Max's Cafe

Name: Max's Cafe
Address: 1001 El Camino Real, Redwood City, California 94063
Phone: 650-365-6297
Web site: www.maxsworld.com
Date & Time visited: Thursday, December 15, 2005, 8:50 PM
Guests: Jen and me
What we had: Jennifer had the lemon dijon salmon she'd enjoyed so much at the Stanford Max's back in July and was not disappointed this time. I had Prawn and Sausage Pasta and a side salad. The dish was loaded with shrimp; so many times when you order a shrimp-and-pasta dish, there are maybe three or four shrimp. This dish had at least ten, plus sausage, onion, red peppers and a spicy garlic sauce. It was fantastic.

Service: Unfortunately the service was not so fantastic. In fact, it was rather disappointing. We were seated almost immediately, had our beverage (iced teas for both) and dinner orders as soon as we were ready, and the food came quickly. After that, however, we didn't see our server again until some time after we'd both finished. There was no "second visit", where the server comes back five or ten minutes after delivering the order to make sure everything is good. When he did come back to clear the table and offer dessert, he didn't bring iced tea refills. In fact, neither tea nor water was refilled during our meal.

Would we go back: We don't usually go to this Max's location, but we've been there before and enjoyed it. We'll likely go back when at the Sequoia Station shopping center.

Max's Opera Cafe

Name: Max's Opera Cafe
[see below for location & Web site]
Date & Time visited: Tuesday, November 15, 2005, 8:40 PM
Guests: Jennifer and me
What we had: Cobb Salad [Jen], Chicken Cheesesteak Sandwich [me]

Jen loves Max's Cobb salad and orders it probably one of every three or four visits. She says they've changed from using marinated mushrooms to just lightly seasoned mushrooms. A tip on this dish is to request the avocado be diced, otherwise it will arrive in two or three large slices.

The Chicken cheesesteak is pretty much what it sounds; a cheesesteak sandwich made with chicken instead of beef. It was very good, though the chicken was a touch dry. I made up for that with Beaver creamy horseradish, served along with other Beaver brand condiments with every deli sandwich at Max's. The sandwich was served with tasty seasoned fries and I requested a dill pickle as well.

Service: Very good. We were seated immediately, our orders were taken as soon as we folded the menus on the table, and food arrived within minutes. We both had fresh-brewed iced tea and the glasses were kept full.

Would we go back: Yes, and often.

Max's Opera Cafe

Name: Max's Opera Cafe
Address: 711 Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304
Phone: 650-323-MAXS (6297)
Web site: www.maxsworld.com
Date & Time visited: Friday, July 8, 9:45 PM
Guests: Jennifer and me
What we had: Fresh Salmon broiled with lemon dijon and crispy capers with Yukon Gold potatoes with onion butter and fresh vegetables (Jen), Max's Famous Reuben [turkey pastrami] (me)

Service: Good. Max's closes at 10:30 on Friday nights, so we caught them at the end of their shifts. This meant that the wait staff were mostly preoccupied with setting up tables, folding napkins, stocking condiment bins, etc, and were not particularly attentive. There was a bit of a wait between sitting down and ordering--we were ready fairly quickly but it was at least ten minutes before our order was taken--though the food arrived fairly quickly. I don't hold this against Max's; we've been to this location many times and almost always received excellent service.

Max's Famous Reuben is the best I've ever had and compares favorably to that from Jerry's Famous Deli (though I don't recall if Jerry's offers turkey pastrami). Jennifer enjoyed her broiled salmon and said that the dijon/caper sauce was excellent.

Would we go back: Absolutely.