Max Downtown

I have been to Max Downtown a couple of times given that I work and live in the area. We have actually had a couple of work events at Max’s and every time have been very impressed. They have a great atmosphere, very quiet, intimate, and upscale. And the food is amazing. Even when we had our work events, the food was delicious and prepared very well. All in all it is a great place to have dinner or an event.

Over the years I have been to Max Downtown many of a times for different events and occasions. As of recently I have been attending their happy hour at the bar. There is a certain traditional, old school vibe to the establishment that is easily recognizable from the moment you walk through the doors. The waiters are all very professional and great you with warm smiles.
When sitting at the bar you are given a plate of «snacks» which include olives, mixed dry roasted nuts, and spiced cheddar crackers. The variety of snacks are delightful and satisfying. I find the best part of sitting at the bar during happy hour is being able to watch and smell the bartenders prep all of the fresh ingredients for their cocktails. The aromatics of the fresh squeezed citrus and the fresh herbs is intoxicating!
The happy hour food and drink offerings are always great. There is a little bit of everything for everyone, whether you enjoy tequila over bourbon… they have you covered. If beer is more your speed then you are in luck. The beer offerings are your typical $ 3 Coors Light bottle and selected draft beers. Their food offerings change monthly, but one thing that does not change are their $ 1 oysters. They typically offer the Blue Point variety of oysters. The plate sizes are reasonable and satisfy the post work appetite. One of my favorite drinks that is traditionally offered is the «Max Manhattan», a must try if you enjoy a well craft Manhattan.
Aside from happy hour, Max Downtown has a wonderful dinner menu. Max’s is the perfect place to celebrate an anniversary or special event. The waitstaff makes the moment special and provides top notch service. The entrees are always consistently delicious and presented beautifully. I have also visited with a group of about six friends, which was easily accommodated by the restaurant. I do recommend making reservations ahead of time.
Max Downtown is one of my favorite fine dining establishments located in downtown. Their food and service makes them a cut above the rest. I have never had a negative experience while being a customer and hope that you all can say the same!

Great food, great service! The lasagna is amazing. Always get meat sauce if you’re getting some sort of pasta. The meat is tender and it’s fresh; everything just tastes so good.

Above and beyond in service and cuisine. We hosted our post wedding brunch at Max Downtown two weekends ago and could not have been more thrilled. Beyond the warm, friendly, amazingly efficient service, the restaurant epitomizes everything that makes the Max group so entirely exceptional.
Our group of 40 was positively blown away by the tremendous attention to detail and beautiful ambiance. And the food? Well, let’s just say it wasn’t your average continental breakfast spread.
From Cajun shrimp and grits with cheddar polenta and andouille creole sauce to classic eggs Florentine, smoked salmon and bagel platters, and decadent ciabatta French toast, each dish was more remarkable than the last. Truly a perfect balance of breakfast staples and savory lunch options. And the desserts? Well, if my 8 year old niece’s bugged out eyes were any indication, I’d say Max nailed that as well. An exquisite array of housemade pastries, cakes, chocolate covered strawberries, cheesecake pops, and more.
The icing on the cake? The staff came out with to-​go boxes for our guests!
Thank you to Adam and the crew at Max Downtown for ending our lovely wedding weekend on a high note. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Ahhhhhh Max Downtown! Where to begin… The food is outstanding! We had our wedding rehearsal dinner here because we love it so much. It’s one the the classiest places in Hartford, which I guess isn’t saying much, but it would be classy no matter the city. The steaks are obviously on point, my husband loves them, but I’m a seafood eater and every seafood dish I’ve had there is delicious as well. Generally we leave clutching our stomachs due to over eating gluttony and joy. As with every Max restaurant, the service is excellent and the experience is worth the cost. We go here for special occasions, it is expensive, but for a splurge on an anniversary or birthday, it’s the best. Thanks Max Restaurants for actually bringing decent culinary options to the area!

Probably Hartford’s best restaurant. Great food, great service and THE place to take clients to lunch. It is the business person’s go-​to place for entertaining.

The ROASTED lemon garlic half chicken is actually fried chicken with crispy skin. It was a little too salty for my taste and I couldn’t taste the lemon at all.

Max downtown is a business– steakhouse style place. They have fantastic service and attention to detail. Their cocktails are wonderful.
I used to eat meat. When I did, Max Downtown was great. I’d been there many times. I won a gift card there for $ 40 and immensely enjoyed the filet minion I ordered. It only cost me $ 4 :)
Nowadays, I east mostly vegan. I’ll have turkey once in a while, but mostly vegan. I went to Max’s last night and for me the menu didn’t offer much, it felt uninspired and the experience felt very old-​school. It sucks going to a restaurant that is the caliber of MDT and having to make a meal out of side dishes– that’s not what I want my expensive, downtown experience to be. The waiter was great. He said I could try and customize my meal with off the menu items, but I’m not a chef and didn’t know what they offered. I asked for a tavern menu and was told they weren’t available where I was sitting– look, I tried my best to find something.
The people I was with knew about my diet (I had told them I wasn’t going to complain and I’d go to MDT with them). Initially I tried to order nothing and just sit there drinking my iced tea. They really wanted me to order something, so I got asparagus soup and tomato burrata. The latter was good but the former was way too salty. The manager did come by and took the soup off the check. I got carrot cake for dessert, which was good.
Overall, if you eat meat or fish or shellfish (I’m allergic to that one), MDT is your place. If not, I’d skip it. Offering some sort of optional menu for vegan/​vegetarian meals would be great! Unfortunately, they don’t do this. Until they do, I’d only go back If I was asked to join someone.

Happy hour is a steal! Everything on the menu is around five bucks and the drinks are delicious. Scott the bartender is the best! Get a max vantage card

Max is a great place for dinner, excellent atmosphere. Also I guess a common place for business lunch/​dinner.
We don’t visit downtown restaurants because parking usually hard to find. Max has valet service.
Also couple of garages just down the block and around.
If ur a vegetarian u have to put together a meal by ordering the sides. And if u eat only chicken there is just one dish on the menu.
We ordered bruschetta (made vegetarian upon request) and for the main course we had the only dish «lemon garlic roasted chicken». The chicken was so tender… I have never eaten anything like it before. It was seasoned only with salt but was ok (wouldn’t come here particularly for that)… It was served on a bed of polenta and a side of broccoli rabe (which was bitter) drizzled with a tangy sauce.
For dessert we had cheesecake pops (on the house for the birthday boy) really really delicious.
The prices were reasonable,$ 25 for entrée, $ 10 for apps, $ ⁸⁄₉ for dessert… I wouldn’t call it expensive for a place like that in Hartford.
A meal for two would cost $ 80 avg.
The service is just too too slow I almost took a nap between courses.
Overall a fine experience. I would definitely recommend.
Oh I forgot to mention, one of the side plates were chipped off and my dinner knife had left over residue… not ok, hence the 3 stars.

Excellent place to take clients for a perfect dinner. This truly is a 5 star restaurant. The service level is as expected for a restaurant of this caliber. Max has a beautiful setting, attention to detail and outstanding guest service. The diversity of the menu makes it easy to host an event.
Whenever I’m in the area I will try to eat at Max’s.

My guest and I stopped in here for a drink because we were downtown. The place is very elegant, fancy and mature. I loved it. Andrew was our waiter in the tavern. We had never been here before so I had him bring us 2 different martinis that they were known for. We came back with an Espresso Martini and a French Martini. They were very good. We will surely be back for their dinner!

I am making this review for my Wife who is Vegan and had an incredible Vegan Menu prepared for her .
She was in Hartford for Business and went for a business dinner, The clients when making the reservations mentioned that one in the party is Vegan .
My wife didn’t expect much since it is a «steakhouse «oriented type of restaurant .
BUT BOY was she surprised they prepared an incredible creative, tasty and very well crafted menu for her.
She would like to thank the Chef and the staff for her wonderful dinner !!

OMG! Max’s was delicious. We stopped here before a concert. We started with the appetizer sampler. All of the seafood was nice and fresh, they also had different sauces for the varieties of seafood on the platter. The cocktail I ordered was pretty good also.
For dinner I tried the filet mignon. OMG again! It was one of the best steaks I’ve had. I usually get filet mignon when I visit nice restaurants that have a good reputation for steaks. All of the staff was accommodating and friendly.
This was my first time in Hartford but this place had good reviews so we decided to give it a try. I’m so glad we did. I SO wish we had one of these in DC. If I ever have a reason to go back to Hartford Max’s will definitely be one of my first stops.

Someone once asked me what my favorite restaurant in Hartford was. At first I thought it was a question I could not answer. There are so many different things i like to eat. My favorite dinner out is a great steak for which I go to Max Downtown. Their Prime Aged Rib Eye is unbeatable. Although, sometimes I want a romantic dinner of a shellfish tower and fresh fish. Huge fan of these, particularly the seared scallops, at Max Downtown. Either way, the Brussel sprouts are a necessary addition. On occasion I am looking for a quick lunch in a nice dining room. Then I get the gumbo or chicken Cobb Salad at, you guessed it, Max Downtown. Or, on a cold winter day, I like chili or beef stew and nobody makes those better than Max Downtown. Then there are the times I want a burger and a beer. Then I go to the Tavern at Max Downtown for a Dry aged prime beef burger or a scrumptious Brisket burger. But there are also times in want wine or a martini and a light bite at a piano bar so I go to… wait for it… wait for it… Max Downtown.
Hmmmm, no matter what I want to eat, it appears Max Downtown is a winner. Great service, amazing food. It is my first choice pretty much any time.

Staff was very nice and friendly, the manager even came over and spoke to us a few times during our meal.
It was my first time visiting Hartford and just happened to stumble upon this place and I am so glad that we found this place.
Very nice, very clean, friendly wait staff. We ordered the shellfish sampler and it was very good. We shared between 2 people and it was just enough.
So moving on the part where my mind was blown. I went the aged ribeye steak, Oh man what a steak. This is clearly one of the best steaks I have had in my life and off the top of my head I can’t think of any that were better. And they have Guinness on tap, which makes me a fan already. Not very many places in DC have Guinness on tap.
Only issue I have is that I live in DC so I can’t get back for another steak anytime I want to but I can’t hold that against the restaurant.

Well, it’s been nearly five years since I first reviewed Max Downtown.
And it remains the best restaurant downtown.
I don’t say that lightly; I have several other favorites, but there’s something special about this place.
The food is great — but I think what sets it apart from others is the impeccable service.
My latest visit involved a group and the restaurant nailed everything about the lunch. The private menus, the constantly filled water glasses and wine, and food that didn’t feel like it came out of a warming rack. I always love their chopped salad, but the salmon with risotto was the perfect early winter dish to warm the insides.
Overall, I’m planning my next visit. Soon.

This is one of my favorite go to bars. I have never eaten here, however I’m sure like all the other Max’s this is amazing!
Typically I come and meet friends for happy hour or drinks after an event at the XL Center. Recently I met some of my friends out for dessert and drinks to cheers the thanksgiving weekend. We had their house wine which was affordable and tasty! For dessert we had the ice cream cake, sorbet and ice cream. The folks who got the ice cream cake reframed themselves from licking the plate, however they said if it was a less classier place they would have as it was so good.
I got the lemon sorbet that came with strawberries and two biscuits– chocolate and vanilla. The severing is four scopes, very easy to share.
Overall, I really enjoy Max Downtown as I know what to expect. While the crowd is a little bit more classy than other locations in downtown Hartford you can still get a great deal and really good service. On some occasions there is a piano player playing which adds to the great atmosphere.

Having been to several of their Happy Hours (Monday-​Friday: 4−6pm) I finally had the opportunity to dine-​in, and what a wonderful experience it was!
Got things rolling with the «Brewtus Maximus», a special house IPA brewed exclusively for the Max restaurants by Thomas Hooker Brewery, it was equal parts hoppy and delicious. My buddy went with the dirty martini, and it was exquisitely made.
We all started off with the «panko crusted calamari». Wow, seriously, hands down some of the best calamari I’ve had. A large portion and well-​made, the accompanying aioli was good too. For my main course I went for the «Cast Iron Seared Berkshire Pork Chop». Ordered medium-​rare, it was the most moist and juicy pork chop I’ve had. With herb-​roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts and a bacon salad — it was a sizeable plate and super yummy. My friends went with the «Downtown» Burger. As the most affordable dinner option, it was a hearty wagyu beef burger that was served on a hot slate and came with these really irresistible smoked-​beef-​brisket potato tots. We rounded out the fantastic dinner with their «Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake». With chocolate and caramel sauces, and even candied macadamia nuts, it was heavenly!
Whether it a be a business lunch or romantic dinner, Max Downtown doesn’t spare any expense in delivering on quality, especially when it comes to outstanding dining and great service. Be it the waiters in black vests and white aprons, or the tall ceilings, giant wall murals, and ornate chandeliers — I really appreciate the contemporary yet upscale atmosphere.
Although Max Downtown offers valet parking, we opted for the free validated parking in the attached parking garage (CityPlace) Just be sure to grab your ticket on your way out!

Use your Max Vantage card! A memorable night was shared here with two friends, Jess L. and Thien N. From the beginning with a dirty Tito’s martini, to the end with a delicious chocolate chip ice cream cake to split, it was a divine eating experience.
If you want to save some money and still have a GREAT dinner, try the dry aged burger. Made with wagyu beef, aged cheddar cheese, lettuce, onion aioli and the all favorite smoked beef brisket potato tots. Served on a heavy piece of slate with i think house made spicy ketchup? YUM!
Although the restaurant is loud, and events are held here during dining hours, it doesn’t affect laughs and conversations shared between your group. Did I mention that it is also beautiful inside? Atmosphere is an A+ and I WILL be back for more! If you don’t have one already, sign up for the Max Vantage card to earn points towards gift cards and rewards off your bill, believe me it’s worth it.