Maxi’s Ristorante

Great service from RJ! The calamari flash fried was outstanding. Even the special olive oil dip for the bread was extraordinary. Fun atmosphere on the first floor. Veal piccata, goat cheese ravioli highly recommended. You can pass on the frog legs however.

Had dinner while visiting Little Italy.
They sat us upstairs which is much quieter and relaxing than the ground level.
The calamari is very good as it’s tossed in a garlic sauce after frying. Cooked just right not tough at all.
My wife had the veal chop and wholly cow (no pun intended) it’s huge and served on the bone. Cooked as ordered and she said the flavor was amazing. We also ordered the linguini with clams in white wine sauce and the chicken catcciatore. Linguini was excellent and so was the chicken. Wish there was more chicken though.
Overall I would go back again in a heartbeat.
Sorry — no dessert. Had too many cookies at the Italian bakery down the street!

Great food, one of the best frog legs I have ever had. The escargot and clams are always phenomenal! The martinis are always spot on!

Four of us went here for lunch yesterday. We ate on the outside patio and it was fun to people watch. We ordered The little Italy pizza pie and The Gilberts Pizza with no proschiutto which were delicious. The little Italy pizza had a nice kick to it and The Gilberts had lots of ricotta cheese. These pizzas were enough to serve four hungry appetites. Would definitely recommend.

Maxi’s is right up the street from me, so I often go because «it’s there.» But, I have a lot to choose from in that neighborhood and Maxi’s is consistently good. Their calamari is fried in the best batter! If you like dough-​y pizza, then you will LOVE Maxi’s pizza. I personally prefer crispier crust, but their’s is still good. I think I’ve had every one of their pasta dishes, but the goat cheese raviolis are my favorite. You won’t be disappointed here.

My favorite spot in Little Italy. The food reminds me of what my mom cooked.
My family and I have been making it out meeting place for Christmas Eve dinner for the past few years, and have a great time every year. We walk out of there full of food and drinks, and will talk about it for the next year.
My favorite dishes are the bruschetta, the pizzas and the cavatelli and meatballs. I have heard they have great frog legs and calamari.

My favorite place in Little Italy. Always friendly staff and great service and back patio. Not to mention the pizza

My housemate, his brother, and I were in the mood for some pizza and we stopped by Maxi’s because of their solid reviews. We ordered the Funghi pizza and pepperoni pizza to share and boy were they delicious! The first was light, not really greasy, and very well seasoned. The latter was well seasoned as well and all you want in a pepperoni pizza! We’ll definitely have to come back to try the pasta and their dishes! Defiantly check it out!
Btw. The sangria (white wine) was quite delicious! Not too sweet and full of flavors!

Absolutely fabulous! We stopped in for happy hour specials and were pleasantly surprised by the best calamari EVER. Plus a creative pizza menu and great atmosphere.

Checked out Maxi’s today for dinner with a group of friends. Quite impressed! Nice ambiance, with options to dine in front, inside, and in the back patio. Pretty casual place too, so don’t be self-​conscious if you’re not dressed up to the nines (or even the fives, really). Happy Hour until 6:30pm Monday through Thursday, with some pretty awesome deals: $ 3 beers, $ 6 wines/​sangria, $ 10 all pizzas (14″ and large enough for 2 – 3 hungry people), $ 10 mussels, and $ 10 calamari. We all had a drink and a pizza to ourselves, with none of us finishing more than four of our eight slices – leftovers anyone?
Pizza was fresh and hot, crust nice and chewy, with some intriguing toppings. I opted for Gilbert’s pizza, with tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, proscuitto, and kalamata olives which was pretty darn tasty. Other combinations sounded great too, from traditional margherita to a smoked salmon pizza (might be more of a flatbread kind of thing at this point, but let’s not get hung up on semantics). Service was attentive, refilled our waters frequently, and was very accommodating, readily splitting our check five ways.
Bottom line: tasty pizza, thrifty happy hour, spectacular service.

We came here with a party of 6, we got one refill on our drinks the entire time, way overpriced and it looked like someone poured water on my spaghetti. Save the time and go elsewhere in little Italy.

The food was fresh and full of flavor. Bread was delicious and fresh as well, with a tasty Parmesan oil. They made a nice martini. The staff was really friendly. Loved my first experience at Maxi’s.

We stopped in here because the initial restaurant we wanted to go to wasn’t opened yet. We were seated right away. I noticed seating in the front outside, within the bar area, as well as an outdoor patio area outside. It was an odd time during the week, like 3:00 pm, so the place wasn’t too busy. We decided to eat outside. All items are a la carte, but we did get a basket of fresh warm bread. We ordered the stuffed banana peppers which were perfect. You get two peppers for $ 12, maybe a little pricey, but they were tasty. I ordered the carbonara, DELISH! A perfect blend of spices and prosciutto, the peas popped in your mouth. The other items ordered were the spinach ravioli, they were served in a vodka sauce and every bite was good. However, this dish is served with only 4 ravioli’s, priced at $ 16 – 18, that’s $ 4+ per ravioli. The other dish was the Farfalle with the sausage and onions. Once again, extremely tasty. Our waitress was excellent and very attentive. I would definitely go back.

I was craving Italian and an inviting atmosphere so I decided on Maxi’s because I wanted to try somewhere I hadn’t been in Little Italy. The place is pretty small and a bit more casual than most in that area but still very cute and clean inside. Parking around there is a cluster but they have valet for $ 7 which isn’t bad. We got seated right up front with a window seat which I loved too.
Let’s get to the good stuff. The food was just what I needed and so good. We decided to split a salad, Darcy’s pizza, and Cavatelli w meatballs. Everything was delicious and loved the butter garlic sauce on the pizza combined with the spicy banana peppers. Portions are large so that’s why we split everything. Our waitress was nice and attentive as well. Pricing isn’t cheap but not too expensive especially for the portions you receive. If I wasn’t a west sider I would frequent more often but will be back and recommend.

In typical Little Italy style, this place is perfect for dates and pizza and pasta. It’s dark and quiet, but could spice up the romance with some candles on the tables. With many Italians working there, it gives it more of an authentic feel and their menu stays true to form.
Really great pizza! Friendly staff too! I got the fresh mozzarella — Delicious! I’d highly recommend.

This place is delicious, authentic, and awesome for Italian food! I had a chocolate espresso martini to start off with and it was heavenly. The appetizers I tried were fried cheese, caprese salad, and calamari. All of them were ridiculously good. For dinner, I had lobster pasta, which was really rich and tasty. This place is also known for its pizza, but sadly I was too full to try any. Love the location in little Italy too!

Excellent food and service. Authentic Italian fare. Had the shrimp and pasta and it was excellent. Impressed me with the use of capers and fresh basil. Gave 4 stars because the décor was too boring and lighting was too bright. Dim it down a little.

MMMMMMMM! Finally got to go back to Maxi’s at a time that wasn’t during The Feast! Calamari Pasta and Funghi Pizza were just as I remembered… So delicious! My sister and I were able to sit outside in the front, which is great for people watching if you don’t mind the traffic.
Service was okay, and the outdoor seating is a little squished. But all that was forgotten considering the heavenly food we were eating.

Stopped in here for a late dinner with a date. This seems like a very old style family run place to eat. Not fancy or pretentious at all. Service was attentive but in a homey way and not as crisply professional as other places very near by.
Had the calamari ap based on other reviews. Wonderful. Worth it. Large portion for two people.
Asked about the tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella. We were worried the tomatoes wouldn’t be good in late May. We were told they were «amazing.» Well, no they weren’t. They were just like you’d expecting the end of a May in Cleveland, hot house bland. The mozzarella didn’t appear house made or especially good either. And there was a shortage of small balls of it in my opinion.
We ordered spaghetti and meatballs to split as an entrée. The balls were bland and the spaghetti was overcooked and mushy. In an Italian place, in this part of town, that’s inexcusable. There are better choices on the menu.

I used to love Maxi’s when I lived in Cleveland. I was never disappointed in the food or the service. I have to say that our experience here yesterday was not as positive as my past ones.
Although it was a beautiful day and we were able to secure a great little table out front, the rest of our experience was underwhelming. I will say that our wine, and apps (mussels and bruschetta rustica) were great, everything else, not so much, and especially for the cost. Our server even took my order and ran away without taking my husbands — very odd. We had to flag him down to get the rest of the order placed. The margherita pizza was not as appetizing as I would have hoped for somewhere in Little Italy. The ravioli that my husband ordered also was comprised of just 4 little pieces. Not exactly filing.
I remember being able to rave about this place before. Not anymore. Will I be back to hope for a better experience? Probably. I am hoping that this was just a less favorable one time experience only.

I was very disappointed by this restaurant. Service was not good pizzas were coming one after an other with 10mins between each, I ordered pasta and the sauce was salty and watery. They were out of meatballs because they had not been delivered which means meatballs are not home made, to bad for an Italian restaurant.