09/26/09

Cozy wine bar with great service

by enitsirhc

and of course..their wine selection is awesome. Great atmosphere with an open kitchen.

09/11/09

poor value

by cmk1126

I dig a good Kobe burger, and I'm willing to pay a reasonable rate for it. But $18? Is this NYC? I've had some pretty extravagant hamburgers, but a 1/2 pound Kobe burger is worth maybe $14 tops. Maybe if it were stuffed or topped with foie gras, $17-$20 would be reasonable. But they charge another $12 to trick the burger out in this manner. Plus, last time I went there, they overcooked my burger not once, but twice. If I'm paying $18 for a hamburger (and my policy going forward is not to pay $18 for a hamburger), cook it right the first time.

The fried chicken is a'ight, but nothing special.

I'd skip this place unless they drop the price a little. A few bucks means a lot to a cat with principles, and I am such a cat.

• Pros: food is on the upper side of middling
• Cons: food is way too expensive

08/23/09

Cool place to hang out

by LoLMT

I went to celebrate a belated birthaday for a friend. I thought the place was a really loud because of people talking so loud over the music that was blarrring. The food was AWESOME. The Sparking Wine (Cava Poema) was gorgeous in the glass. I will be back for brunch one day

• Pros: Great Service...Great Dessert
• Cons: Limited seaing, Limited parking

04/20/09

The Difference Is Apparent

by ursula5000

Totally loved this place. We were tentative about going because it's ripped so much on this site, but it's worshiped on Yelp so we thought we'd go see for ourselves. It totally ROCKED. The valet is free- and there is NOWHERE to park so we much appreciated it. I wouldn't say it's a high-functioning place, but the food was amazing, the wine list verrrrry impressive (and we know our wine), the $18 kobe burger is an amazing steal if you have any idea what you're eating ... The music was awesome, the crowd was energetic, our service was a little confusing but always super friendly and smiley... Basically the difference between these reviews and the ones on yelp is the difference between the people who still use this outdated site, and the people who have made the pilgrimage over to the superior review site. Y'all here just don't get it. Peace out! We're going back to Max's!

• Pros: cool crowd, great wine list
• Cons: service a little wonky

03/06/09

A little Pricey

by RozallaG

My Friends keep raving about this place so i figured i'll try it out. The food is over-priced. i ordered the

$14 Fried Chicken, my friend ordered the $18 Kobe Beef Burger. For desert we had the half spicy chocolate cake / half bread pudding. The bread pudding was othe overall highlight of the meal. Wine is seriously over-priced and the atmosphere is standard. Would I come back again? no! It's too cramped and overpriced

• Pros: There was wine....Decent portion of food
• Cons: Only 4 Riesling Wines listed. Over-priced. Make reservations!!!!

03/02/09

Like a bad joke....

by swyzlstyx

Sorry, but IMHO this is just a glorified Dairy Queen...with worse service. There's really nothing "cool" or "cute" about $14 hot dogs with $30-a-glass wine, and trying to be clever by calling it a "dive". And to make it even more hilarious, when we went they were turning away apparently first-time customers who were coming to check it out, because they had to turn the kitchen between lunch and dinner. I guess the huge kitchen staff couldn't serve up $14 cook hot dogs, $18 hamburgers, and $11 sides of mac-n-cheese fast enough to feed the 10 other guests in the bar, and preparing the kitchen for dinner service is a pretty involved process if you're going to serve up those $15 fried egg sandwiches in the evening. Seriously...give me a break, Max. If you're going to talk the talk, at least walk the walk...and come up with a serious menu. In the meantime, I suggest anyone thinking of stopping in to just pick up a bottle of their favorite wine at Spec's, and stop off at Denny's on the way home. Then put the rest of your paycheck in your bank..instead of Max's.

• Pros: Got alcohol into my body.
• Cons: Joke of a menu, with prices being the sad punchline.

02/15/09

Crowded, loud

by canwetalk

Valentine's Day -- what? They're taking reservations to sit at the bar at 8 p.m. in the evening? No way. It's crowded, noisy, the outdoor seating area facing the parked cars & valet parking is ridiculous. Why not do a patio out back, put some greenery there, TRY a little bit? Valet-only parking, and there's no street parking nearby because of the bar ditches. Time to go somewhere else.

• Pros: Nothing
• Cons: Parking; crowded long narrow bar

12/12/08

Good wine, but skip the cheese tray -- I'd be embarassed to serve it if I were them

by Localgirl92

I went last night for the third time and order the cheese tray. It was the most depressing thing I have ever seen. There were three tiny cubes of cheese accompanied by a loaf of bread. If you are looking for cheese with your wine, go down the street to Cova's, where they serve a real cheese tray.

11/22/08

YUM.

by nixnix

The food is ALWAYS great here. I've gone with friends, and taken family.

I finally went for brunch and it was awesome. I mean, truffles [cream] on my omelet? Yes please.

The wine is always great. Good service. Parking is usually pretty easy. I like the atmosphere. But really, the food is just awesome- and different from other wine bars in Houston.

• Pros: Food, wine, brunch. Service, atmosphere.
• Cons: decent parking- it's a small lot that they have to share with Molina's

11/15/08

Worst Seating & Reservations Policy in Houston

by spencestephens

If you are looking for a place that has absolutely no consistency to their food, service or "reservations" policy, then this is your place. With this place you never know what you are going to get. Sometimes the food is good, sometimes it is so overcooked and/or fatty that you'll be sick to your stomach all night. Sometimes (rarely) the food comes in a reasonable time frame. However, if you are hoping to make reservations or be seated in a timely fashion go elsewhere. The hostess staff are like keystone cops. they are confused, unorganized and each have a different "personal" policy based on who is their friend. Unless you know them or kiss up to them do not expect to be seated before their friends. Also, the first-come-first-serve situation at the bar often becomes somewhat confrontational. Max's need to fix it's policy.

• Pros: Fun Atmosphere, Sometimes the food is good
• Cons: Seating & Reservations Policies, Loud, Brownie is Dry & Overcooked