheese had all run out and was dark brown/​nearly burned and congealed in a pile in the center of the bowl. The salad came without dressing and it was a long wait to get a side of dressing. Previous visits, we’ve had cold fish and cold vegetables. To be fair, though, we’ve also had some perfectly done dishes and beautifully plated dinners. The chef’s creations are great. They just need to step up the service.

Slow service and a lack of focus on food quality… When we sat we were only the second table in the place. Took 30 minutes to get out first cocktails. 20 minutes later we ordered a second cocktail… That took 25 minutes to arrive. Mind you — we are sitting 2 feet from the bar! Elapsed time from ordering to actually getting our meal was 75 minutes. I got the special– surf and turf with filet and pulled lobster in light dressing with tarragon. My beef was barely warm and like eating a shoe. My wife got polenta breaded grouper over mashed potatoes with a red pepper purée. The potatoes were cold. Grouper was terrific. As it took so long to get our food I didn’t let them take it back. Will not return. I believe they share the kitchen with Lucia’s — and we’ve had very disappointing results between the two places…

If you ever find yourself in the small town of Ayer stop in at Markohs on Main. I’ve never had a better burger (w/​port braised fig, melted goat cheese and bacon — medium rare). The food, music and atmosphere will make you want to relocate.

This place is seriously good! I stopped in for a late lunch the other week with my pops right when they opened so it wasn’t crowded at all. It was my first and only time so I cannot yet attest to how busy it may or may not yet!
We were greeted by a very friendly bartender. Very quaint but comfortable interior. Friendly and attentive waitress… wish I could remember names! She brought us some delicious bread with herbed butter and kept refilling it which made me a very happy lady because I sure do love bread! We split the app of fried mushrooms — they were awesome. Nice batter, not too heavy, and came with a delicious ranch dipping sauce (my one and only complaint — when the leftovers were packed up, they forgot to put the ranch in there, I was pretty bummed because that stuff was amazing).
We both got an entrée caesar salad — I ordered mine with the grilled shrimp and my dad got the tenderloin which I didn’t actually try, I was too busy inhaling mine. He said it was good though! The shrimp was perfect, flavorful, and awesome with the salad. Really good dressing. Came with a crostini type thing which was good — usually I don’t like croutons with my salad but it was nice!
I can’t wait to come back again and try some more of the menu… prices are a bit up there, but it is a nice place with great food so I feel okay about this.

Stop in on our way from airport to hotel. Very good evening. Great food and entertainment. And a super wait staff

My husband and I visited Markoh’s last Saturday night because their sister restaurant, Lucia’s Tavola, had a long wait. We were told that we could order off of Lucia’s menu for Markoh’s, which is what we did. We paced our order and waited… and waited… and waited. The waitress was very gracious, brought us more bread and assured us that our meals would be out soon. Finally she told us there had been a mistake in the kitchen and our order had been misplaced. She apologized profusely and eventually brought our meals. The food was delicious (especially the wild mushroom ravioli). We finished our entrees and shared a dessert. At the end of the meal the waitress apologized again and told us that our entire meal would be «on the house» (wine, beer, entrees and dessert). We were extremely impressed with the way they handled the situation. Some restaurants would have done nothing, some would have given us a free dessert, but Markoh’s set themselves apart and did the right thing. Their customer service, along with the fact that the food was fantastic, will make this our new favorite restaurant.

I’ve eaten at Markoh’s many times as well as the sister restaurant Lucia’s and I always enjoyed the meal and service. This time I was very disappointed by the service and length of time it took to get our food. it was pretty clear that our waiter was also working tables at Lucia’s and that Lucia’s was very busy. No excuses were made for the wait not did anyone offer to buy a drink or dessert.
We’ve eaten at both establishments and had a good experience in the past at both places. Tonight it took over 3 hour for six people to receive their meals from start to finish… way too long for a restaurant that was not that busy. Many tables around us received their entire meal while we waited for the appetizers and salads.
I’m disappointed with the service and the inability to balance the kitchen between the two establishments. I’m sorry to say, we are unlikely to return to Markoh’s and may or may not go back to Lucia’s… despite having gift certificates for the restaurant.

Let’s call the whole thing off…
…You like excruciatingly slow service and I like prompt service.
…You like hiring random bartenders who over-​share they have virtually no qualifications and I like bartenders who know the menu and can make a Manhattan.
…You like serving meals with constant substitutions, cooked improperly and I like food that is served as listed on the menu, cooked properly.
Let’s call the whole thing off…
I’ve tried, five, maybe six times. I just can’t try any more — there are too many other places with quality of service and consistently good food — which oddly enough is your sister restaurant about 100′ feet away…
Let’s call the whole thing off… We’ll still be friends, I’ll wave as I drive by.

Ate at the bar on a Tuesday evening as they were hosting an Open Mike.
Firstly, Al is the friendliest bartender I’ve ever met. He introduces himself to everybody at the bar, and encourages patrons to get to know each other.
The draft beer selection is OK, maybe 8 options. That’s the only reason Markoh’s didn’t get 5 stars.
The filet mignon was FANTASTIC. And the menu is varied enough to make me want to come back and try at least another half dozen items. I’ll be back.

Love Markhos!!! Food is amazing! The menu is great because you can get a cheap burger or gourmet sandwich or u can step it up and get an upscale entrée. It has a great relaxed atmosphere perfect if you want to settle in and enjoy your drinks and meal no rush here. I have been here multiple times and have not been disappointed!

Markoh’s on Main is nice, but overall don’t think it’s worth the money. Went on a Friday night and received fairly slow service. Ordered apps, drinks and dinner. Food was good, but small in portions and not worth the price tag.

Had our anniversary dinner there it was amazing food. Great all round… will be back soon

Came off the Unilocal review but where to begin. I can understand if they were short staffed, but there were 3 servers for 7 tables. It took 10 minutes for us to be seated and we placed orders immediately. 20 minutes later we noticed that everybody had a bread basket but us. I asked her for a bread basket and ten minutes later we received cold bread. Two more people came in and they were seated at a dirty table. After another 10 minutes they got up and decided to leave. If you been doing the math we’re now at 40 minutes and no sign of our food. I asked the waitress she said that it was coming right out 10 minutes later our food arrived after after almost an hour with wait, and it was cold. By this time we are so hungry we ate it anyway. We were told the manager was going to come out to us. 15 minutes later she finally appeared but then went to a different table change the thermostat and disappeared again. 10 minutes later we asked the waitress and she said the manager went to the wrong table. She never did come out to see us, but at least the didnt charge The food would have been tasty if it was warm. most remarkably bad service I’ve ever received I believe in my entire life. I can’t think of another time that was worse.

Thoroughly enjoyed Markoh’s! Celebrated my son’s birthday here — it was his choice. So glad we did! Service was great — the waitress put up with all family’s questions and jokes. She even gave my son a «happy birthday beer» on her!
Our food was quite good as well — no complaints from any one. The one minor problem was that they did not have a lot of vegetarian options and were all out of the one item they did offer which left salad as the only option. The salad was very good and it wouldn’t stop any of us from going back!
If they can come up with more veggie options for my son’s girl friend, we’ll give it a 5 star review!

So this is our 3^rd time trying this place… dont they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? I must be insane… my first, lengthy, spot on review of this place was edited by Unilocal for some reason, so we’ll see if they cut this one out too… maybe is restaurants complain or throw a little coin they can edit out reviews…
Anyway, decided to go light here tonight, based on past experiences. Started with some ‘cold smoked’ tuna app. Not sure what I was thinking ordering a raw tuna dish at an Italian spin off place, but big mistake. The quality of the tuna was horrendous, chewy and all sinew. If you are going to serve raw tuna make it sushi grade, this was clearly 3^rd cut garbage that was turned down by the decent sushi restaurants and fresh to the plate at Markoh’s. It was 4 thick slices and basically was picking sinew out of my teeth after choking down each bite, attractive when on a date.
For the meal went with the grilled veggie panini, easy enough right? how can you screw this up? Well, it was essentially a slop pile of veggies, soggy through two pieces of multi grain toast… and it took 40 minutes to come out, lol… But thats not the best part.
I made two very simple requests, one NO onions, if comes out loaded with big red, barely cooked onion chunks, appetizing. Two, make the fries truffle parm version… of course I get served regular fries. I ask the wiater, weren’t these suppose to be truffle, and get «oh yea, looks like they forgot to do em up»… 20 mins later, once the rest of our meal is all gone a plate of correct truffle fries shows up… great timing, thanks, I’d love to have these truffle fries as dessert. BTW avoid the fries, the are frozen ore-​ida café fries, think back to highschool lunch.
So this was the final try, thought they might have their act together by now, but no chance. So hopefully this helps some other people save some $$$, unless of course it gets edited out by the big Unilocal machine…

Amazing food, amazing service, etc etc etc
Out of this world! Definitely check it out!

Went here last Friday night with my husband & 9 year old son. The setting is very cozy. Even though they do not take reservations for dinner (unless a big party), the owner saved us a table after she saw my post on their Facebook page.
Delicious & warm rustic bread with herbed butter was put on the table
Peppadew appetizer was recommended by the waitress — very tasty.
Raw tuna appetizer was delicious — smaller version of the dinner entrée — served with soy & also a tomato-​ginger purée.
Son’s“s hamburger was finished which means it was yummy — husband took a bite & agreed. Came with homemade Parmesan-​salted chips.
My filet mignon was «like buttah». The blue cheese was not a brûlée (as described in the menu) — we brought this to owner’s attention.
Hubby’s braised pork shank was done to perfection.
Crime brûlée for dessert was good — not amazing but not as spectacular as rest of the meal.
Had a super tasty bottle of wine –Gundlach Bundschu — that we rarely ever find around here.
Looking forward to returning to this new bistro! Quite a pleasant surprise in our neck of the woods.
Highly recommended!!!