Mystery Diner in Shorewood: Mark’s on 59 serves big flavor from small venue

What a neat little place.

The kitchen at Mark’s on 59 in Shorewood is about the size of a couch, but the staff really whip up some impressive food.

The Mark’s on 59 website said: “Call in your order and we will have it ready for you!” And boy, did they. We recently placed an order for the family, and were told to pick it up in 15 minutes. That wasn’t even enough time to cross town.

And yet, the hot food was still hot even after we brought it home and finally served it to our hungry crew.

We started with an order of chicken tenders for $6.99. They were piping hot, crunchy and seasoned well.

The mozzarella sticks for $5.29 were terrific, too. Again, they were hot, crispy, well-seasoned and very cheesy.

The same quality was true for the onion rings and the fries.

Of the three sauces that came with our order (barbecue, honey mustard and marinara), the honey mustard was a favorite. We dipped all four appetizers into it.

For our mains, we had a grilled chicken sandwich, poor boy, cheeseburger with bacon, and hand-carved turkey sub.

The Mark’s on 59 website said it specializes in authentic Italian beef and sausage, Chicago-style hot dogs and hand-carved sub sandwiches. So I went for “healthy,” and ordered the hand-carved sub.

The sub came with mayo, romaine lettuce, turkey, mustard, Swiss cheese, tomato and red onion. I skipped the cheese for allergy reasons.

What a great sub sandwich. The bread was fresh, the turkey was tender, the tomato and red onion weren’t soft, and the mayonnaise and mustard didn’t overwhelm the sandwich. I ate half (too full from appetizers) and saved half for the next day.

The 6-ounce grilled chicken sandwich for $7.99 came with lettuce, tomato, red onion, mayonnaise and honey mustard or Italian dressing.

The chicken was grilled beautifully – just the right amount of char, yet the chicken was still juicy. It was obvious that the staff put the mayonnaise on while the sandwich was hot, because it coated the chicken like a sauce. Delicious!

The poor boy for $10.29 came with grilled onions, and was served on garlic bread. The sandwich overall was great, and the poor boy meat was especially tasty. We definitely would order it again.

The cheeseburger with bacon was wonderful. This was a 1/3-pound burger with cheese for $7.69 with mustard and ketchup, and topped with bacon for an extra $1.39.

The burger was cooked just right, and arrived with plenty of cheese and bacon.

The Mark’s on 59 website says the venue, which opened in 2000, is family-owned and offers affordable casual indoor dining, carryout, catering and accommodation for private parties.

• The Mystery Diner is an employee at Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff when ordering or picking up the food. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Mark’s on 59

WHERE: 714 Cottage St. (Route 59), Shorewood

PHONE: 815-744-3043

INFORMATION: markson59.com