Rayleigh Marco’s Tapas Bar Restaurant celebrates 20 years

Situated on 30 Eastwood Road, the popular venue will celebrate two delicious decades next week.

It is a family-run business owned by Mark and Pamela Worship and their son Bradley, with Mark’s sister Marie Baker as restaurant manager.

Popular dishes include paella, chorizo in red wine, sautéed monkfish, and calamari or sliced sirloin steak in a brandy, chilli and ginger sauce.

When they first opened the restaurant in 2003 it was run under the original name Pinchos.

Marie said: “It was always Mark’s ambition to open a restaurant. He used to be a builder, Pamela was a hairdresser, and they gave up their jobs to open it. The business was a real leap of faith, but it paid off.

“It is the quality of the food and the family atmosphere has been the secret of the success. This time of year it is lovely to see people enjoying the sunshine in the garden, sharing tapas, with the sangria flowing.”

The brightly-lit patio, awning, and garden areas has murals depicting blue seas to bring the warmth of Spain to Rayleigh.

A place to dine - Marco's is a firm favourite in Rayleigh (Image: Mark Worship)

Mark said: “We could never have had the success without the support of the whole family, our loyal customers and friends, for which we thank you most sincerely.”

The restaurant has an extensive food and wine menu with 50 fresh tapas dishes which are prepared daily by their chefs.

They have an average score of 4.5 on Trip Advisor, with visitors stating how much they enjoy the dishes.

And the team have supported many good causes through the years with charity nights as well as being sponsoring Rayleigh Town Council’s Christmas lights activities since 2013.

During their 20 Years they have been recognised as 2008 winners of Southend Business Awards in leisure and tourism, in 2013 onwards the certificate of excellence from Trip Advisor and in 2021 and 2022 they were nominated in the top 10 per cent of restaurants Worldwide by TripAdvisor.

See www.marcosbar.co.uk