Campus Food Review: Marco’s Famous

Will be out of business when Carson's Famous starts up

Welcome to the second installment of Double True’s Campus Food Reviews series.  Today we’re taking a look at Marco’s Famous inside the Students’ Union Building (SUB). So how was it?

There’s a poster next to the right of the cash register at Marco’s. I’m not sure if you’ve seen it before, but it’s an ad for the Wildcat, which is not on the regular menu.  If you look at the picture above, it’s right in the center.  The Wildcat is described as a Jumbo Donair with no vegetables, extra cheese and extra cheese.  There is also a clear disclaimer: not for first timers, it’s a beast!  Well it was my first time and Carson said I should get a Wildcat for a full Marco’s experience.  I complied: I had not seen the warning, and I thought I should be man enough for it.

Marco must love the song

After ringing in as $10.50, I took the donair back to my seat.  It was heavy.  I ripped of the top of the wrapper and started eating.  The meat was undeniably flavourful, and I ate it at a pretty good pace starting off.

It wasn’t too long though before I started to slow down. I stared down into the donair and saw the deep and vast array of meat.  Cheese was not really visible, presumably it had dissolved into the donair sauce. The Wildcat was about 7-8 cm in diameter.  The bottom began to collect a nauseating mixture of yellowish donair meat oil and melted cheese donair sauce.  I couldn’t finish the two inches that were bathing in this mixture.

A pound of flesh

Looking back I wonder why you would want to eat something like that.  If you do I will concede for you right here that you are more of a man than I am.  Probably.

The next time I went to Marco’s (guess I wasn’t traumatized quite that badly) I had the Regular Cheese, the smallest donair.  It was pretty tasty.  I recommend trying it if you’re in the mood! That time I actually noticed the disclaimer for the Wildcat while in line and made note of it, a little too late.  The Regular Cheese costs $6.50, and I had to wait in a line for a considerable time (15 minutes or so) as only whom I presume is Marco himself was cooking (though there’s a Marco’s Famous on Whyte too).  Lunch time gets rather busy like a lot of places on campus.  The smallest donair proved a good amount of food for lunch.

Carson:

Marco’s is a sort of classic, a place to grab a quick bite on Whyte or a nice alternative to Subway and Edo in SUB. Although the prices of their items are slightly inflated, it’s always fun to get lunch at Marco’s. Maybe it’s watching them shave meat off the shawarma, or listening to your burger sizzle on the grill, there’s something cool about having some Marco’s. If the cheese donairs are not for you, the chicken caesar one is worth trying. Mine had french fries in it; whether or not it was supposed to didn’t matter, it tasted good. The burgers are solid as well, particularly the mushroom burger. You’re paying a little more for a Marco’s donair compared to a chicken teriyaki at Edo or a cold cut at Subway. You’re also getting a lot more grease. But the quality is there, and it doesn’t feel like fast food garbage. Just don’t have the Wildcat unless you’re in good health. Otherwise, it’ll be a story you’ll only be able to tell a few times.

What is the history behind Marco’s Famous? Is Marco the guy with the groomed facial hair? Or does he own the business from an office? Does Marco exist at all? What is donair meat made of? None of these questions are guaranteed to be answered at Marco’s Famous. But you’ll have a good lunch, and that’s all that matters.

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