It's getting harder to justify Marble City Market's pricing | Grub Scout

Ah, the saga continues as everyone’s favorite downtown food hall with the high rate of tenant turnover sweeps out the old and welcomes in the new. Among the latest food vendors are Reagan’s Lobster Roll Shop and Chick-N-Sack. The Grub Spouse and I journeyed back to Marble City Market recently to see what these eateries had to offer. I volunteered for lobster duty, while The Spouse was agreeable to checking out some chicken.

We ordered at our respective stalls at approximately the same time; there was no line in either. At Reagan’s, my choices were three in number: the Reagan Roll, the Maine Roll and the Connecticut Roll. All three cost $22.95, include a bag of chips and feature Maine lobster on a buttered brioche roll; other ingredients vary from there. I got the most straightforward of the three, the Connecticut Roll, which is basically warm lobster with butter on bread.

They were out of one the available sides, Mexican street corn, so I ordered their four-cheese mac and cheese for $5. If you want lobster on that, it’ll set you back $12.50.

Over at Chick-N-Sack, The Spouse looked over a menu that emphasizes chicken wings and chicken tenders. You can order their Krack wings in quantities of six or 12, or you can get wings or tenders in a Sack (sigh), which includes fries. They also offer chicken sandwiches, regular or spicy, or you could try the Boo Jack Chick, which is described as a “loaded spicy Chick with cheese, pickle, Jack sauce and Friez.”

The Spouse got one of the Chick-N-Sack platters — 4 Wingz & Thingz, $14.50 — which includes four pieces each of wings and tenders. Fries aren’t included in the platters for some reason, so The Spouse tacked on a small order for $4. Customers have a choice of wet and dry sauces. The Spouse had the chicken prepared with the original dry sauce and also requested wet honey barbecue sauce on the side.

We both received pagers; mine buzzed within just a few minutes. The Spouse’s order, however, took 27 minutes to be completed, based on the receipt’s time stamp. I had long since finished my roll by then, which isn’t saying a lot, considering how skimpy it was. Imagine a standard slice of Texas toast with perhaps four or five small lumps of crab meat on top. That’s it. The whole thing easily fit in just the palm of my hand.

I know inflation is a thing. I know lobster is more expensive than most seafood. But come on, folk. Twenty-three smackers for JUST THAT? To add insult to injury, the roll itself just wasn’t good. And the pasta in my generous serving of mac and cheese was way overcooked. The whole thing was a mushy, gloppy mess, and I didn’t even care for the four-cheese blend; I was unable to force myself halfway through it.

On the plus side, Chick-N-Sack’s fare was quite good. The meat in both the wings and the tenders was juicy and flavorful, and both the dry and wet seasonings were wonderful. The counter employee was friendly and helpful, but good grief. A half-hour wait for any fast-food or fast-casual meal is ridiculous, especially when there are no other customers being served.

So this was not my best outing to Marble City Market by any stretch. And the more I go there, the tougher time I have with the pricing in general. I have no issue paying a few extra bucks when the quality of the food and the service justify it. But when it comes to mediocre grub and sloth-like service, in what’s essentially nothing more than a glorified mall food court, my patience is wearing thin.

In the interest of thoroughness, I’ll go back to Marble City Market in the not-too-distant future to check out Chapulines Streetacos (I really liked their Maryville location) and the new vegan soul-food eatery, Kianga's Kitchen, but until then, you won’t catch me holding my breath.

Reagan’s Lobster Roll Shop

Food – 2.75

Service – 4

Atmosphere - NA

Overall – 3

Chick-N-Sack

Food – 4

Service – 2.75

Atmosphere - NA

Overall 3.75

Marble City Market

Address: 333 W. Depot Ave., Suite 110

Full bar service

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox food hall review: Pricing hard to justify at Marble City Market