The Mark Restaurants

Back in March, I received an email from Dennis Waite. He asked, "During your restaurant research, have you come across anything on The Mark restaurants?

I had heard of The Mark, and remembered its distinctive logo, but never ate there. Fortunately, Dennis provided me with a pretty good history of the restaurant chain.

"The restaurant occupied the old McGarvey’s building in the O'Neil Shopping Center in the mid-to-late 70’s,” he noted. "It was a chain owned by Mark Figetakis, who I believe worked for the Brown Derby before venturing out on his own.”

Indeed, Mark Figetakis was vice-president of the Brown Derby chain before launching his own chain of namesake restaurants around 1965. The popular national chain of steak and seafood restaurants was headquartered in Akron, Ohio and eventually expanded to 25 full-service locations.

Apparently, each new Mark restaurant was assigned a number sequentially. The Mark 3 was in Akron; the one at the Sheffield Center was the Mark XI.

Here’s the first Lorain telephone book ad for the restaurant, which ran in the 1973 directory. As it notes, the chain already had outlets in Lorain, Cleveland, Parma, North Olmsted, Mentor, Youngstown, Akron and three in Pennsylvania.

Here’s a Bicentennial-themed ad that ran in the 1974-75 Lorain phone book.

By the time of the October 1983 edition of the phone book, the Mark XI Restaurant had relocated to the former Sveden House on Griswold Road. Its listing disappeared with the November 1987 edition.

There’s a good reason that Dennis has fond memories of The Mark. As he explained, "I worked there through high school, 1972-75." 

Our hometown newspaper should have fond memories of the restaurant chain as well. As Dennis recalled, "They advertised a lot in the Journal.”

Part of a Mark Restaurant menu currently for sale on Ebay

****

Thanks to Dennis Waite for his suggestion.

Do you have a special or pleasant memory of eating (or possibly working) at one of the Mark Restaurants that you would like to share? Please be sure to post a comment!