A good party usually includes an adult beverage, so margaritas were in order! I prefer mine iced and my companion opted for the frozen variety. Something was missing though. Ah yes, the tequila. While I admit to having a baby face, both margaritas were so weak that they might as well have been virgin. Oh well, a glass of water will be fine for the rest of the meal.
Appetizers are always great at parties and two perfect choices are the rajin cajun chicken wings and the triple play. Lightly breaded wings are served piping hot and are very good on their own or even better dipped in the accompanying remoulade sauce. The triple play is a plate of white corn tortilla chips served with cool salsa, warm nacho cheese, and some dynamite spinach dip. I actually had to stop eating the spinach dip to make sure I left room for our dinners.
Dinner tonight came highly recommended from our server. “Come on, be adventurous” she urged me, so I grudgingly obliged. This is where the meal reminded me of the old Clint Eastwood movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. The total package burger was the good. This prime burger was topped with a slice of American cheese, smoky bacon, and a fried egg all on top a very fresh bakery style bun. If you like yolk (I do) you will love this burger since it plays great with the bacon and the cheese, if you don’t you better steer clear. The bad came in the form of the macaroni and cheese pizza. This unholy pairing of pizza and pasta absolutely does not work. Despite the menu saying I would like it and my server insisting I would like it, I truly and honestly thought it was awful.
The ugly came in the form of my chocolate milk shake. Never mind that it was lacking quite a bit of chocolate flavor, the ugly came in the presentation. Before the first sip was even taken, the shake was overflowing and left a puddle of shake all over the table! Warm chocolate chip cookies could only be described as average and kind of hard. The warm apple tart had a nice level of cinnamon but definitely should have actually been served warm.
Would I have liked another one of their pizzas? Possibly, since the crust was both garlicky and buttery. The real issue of the evening was the service. I had to ask for water three times, our dinners arrived before we finished our appetizers, and the overflowing shake was embarrassing.
Dinner for two should hover around $40. Overall Mad Mark’s has “some” good food choices, fun atmosphere, and disappointing service. In these challenging times people expect more when they spend their money and service is one aspect that should not be overlooked. Rating * and ˝ out of ****.
Location
871 E Algonquin Rd
Schaumburg, IL 60173
847-397-3100
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