Little Mark’s Big Barbecue

This place is terrible. I got the pulled pork after one bite I threw it away. I wouldn’t even give this food to my dog. Please stay away.

My wife and I in the mood for bbq, decided to try Little Mark’s in Bloomfield.
My wife had the pulled pork plate with coleslaw and french fries. Her meal was very
good, with the pork having excellent flavor.
I had the ½ rack of babyback ribs. The flavor was outstanding. These ribs were
prepared the proper way, with a just right smokey, bbq flavor.
I have had the ribs at Bears, and they do not compare to these.
My baked beans were also very good, and also had a smokey flavor.
As good as the food was, Mark’s has service to match. Very attentive waitress.
We highly recommend Little Mark’s.

The service was fine, the food was not. A healthy serving of overcooked, dried-​out brisket with no hint of seasoning just doesn’t cut it. The cole-​slaw was so-​so– not fresh tasting.

OMG. Hands down the worst food experience since I started Unilocaling. Is this place under new ownership? It used to be edible once. We just threw away $ 50 worth of food. We took it to go. Everything was HARD AS A ROCK and tasted like old meat. Nothing was able to be chewed… that’s how hard it was. I couldn’t even eat the cornbread. It was stale and old and crumbled apart. This place must get no business so the food sits around forever getting hard and stale. I just talked my husband out of calling them for a refund and bringing all the food back. EVERYTHING WAS TERRIBLE and inedible. What a waste of food and money. This place used to be ok. It was never really great, but it was ok. Now… holy crap. It’s literally in the garbage.
Worst food to date. Too bad there’s no such thing as zero stars. An old shoe would have been easier to chew. Just terrible.

I came here with my $ 30 groupon that cost me $ 15. I was with a friend and have been to the Vernon location numerous times and have also had the Vernon location cater back yard parties for me several times. I like the Vernon location VERY much, but not so much Bloomfield.
We arrived 7:00 Friday evening and the place wasn’t busy; in fact only 2 or 3 other tables were taken. The restaurant is in a plaza that’s east to get to and find and the restaurant was bright and clean. Our servers super extra friendly and went the extra mile. That’s where the goodness ends, however.
She ordered baby back ribs and I had the big platter. Chicken was the best thing we had as we shared everything and overall the chicken was good; moist, nice BBQ flavor and cooked perfectly. The beef ribs were tough and had little meat of them although they were huge in appearance. I know beef ribs tend to be this way in general but they were tougher and with less meat than I have ever had before. Baby back ribs were mediocre; better than the beef ribs but on the dry side and not overly tender. Good baby back ribs should be moist and fall of the bone and these were neither. I commented at the time that Chili’s has better ribs and that should NOT be the case with a BBQ restaurant!
The baked sweet potato was hard and undercooked so the cooked it some more and also gave us free sweet potato fries. The gratis fries were great, the re-​cooked potato still hard.
The servers were so friendly we didn’t mind but I had to wonder whether Bloomfield and Vernon are the same owners because the food was so different at the 2 locations; though logo and menu are the same so I assume they share common ownership.

So 1^st time here. Got the $ 30 worth of food for $ 15 on local flavor website.
Place is very clean and the serving staff are excellent.
I had the beef platter entrée for just under $ 20. It was ok. Nothing special though and not very hot.
The wife had half chicken meal for $ 14, and that too was just ok.
I think the place is overpriced for the quality of the food.
If I were passing and was really hungry, i would swing back in and maybe try the pork.
On the whole, a solid 3 star.

We came because of a local flavor coupon and were a bit worried when we saw the Unilocal rating. It’s actually not bad.
The place is clean and the service was good. The food tasted fine. I had the ½ chicken entrée and it was tasty but small for $ 14. The corn bread that came with it was very dry but the potato salad was excellent. The «Cajun» fries were okay, but not really Cajun spiced, more breaded style regular fries.
Overall, it was decent, not the best but not bad either.

Tried out this location for the first time. My food was really good and plentiful. I had the Southwest wrap with pulled chicken. Chicken was very moist and full of flavor. Will definitely come here again. Our waiter was very pleasant and attentive too.

Amazing service. Honestly, this is the best I can remember. Extremely pleasant without being patronizing. I just wish I knew her name so I could give her a shout out here.
The food is very good. The brisket is very dry which I like with wonderful flavor. The nachos are skimpy which was disappointing. The fried pickles are very good along with the dipping sauce. My daughters enjoyed the pulled pork and the mac and cheese. Unfortunately the kids serving of mac and cheese is extremely small — more like a side than a meal. My father ordered the burger which was served at perfect temperature and was very good.

Bad experience. They had a list of about 20 bottled beers but the waitress said they only had maybe 2 of them. The BBQ sauce on the table went bad and they had to replace it for us. The meat was over cooked and chewy. Just gross.

Very dissapointing! The only thing BBQ about this place is the name. Meats are dry, chewy and lacking flavor. Sides are equally mediocre. The bottles of sauce on the table were spoiled and foamed up out of the bottle when we tried to open. Even the tater tots app was lame. a barren pile of frozen tots. sad really. Service was friendly, but not stellar by any means. Oh, and it is cool that they serve beer, but only if you like lagers. and most of the bottle varieties were not in stock. One reluctant star only because I cant give one half. Dont waste your time with this place, there is plenty of GOOD food around here.

Pretty sure this was the worst BBQ place we’ve ever visited. We were a party of 8. Everyone ordered something different. The food was un-​inspiring and most dishes were just plain bad. The bbq sauces on our table were awful — they had obviously turned bad from being left out on the tables overnight and were literally exploding (like a shaken bottle of soda). The meat wasn’t tender — pork, beef or chicken — none of it. The sides were abysmal — the mashed potatoes and corn bread were like Elmer’s glue; the cole slaw was just «weird»; the tater tots and Cajun fries were obviously procured from the frozen food aisle at Stop & Shop. Don’t even go there with the pork bellies — yuck. There’s no love in that kitchen. Not sure anyone in that restaurant tastes the food they serve. Plus, even with a $ 30 Groupon, it was still more than $ 150 (including tip).
I won’t be back with so many better options available a short drive away. I’d rather dinner menu it at IHOP than do this place again!

I’m always happy to find a seat at the bar here. I usually have a glass of wine, some corn cakes and burnt ends and or get the rack of ribs with two sides. Great BBQ place with a nice selection of beers on tap. Must try the pecan pie with caramel sauce!

I have eaten at little Marks in Vernon CT in the past and the food was good. Tonight my wife and I were in Bloomfield looking for a place for dinner. I knew that Little Marks had a place in Bloomfield so we decided we would dine there. The server was very friendly and seemed happy to take care of us.
I ordered the Pork Platter which had, Spare Ribs, Baby Back Ribs and Pulled Pork. The sides were Collard Greens and Coleslaw. I started with a bowl of Chili. The Chili was good. Thats where the good ended. In my opinion the Spare Ribs were tough and with very little flavor. The Pulled Pork was dry tough and again was flavorless. Lastly the Baby Ribs were barely edible they were extremely dry and over cooked.
My wife had the Chicken Club. She told me that the Chicken was over cooked and dry.
I would not recommend the Bloomfield location to anyone and I will not be eating there again

BBQ is tough to get right and greens sometimes pose an even bigger challenge. The greens here are bitter. The coleslaw needs a touch of sugar. The BBQ is ok. The pulled pork was kind of dry. Go for the chicken. Two stars.

(Happy Hour review)
Yes, the food is good here, but they have a very sweet Happy Hour too.
Since this is about halfway from where a friend and I live and work, we interrupted our respective commutes home and started the weekend off with a Happy Hour visit this evening.
Big draft beers for 2 and a half bucks! Check.
$ 5 appys like 2 sliders (pulled pork and BBQ chicken) or a plate of nachos with queso? Check.
A nice little bar with a super nice barmaid (Beth). Check indeed.
Needless to say we will be back.

They make a pretty good burger and the pulled pork sandwich with the oh shoot sauce is awesome, very friendly staff of local kids who are great, atmosphere is ok nothing special, grey haired guy who manages and keeps pulling beers from from the tap is annoying and always seems half in the bag keeps this place a take out joint for me. Don’t be drunk on the job and get in my face when I’m trying to enjoy my dinner.

I grew up patronizing the Vernon location, so I’ve always had a soft spot for Little Marky. That’s probably the only reason I’m giving 3 stars instead of 2.
The other reviewers hit the nail on the head… this is not ‘real’ BBQ. Don’t come in here expecting anything truly award-​winning. That said, they still churn out some enjoyable food at a good price. Good bang for the buck.
Couple majors beefs from my experience today:
1) the BBQ sauces literally had the consistency of water. I put some on my sandwich and it was instantly a soggy mess. Thicken that $#@+ up!
2) the sides were pretty awful. Flavorless cole slaw and watery beans that did NOT contain the ‘chunks of meat’ as advertised. Drives me crazy when places half-​ass the sides, and I think there’s a bit of that going on at this new locale.
I’ll be back again, because I’m weak, but I really hope they pull it all together. When you have places like Bear’s right down the road, you need to be bringing some righteous stuff to the table!

Little Mark’s should not be mistaken for one of those fancy award-​winning BBQs that is on top 10 lists. It doesn’t pretend to be either.
And I’m perfectly fine with that.
Ever since it closed its Avon branch a few (many?) years ago, i’ve missed its presence west of the river.
On a recent visit, I really enjoyed it. Again, it’s not award winning but its really solid enjoyable BBQ and there’s definitely a place for that in a rotation of interesting restaurants.
First off, its kids selections rock. Big portions of ribs or pulled pork sandwich for a very modest price. A great family choice.
But even beyond that, the tumbleweeds (onion rings) are a knockout choice. It comes with a spicy ranch-​type sauce that beats the socks off what a place like Johnny Rockets serves with onion rings. Even my pickiest eaters enjoyed this! Probably the first time my kids enjoyed onions.
As to the ribs, they were pretty good. A little drier than I prefer and a little lighter on the sauce. That said, everyone else ate them all up despite the big portions.
And the beef brisket wrap was a great price for a lot of food. Enjoyed the onion rings too.
Overall, a family of 5 could eat very well for around $ 50. Good value and friendly service.
We’ll definitely be back.

I ordered a couple of things for takeout on a Wednesday. The gal who answered the phone was super sweet and nice. When I arrived the manager hollered, «Are you Kara?» in a friendly and boisterous tone. Yes, I am. Don’t I look like a Kara?
Amy is the manager and she is super proud of this new location, you can feel it. She high fived me when I said that I’ve been to the Vernon location and the old Avon one too. Little Mark’s is conveniently located on my way home from work… which will be coming in handy.
I ordered the Chicken Ranch Club and the Beef Sampler with sides of mac and cheese and dirty rice. I really enjoyed the sammy (with house smoked bacon, lettuce, butt ends of the tomato (that’s always my luck though) and BBQ chicken. The mac and cheese was a complete downer though. Dry, not very flavorful… I hope they read this (and the other reviews from Vernon that mention it) and TAKE ACTION! Mac and cheese at a BBQ joint needs to be awesome and this ain’t it. The dirty rice on the other hand was quite tasty! Ok, onto the beef. The sampler comes with two GIGANTIC burnt ends, a LOT of lean brisket and two Flintstonian ribs. My favorite of the bunch was the brisket. It could’ve been smokier, it was tasty though. I am definitely more of a pork rib girl but I wanted to try just beef this time around.
Take this review for what it is, take out with a good experience. I really like the location and hope it does well. The menu is large (which I dig) and the beers look cheap (which I also dig). I can definitely see stopping for more takeout and perhaps a dine in experience with some pitchers of beer (under $ 9 for micro/​craft, sign me up).