Max’s of Manila

We are in California now and went there today to dine in. We got there at exactly 2:05pm, their door had a sign that they are open 11:00 — 2:30 for today, we went in but they wont serve us anymore, the manager said that the customers had to be out of the restaurant by 2:30. We were sooo disappointed, my husband even said that we were from out of town and that it was only 2:05, we even had our 4 year old with us, but still the manager didn’t want to accommodate us, we ended up ordering (to go, the manager agreed to this) their famous chicken, but of course it wasn’t that good because it was a take out. Bad service and they should take down that sign on their door or better yet change it to 11−2pm and put more info that the customers have to be out there by whatever time is good for their employees and manager — LOL!!! wasnt going to give any star, but Unilocal wouldnt let me post this without clicking on a star!

Visited this branch yesterday before heading back to Texas. The food was good like thir specialty chicken really taste the same like in the Philippines. But one thing I notice we ordered fresh lumpiang ubon I am expecting that it comes with the lettuce because on the menu picture it comes with it (false advestisment) that’s one of my the second one servers are not smiling at all.

Chicken was flavorless, Quality of food just not on par with the Glendale location.
I’ll get my Max’s fix over there from now on.

Food was pretty bland and service was a mixed bag. I’m knocking off an extra star because they overcharged my credit card even though I had already left a 19% tip. Definitely will not be back.

Quality of food went down. Slow service. Ordered fried chicken and they brought it out last. That was supposed to be the main entrée. Not coming back. Enough said…

To me, it’s not worth it. The waiters forget the drink orders, and like previous helpers mentioned– it seems like they don’t understand what is being asked. They didn’t have the Laing, which is like my own and only food I’m willing to eat:(
Everything is super unhealthy ugh. But what can you do when the whole family wants to eat here. The calamari are surprisingly tasty. Everything else is to be desired.
For a 6 top, they had us sit in a booth. Plates barely fit on the table.
Salo salo is better

Family and I come to Max’s whenever there’s a special occasion. Food is good, service is somewhat slow due to weekend crowd

Delicious food. Friendly and helpful staff. Very clean. The food was fresh. So many items to choose from.

Like others have already mentioned, piss poor customer service. It takes forever to get a hold of their waiters, and I literally have to tell them every single detail of what needs to be done. Not acceptable for a restaurant that attempts to be a step above fast food.
The food is below average. I ordered their Max’s Chopsuey Platter along with an order of Nilagang Baka (boiled beef with vegetables soup). The nilaga was very salty, not sure if one of the cooks accidentally poured salt all over my bowl. Meanwhile, the chopsuey was very bland and had no flavor. The chicken was not too bad, not greasy (unlike the one they serve in Glendale), but it simply was not the juicy piece of meat I used to order (note that this was a long time ago, the quality of Max’s has really gone down along the years).
Overall, it’s not *that* bad. I’ll probably come to this location during those rare times that I suddenly miss Max’s chicken.

It’s been a while since our last visit. Probably 5 years. Love the menu! The pictures just makes it more appetizing! Nothings changed much, but the food is always awesome! My daughter tried the buko panda for the first time. She loves it!
Amazing!

This review is for the customer service.
It sucks. When you order, it’s like they don’t understand what you’re saying.
When they put the plates on your table, it’s like they’re trying to break it in front of you. My dad even told the server if she can put it gently. Even when the orders came out, the server was making us put the plates. They don’t know how to put the plates gently. Out of everyone, there only one that was pretty okay. I think he name was Feb. but everyone was basically giving us bad service.

I love me some Filipino food. A definite MUST GET for me would be the kare kare. They have one the best versions of kare kare I’ve ever tried and they give SOOOOO much meat it’s ridiculous. Add a scoop of rice and a ton of bagoong with it (love that salty flavor) and you have a meal made in heaven. I also get their spaghetti just because I love spaghetti and I have yet to find a place that has good enough spaghetti, besides my own mother. I wouldn’t waste my money on their chicken adobo, I was very disappointed in it. The chicken was very dry and the sauce was very bland. I can make better adobo at home. I’m sad they don’t offer love letters with their halo halo anymore. It’s been a while but that was always my favorite part of the halo halo besides the ice cream. But it’s still pretty good and worth getting if you have the appetite after.

It’s all about that chicken…
And it could be full of MSG. But once you take a bite of it, who cares! There’s nothing else like it, IMO. Paper thin, crisp skin over juicy, moist meat. Just absolutely delish. Lots of flavor and I can’t help myself from savoring each bite and eating it practically to the bone. Dipping that in the banana ketchup is practically a must for us Filipinos that I suggest everyone tries. It can stand alone… but, it’s a cultural thing. ;)
Other than that, everything else seems to be ehhh. During our recent visit, my folks got the kare-​kare. Too orangey (is that a word?) and tasted pasty. Anyway, that and the taste is not much to my liking. The fresh lumpia that I get excited to see on a menu left me the most disappointed. There wasn’t anything about it that tasted fresh. Lastly the calamari was pretty boring.
Service was fine and the servers were pleasant. It’s set up where you still get seated but the ambiance is very relaxed and casual. Located inside a mall in a community that is pretty Filipino dense; out of the three Filipino eateries, I’d come here… just because of that one of a kind, juicy fried chicken.

The manager is a snob who didn’t even acknowledge me when I came in because she was on the phone fixing a customer problem which I knew was going to take at least five minutes. Like hello, do you expect me to wait that long when you won’t even acknowledge my presence?!
There was no way I was going to do that, so I had to practically tell her to get me a seat and she looked at me without a trace of friendliness, even though I had a pleasant and upbeat vibe when I came in. It was as if she’s doing me a favor by letting me give my money to her. Um, okay?
The food. I like their fried chicken and garlic rice, but the palabok I ordered tasted rancid and I felt like throwing up. Fortunately, they refunded me. Their desserts were a disappointment too, and for green tea, you only get a measly cup and you have to tell them yourself to refill it.
My server was nice, although YMMV because their servers can be bitchy sometimes. The main problem I had was with the lady on the front desk. The atmosphere in the restaurant was tense because of her. I was tempted today to order fried chicken and garlic rice, but I guess I’ll simply have to skip it because I DON’T want to feel any possible tension or frustration when going there.
If customer service matters to you a lot, skip this place!

Loved our visit at this Max’s Restaurant. Good Filipino food and packed with patrons on weekend evenings. Love their location inside a mall and near theaters.
Brought a fiend who never ate Filipino food here. He tried everything because they looked appetizing. The servers were attentive and helpful. Thank you.

Have eaten at the Glendale location a few times, However this time we wound up at the ‘World Famous’ Puente Hills Mall location. (why is it world famous? watch the original ‘Back to the Future’).
Food seems a bit different than the Glendale location — maybe they’ve changed a recipe or two.
That being said, their chicken is excellent, as well as their fried pork-​belly (mouth-​watering as i type this). Someone also ordered some kind of beef soup. Forget the name, but it was VERY tasty as well.
…and of course, you HAVE to try their Halo-​Halo!

I love this place cause costumer service is awesome. Servers are polite and accommodating despite the long list of customers. Their food is fantastic especially their fried chicken. It literally fell out of the bone whenever you bite it! Crispy in the outside and tender in the inside with that banana sauce and garlic fried rice, I’m drooling again haha. And this particular max’s branch have an enormous halo halo (mix sweet/​Icy cold dessert with beans, jack fruits, ice creams, ect.) so gooooood!!! My girl and I just ordered the medium size halo halo, but it is still big for us both. My only concern that some of their menus are a little bit overpriced despite their common ingredients, but overall satisfying. If you want to try Filipino food, this place is my suggestion :)

Max’s brings back awesome memories of the Philippines. It’s great to be able to get the same great chicken here in America. The fried chicken and garlic rice is such a great combo. Always puts me in a food coma, so if you’re not looking forward to that, this might not be the place to eat.
On this particular day, we ordered a Max whole chicken, fried rice, linaga, and halo halo. The chicken was perfectly cooked as the rice as always. The linaga was a big on the salty side, as Filipino food unfortunately often may be. To end it off, we shared a halo halo, which had nice presentation and a huge scoop of ube ice cream.
At this particular Max’s, there are always screaming kids, whenever I go on the weekend. I guess, it the family culture of Filipinos, but geez, I wish we could dine in peace. Not the restaurant’s fault at all, but some people shouldn’t let their kids scream away and not handle it while people are eating.
Other than that, great service and good food!

The food here is always good! I love the fried chicken! Of course the sisig is a must try and the halo halo is amazing! You won’t be disappointed!

The food was really good and the waitress was really friendly! My mom and I ordered Sinigang hipon, Kare-​kare and Lechon Kawali sisig with steamed rice. We will definitely coming back!

When we were on the way to the AMC theaters some time back, I was very surprised and delighted to have seen a Max’s in Puente Hills. The closest location in San Diego County (National City) had closed down years ago, and I remembered how good the fried chicken was back when I was a kid visiting family down south. Anyway, my girlfriend saw how excited I was about seeing Max’s, so when she asked me if we should have lunch here after our movie, I readily agreed!
We started with an order of Max’s Teasers (Lumpia Shanghai, Calamares/​Calamari, and French Fries — $ 7.99); half the plate was full of the fries, and there were about four pieces of bite-​size lumpia. The calamares was pretty good, though (however small the serving was).
Kathy and I each ordered Max’s Platter (a leg quarter of Max’s Chicken with pancit canton [egg noodles], with garlic rice and a small dessert of Max’s Caramel Bar — $ 8.95) as our entrees. The chicken was just as delicious as I remembered it: nice and juicy, with a great crispy skin. Too bad I couldn’t say the same for the pancit canton, which was a bit watery and didn’t look like pancit canton; maybe we should’ve gotten pancit bihon (rice noodles) instead. The garlic rice could’ve used a bit more garlic as well, but at least the caramel bar was a nice touch.
Service was actually pretty accomodating, and they didn’t mind when we came up with our humongous cups from the movie theater.
A bit pricy for Filipino food, but come here for the chicken (and possibly the halo-​halo… the grande size we saw was HUGE!) — overall, consider this a 3.5 star review. Now, can we get a Max’s in San Diego County again, please?