The Marq

My husband and I ate at The Marq two days ago (Friday) and food was excellent! We rarely order pasta when dining out as we are so often disappointed but we ordered both pasta offerings — the agnolotti and the cavatelli — both made that morning in house and truly excellent.
Red kuri squash agnolotti, brown butter fried sage, candied pecan & cipollini onion jam ($ 15) was the best squash filled pasta I have ever had. The ricotta cavatelli, lamb tomato ragu, yellow curry, mint & yogurt sauce ($ 16) was amazing. Ambiance is relaxing and comfortable. The housemade vinaigrette on the arugula salad was perfect and the Basque Cake served with nectarines and crème fraiche was a huge portion (we split it). We are headed back in a week and as much as I would like to try something different, if the same pasta is available, that’s what I will probably order.

Came here on a fluke, and quite honestly blown away! Truly an exceptional experience, we only tried a few dishes, looking forward to coming back!

I consider myself a connoisseur of french fries and when it comes to Marquette, the Marq gets my vote. But, there’s much more than potatoes. While expensive, the whitefish is delicious. I’ve also never been disappointed by their dessert selection. Happy to have another dining alternative in Marquette.

Awesome locally sourced restaurant in a cool old building that is kind of noisy. We had local white fish and lamb meatballs and the panzanella salad. Might go back again tonight it was so good.

It is absolutely as good as it gets. There are several places doing it right in the area, and by several I mean 3 and this is one of them.
If you read the reviews and see the price complaints, you shouldn’t go here at all. Seeing someone complaining about pricing is just about the least ethical review you could ever give. So dismiss those. See what people are saying about the food itself. It is good. It is no shit kind of good.
The type of people who complain about the cost of a dish like ramen are used to the college stuff that cost .50 cents. I can tell you from making my own ramen broth, blanching the pork feet, boiling them and washing them for 3 days that I would rather eat the ramen at the Marq over doing all that work myself. Their noodles where just as good as my home made noodles and I didn’t have to buy special ‘TIPO’ flour and find a high gluten combination to get my flour ramon perfect as they have done. This is just one dish I am breaking down for you but if you don’t get it, then don’t eat here. There are plenty of people who do get it. They are doing it correct. David Chang doesn’t even do his noodles as good as these guys, in Marquette because he isn’t in Marquette. But I will hold their broth next to any top notch eatery. It is truly a gastronomical delight. We had several other dishes and all were fine eating foods. I am not concerned with the farm to table aspect, it is a nice touch, but the food was worth of every calorie.

I REALLY wanted to like this restaurant. The idea of farm to table and supporting local farmers is great.
Pros:
1. The décor is beautiful. I like the reclaimed wood and atmosphere.
2. Interesting drink selection. This is the only place in the UP I have been able to find old fashioned gin martinis with egg white which I love.
Cons:
1. The day I went it was 85 degrees outside. It was hotter in the restaurant than it was outside. It is impossible to enjoy your meal if you have a hot flush and sweat running down your back.
2. Quality control. As I mentioned I liked the drink menu so I promptly ordered a Pink Lady. It was pretty but I think they forgot the strawberries. It was off white and the other Pink Ladies I saw them serving were obviously bright pink. Also the small plate of fried chicken came and was undercooked. When we got to the center it was bloody.
3. Selection. It is the middle of summer and there is no fresh salads with home made dressing? In fact most of the dishes only had fennel and arugula in them for greens and all the other veggies were pickled. For farm to table this struck me as odd, or maybe they are trying too hard.
4. Portions. The small plate was the same size as the dinner but dinner is twice the cost. I do not think paying $ 20 for 4 oz of flank steak and a cup of unflavored grits is worth it.
Overall I am very disappointed, I was in town and stayed late to try this place as they are not open for lunch but since it cost over $ 60 for two people I feel that based on what we were served it was not worth it.

A farm to table restaurant without a vegetarian entrée? This has to be a joke, right? Tonight was the first time in dining history this has happened to me. The waitress recommended a salad and fries which is the same as what McDonald’s offers (obviously I am being snarky because the product is not equivocal, but seriously!) You get two stars for a good drink and my husband liked his steak. It was especially frustrating when all the ingredients for a great vegetarian dish are already on the menu! Please consider ~10% of your dining population in your menu planning.

Stopped here on Burger night (Tuesdays) and the manager comes out to inform us that only one of us can have the burger after we ordered 20 minutes ago as they ran out. We arrived at 6:30 PM, had a beer before we ordered, and then we were told they have only one burger left. So we cancelled the order and left. It is 7:15 pm. Weird. The burgers are good though, if you get one. Come early. At the end of the day, it’s just hamburger, and BK OR MickeyD is just as good.

The Blueberry Festival brought me to Marquette, the Marq is the reason I’ll be back!
Atmosphere: Warm and cozy, with proper sound level so you can still have a conversation.
Food: The food is out of this world! Had the cheese curds and rillette to start, both exceptional. Curds were fried perfectly, crisp golden brown with a perfect melted inside, and the accompanying giardiniera had the precise acidity to cut through the dish. So well balanced. The rillettes were smooth and rich, and the duo of mustards held its own with the wonderful charcuterie. Large plates were also on point as well. This chef knows how to cook seafood/​shellfish! Both the scallop and the whitefish were cooked to absolute perfection. Gnocchi are light and fluffy, with a spice level not for the faint of heart!
Deserts: GET THE BASQUE CAKE!!! GET THE BASQUE CAKE!!!
Drinks: The drinks are as good as the food. If you find yourself here, and the drink «Summer Breeze» is on the menu, get it! As the song goes, «makes you feel fine!»
This restaurant is really putting out a quality product, both in food and drinks. I truly believe this restaurant would be a stand-​out in any large city in the U.S., it just happens to find itself in Marquette, MI. There is a reason I ate here two times in three days! With an ever changing menu, I look forward to my next trip to Marquette Mi, but more specifically, to the Marq!

I really like this place. Not a whole lot I can add that other reviewers haven’t. But to recap a bit –
I really appreciate the farm-​to-​table concept, both for the sustainability, «localness», and the imagination that goes into the food
Menu changes often due to the farm-​to-​table-​concept
It’s a bit expensive as Marquette goes
Portions are a bit small
Everything I’ve eaten there was very good. Delicious and imaginative.

I’ve been eager to try this new addition to Marquette for some time, but it follows the peculiar Marquette quirk of not being open on Mondays, which is when I tend to be here. Being here on a Wednesday I finally got my chance. A colleague told me it was a must do, but it’s expensive for the portion size. I arrived as they opened at 5pm and was the first of the day. I was seated in the upper section of seats which commanded a good view of the rest of the restaurant. I really like the décor with gold walls, butcher block style table tops, lighting fixtures of an antique industrial feel, and faux distressed seats (black revealing gold), even though I tend to hate faked «rustic» design. My waitress was a young girl who seemed strangely nervous and kept tripping over her words and forgetting what she had just said (I’m 6’8″ but I don’t think she saw me standing and I was wearing a polo with my police agency logo on it… Maybe she had a big old bag of weed in her pocket or something… I don’t know). She mentioned that due to the farm fresh supply of ingredients the preparations may vary from the menu descriptions. Anyway, with the forewarning of portion size I had decided to do an app, an entrée, and dessert. I was surprised that they had pop, but no iced tea, so I got a Diet Coke. For the app I got the cheese curds. Love me some cheese curds (Culvers got me hooked). They arrived and looked pretty good, but definitely small for the $ 10 tag. The pickled Giardiniera cauliflower and jalapeño contrasted nicely with the romesco sauce and the cheese curds were tasty as cheese curds always are. For the entrée I opted for the $ 16 Ricotta Cavatelli (little rolled dumplings) which were significantly different than the menu description (as mentioned). They were served in a pesto sauce with zucchini and summer squash and a tempura battered zucchini blossom on top. It was very good, but I probably could have fit the entire portion in my mouth at once. Also, I feel it was slightly under seasoned, which is when I noticed the lack of salt and pepper shakers on the table. Either an oversight or they’re a little too sure of their culinary skills. For dessert I had to go with the Chocolate Cremeux with a Blackrocks Coconut Brown Ale shortbread with toasted coconut. I hate coconut, but love that beer so I went for it. It was very good and was probably the best value of the night at $ 7. After a 20% tip my bill hit $ 45! Ouch. Was it all delicious? Yes. Was it worth $ 45? Not a chance. The only way I see myself going back is after a lotto win, a head injury, or on someone else’s dime. With that said, f it was about 20% less expensive it would easily be in the top 3 in Marquette.

While visiting the Upper Peninsula, we dined at The Marq in Marquette. Located in historic downtown Marquette, The Marq is perhaps the most stylish restaurant that I encountered in the UP. The menu is dynamic, drawing from the availability of local ingredients. I was disappointed that they did not have the pork bun ramen on the night that I visited — I believe they were all out already. D’oh! No worries. Instead, I ordered the wood grilled flank steak, which was excellent although the accompanying grits left a lot to be desired (being from a southern state, I admittedly have high expectations for good grits). My wife ordered the whitefish and raved about it.
A few tips:
1) The portions are small. You should seriously consider ordering the home cut french fries with garlic aioli, which are quite tasty and will help fill your stomach. We actually ordered these after our entrees because we knew we needed to eat more prior to ordering dessert.
2) This is not such a good place for kids unless you’re prepared to shell out for a full entrée for each of them (there’s not enough in a full entrée for two hungry junior foodies to share).
3) Service is SLOW. Our waitress was very pleasant, but she’d disappear for long periods of time, and when we ordered she said something like «your food will be here soon» which was definitely misleading, as the wait was very long.
Overall, I would give The Marq 4−½ stars. Let’s call it 5 since this level of high-​end quality is hard to find on the UP. Happy dining!

I like the Marq a lot because they have great tasting food! However it needs some work… the restaurant is extremely loud! (you can hear people’s conversations from across the entire place) Their prices are high, and portions are small. Also I have been 3x to get their whitefish and not once has it been in stock (highly disappointed, especially when we came in at 6 an hour after they opened) Also there was a reservation issue, I called and made a reservation and then the day of they called me and told me they could not honor it. We went in anyways as walk in and they quoted us an hour wait and told us to grab a drink at the bar. The bar was full and there was no area to order a drink. We walked to the Vierling for a drink (which takes less then 5 minutes to walk to) and as soon as we ordered a drink there The Marq called and told us out table was ready, we asked them to hold it for 10 minutes and they said they could only hold it for a few minutes. We went back after finishing out drinks and enjoyed a delicious meal at The Marq. The initial lead up to dinner was a bad experience but I cannot deny that the food is good. One other thing I think should change is the waitresses should dress up and look presentable rather then wearing ripped jeans and dirty shoes. When your food is priced high enough to be considered fine dining, you expect the waitresses to look presentable.

Had their take on Pork Belly ramen during my 2^nd visit. I’m sure David Chang does it better but the whole dish came together really well — beyond my expectations.
The menu changes all the time so anything that I or someone else writes about might no longer be available when you visit.
A suggested improvement that has nothing to do with food — noise level is very very high when crowded. Hopefully they can add some more acoustic mitigation. It would be tough to bring someone here that had less than average hearing (like my dad).

Great food, excellent service, a unique atmosphere and an assist to Mother Earth (and local farmers) with Farm to Table… this place ROCKS!

The Marq is an outstanding farm to table restaurant in downtown Marquette. Great service, outstanding food and delicious cocktails. Best restaurant in town!

The lady and I drove from Chicago to Marquette for Memorial Day weekend, a chance to enjoy a few days in the UP, away from the hustle of the city. While we did indeed enjoy our not-​in-​Chicago experience with the quiet evenings and. If you can believe it. more than two stars in the night sky. we were pleasantly surprised to find a restaraunt with cuisine and bar program comparable to high caliber eateries we’re used to in Chicago.
Let me be clear, the Marq is far better than most of the restaraunts I have been to in Chicago. In fact, my girlfriend and I are already planning out next trip back to Maquette because of how great of an experience we had at the Marq. A bit more to elaborate:
The food was thoughtful and delicious. We tried multiple smaller plates including the fried curds, fries and ribs. Each dish had its high notes and the price points were fair. I had the Pasty gnocchi for an entrée and am still amazed at the unsuspecting lightness of the dish. Even for someone who may be looking for a heavier dish, the execution of the flavor and texture left me extremely satisfied… And with a bit of extra room for desert!
We shared a cheese cake and a Basque cake to close the meal. I’m a cheese cake fan, and was very happy with their offering– but it’s the Basque cake I’ve been thinking about since we left! It was again, a light, full flavor dish.
Perhaps it’s easy to overlook the bar program with such great food, but the drinks were equally impressive. The cocktails were refreshing and flavorful. We also shared a few of the local beers carried at the Marq. Blackrocks Brewery is brewed less than a mile away and is also of note when visiting Marquette.
All in all, this place is fantastic. Aesthetically it’s cool, a nice balance of design and natural feel. The food is smart, locally sourced, and structured to introduce visitors to new flavors in a very comfortable way through appropriate and price-​fitting portions. The drinks are worth a trip just in themselves. We wish the Marq was in Chicago, but are happy to have a great excuse to visit the UP often.
If you like great food– pack your bags and visit a beautiful area of our country. You will be booking your next reservation at the Marq before you ask for the check.

This is the best restaurant in mqt without a doubt. You get what you pay for. This place is worth every single penny!

Delicious food, great service. Will definitely return.

The Marq is open for business and we are super excited to have a farm to table concept restaurant here in Marquette. The atmosphere is cool but comfortable and packed to the brim with new guests. The menu is obviously limited because it’s early spring in the U.P. Not much is growing around here unless it’s via greenhouses. But everything on the menu sounds amazing. I’m sorry we missed out on the crispy chicken skin appetizer! The beer selection is mostly Michigan and that makes me very happy. The exceptions are pretty sweet though; PBR printed proudly on this menu! The wine list on the other hand does not have a single Michigan option. It would be great to see that remedied.
We had reservations and were seated fairly quickly. Our waitress was sweet and attentive but also very quiet. It was tough to hear her in the bustling and busy restaurant. We ordered the arugula salad to split, the white fish, and spicy steak. All of this was beautifully plated and very well seasoned. My steak was a perfect portion but I think my husband found his fish portion a bit lacking. He scraped every possible bit off that plate!
So why the four star rating? It all starts on Thursday when I made the reservation. When speaking to the hostess over the phone I specifically asked if there would be enough vegan options. She cheerfully reassured me that there are «a lot of vegan options here!» Being friends with more vegans then meat eaters (how did that happen?!) I’ve heard that there are very few restaurants in the area that think of the vegans. So this was awesome news when she told me my friends would feel welcomed. I was quickly defeated when the waitress told us that only the salads could become vegan by omitting a couple ingredients. So, our friends ate big bowls of salad greens. In the Marqs defense, they thoroughly enjoyed their salads but I’m sure ate something more when they got home. I hope the chefs at the Marq take this into consideration once the growing season picks up and there are more vegetable options. This wouldn’t have even been an issue if the wait staff was more upfront about it when I initially called. She just may have not known better but to then just give lip service is very off putting. Thankfully this is a very easy adjustment and we look forward to coming back! It was by far the best experience we’ve had at an opening restaurant here in Marquette. The Marq should be very excited and proud of their opening week!