Max & Erma’s

This Max & Erma’s location deserves a solid three stars. I’ll preface that it gets the third star as we had quite a wonderful waitress. My mom and I stopped in for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. We needed something fairly quickly but also had no idea what we were in the mood for to eat. As Max & Erma’s has a variety of choices we found ourselves here. We were seated right away and our waitress asked our drink order almost immediately. Mom went with the non-​sweet iced tea and I had a diet coke. Our drinks were never empty and the waitress always asked if we wanted a refill before bringing additional glasses to the table. I really appreciated that courtesy as I dislike when the table becomes full of half drunk glasses. My mom and I decided to split two appetizers; the Chicken Fajita Quesadilla and the giant Meatball. The Quesadilla was phenomenal. It was light and airy and the crust/​tortilla was not overly fried. It came with the usual sour cream, pico de gallo and guacamole. The Meatball was also quite large and delicious. This is definitely a shareable item! It is also served with four slices of bread and extra marinara sauce for dipping purposes. It was a solid experience for lunch. Max & Erma’s also always does a wonderful burger. I just wasn’t feeling it that day. This is one location that is worth checking out!

Go elsewhere. The service was okay. My server was polite. But when it is 23 degrees outside and the food was just as cold it’s a problem. The manager was polite when I complained but whoever sent food out of the kitchen like that should be fired.

Went for lunch with family a couple of times, service was good, food was very good. Place was clean and servers were very friendly. Not had a bad deal here. Nice quiet atmosphere.

We stopped in here after church one Sunday for lunch. There wasn’t many people in there so we were seated right away. Our server was absolutely horrible! She kept coming to out table every 2 minutes to see if we were ready to order. Then, when we were finally ready, we never saw her again until our food came out. Getting refills was a pain in the butt. We had to ask repeatedly. I had ordered the tortilla soup, which was barely warm. I would have sent it back but I was sharing with my son so the temp was right for him. My husband order the fish n chips and he didn’t care for it at all. Really disappointed. Not sure if we will be giving this location another shot.

Started out bad but turned good.

HAIR IN FOOD AND BAD SERVICE!
I have stayed at the adjoining hotel many times for work and unfortunately this was all that was open. Every time I eat here I kick myself! My server was frozen. Not friendly.
The tortilla soup is disgusting and tastes like fake cheese with Asian wontons instead of crispy tortilla strips. Not to mention when I went to eat my togo salad the next day, there was a long blonde hair in it!!! I’m brunette. Makes me want to vomit

The kids and I came in for dinner with a friend and her daughter. Not only did we wait very long for food that was cold and burnt, my 7yr old son’s burger-​bun had mold on it. Very disgusting! What was very upsetting is that he had already ate one of the sliders before we noticed the mold on the other one. Max & Erma’s, where is your integrity???
In addition to all of this, my daughter’s order was wrong. I ordered her a simple grilled cheese and got Mac & Cheese instead. Not to mention, everyone else had their drinks but my 2yr old. The poor girl waited on milk the entire time until right before the food arrived. First excuse from the waitress is that she didn’t hear me order milk and the second was it took so long because they had to make her milk at the bar. ??? The worst experience I have ever had in a restaurant. :(:(Never Again!

Awful dinner. It went from bad to worse. Seated by the kitchen (got to hear all the loud conversations in the kitchen) stuck with an inexperienced but cheerful server who made mistake after mistake. Asked for sweet tea, got regular tea — twice, got soup at same time as dinner and not at same time as others at the table got their soup, no dressing on the side as requested, in fact no dressing or bread stick at all, no water or tea refills while server hid in the kitchen. Ended with a very dirty women’s restroom. Never again!

Incredibly slow and poor service. We were a group of 7 and so we expected some «slowness» and planned to be patient. However, there was a group 6 seated at the same time and we watched them receive prompt service. They finished at least 45 minutes before us. Free cookie Wednesday, but we were faced with the choice of waiting 10 more minutes for the cookies (and check) or leaving without the cookies.
Two of us ordered side salads. Well after the salads came out our server asked if we received bread sticks. We did not. So he promptly brought out one breadstick for the two salads.
6 of 7 meals came out at one time. The 7^th meal did not come out until most of the others were finished with their meals. Server blamed the system (IT problem), but it didn’t seem to affect any of the other tables around us. No recognition of the slowness or delay on the one meal.
With a new Rusty Bucket across the street with good service, and a number of other good restaurants in the area, it will be tough to come back.

My wife and I stopped here for a bite after a long absence (from eating here). Wow, was this a mistake! Upon entering, we experienced a 5 minute wait to even be acknowledged at the hostess stand. The food was absolutely horrible. Cheap ingredients with little imagination in the prep. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT done here. It’s very overpriced and service is well below average. Time to wrap it up M&E. Throw in the towel!

We use to go to this Max and Ermas every week. But the last 4 times have been very bad. The food order is screwed up or the apps come out 1 minute before you entrees. Not a great place any more. Sad really. That use to be our place. BYE BYE

We used to be a regular at this max & erma’s, but the last few times the service and food was so so. And then there was today … We went for an early dinner (4 pm) and got up and left without seeing any wait staff m I don’t know if it was between shifts or what, but we saw a waitress stop at the table next to us and she didn’t even stop. It will be a long time till we stop at this one

On a very cold and somewhat snowy day, we headed up to M&E for some lunch. I started with the Chicken Tortilla Soup which was wonderful. It was creamy without being to heavy. Just the right spice level as well.
For my main course, I had the philly steak sandwich which I have had in the past. Back then it was ok but they seem to have changed it since then in a way that was a huge improvement. The steak was very thin and tender. I will get this again.
On the service front, the guy who served our table was kind, attentive, and fun.

The food and the service is average. Its a good place to bring kids, but the menu needs healthy options. It is very hard to find anything below 1000 calories.

Ok so I’m in town for work from out of state. I’ve eaten here 3 times now and after tonight never again… Last two times food was average at best with horrid service. Sanatigans amongst employees, female serves losing their cool in front of customers, bartender playing games… But tonight service was the worse I’ve had in while and food was worse then last 2 visits .
Chicken tenders good but fries plain and 3 had 3 had seasoning, coleslaw no flavor… oh I waited 12 minute for silverware … Really? And then server was like so non pleasing then brings me drink with no ice and walks away… Huh??? Then TCM sandwich my buddy had NO FLAVOR with extra salad ??? $ 10 come on. Then talk up free cookies … And come out cold and stuck to pan and frosting was rock hard with cookie hard to couldn’t even eat it. Server tell me to my face sorry today we mass produce them so there not good. What??? Really then tells me she will tell manager and by the graces of God manager is at my table in under a minute everything ok??? Ok I say but you know it’s not, you just walk away where’s the service ?!? Never again … Wow what a shame

We went here for the first time. We had passed several of these restaurants since recently moving to Columbus, but had never been. We didn’t care for their table set up. They sat us right next to another party. We couldn’t really have a conversation. Then halfway through the meal they seated a party of 14 close by. Of course that wasn’t their fault.
We initially had a waiter that was friendly and attentive until the food was served. Then he was nowhere to be found. (He was not serving the large party). We ended up going to the front to ask the manager for our Check. He took good care of us.
The food was excellent!

Dinner was excellent! Burger and fries and a cookie, you can’t go wrong! The service was great. Our waiter was fantastic! Very friendly and helpful. Will for sure back!

For me, Max and Erma’s has become a thing of the past. I’m only 37 but I’m old enough to remember when each table had a telephone and you could call a total stranger and say Hi! The décor used to be original, the atmosphere was fun and the food was quality burgers, fries and genuine greasy fried appetizers. Now it’s just another generic «family oriented» crappy chain restaurant. Shame on me for continuing to submit myself time and time again hoping for something different. I believe that’s actually the definition of insanity! Anyway, my last two visits have been abysmal with today’s dinner being the final nail in the coffin. This afternoon we visited this Cemetery Rd. location with my 88 year old Grandpa and his 88 year old lady friend. We requested a specific table nearer to the door (for obvious reasons) and were met with an eye roll from the hostess. We waited patiently while a table was cleared for us and we were seated. About five to ten minutes later our server arrived, thanked us for our patience and took our drink order. He was friendly and polite, he was the best part of our whole dining experience. After bringing our drinks he took our order and disappeared, only appearing a couple of times to bring my husband his salad and a couple of refills on his soda. We waited 40 minutes for our meals. Let me assure you we didn’t have anything special, we had a pick two (salad and soup), two half-​size Apple Pecan Chicken salads and an order of Chicken Parm (which I’m pretty sure starts out frozen). The food was fine, no complaints there. Its a chain restaurant and we had properly prepared chain restaurant food. Fresh salads, predictably flavored soup and entrees.
While we were waiting the 40 minutes for our food I was checking out the surroundings and watching the staff. Allow me to point out that when we were seated both tables on either side of us were dirty. Another server cleaned the one to my right after we had been sitting there for about 30 minutes. No one ever cleaned the one to my left. Every table that was within my sight was being waited on by our server, including two large groups. I only ever saw one other server, the one who cleaned the table to my right. The hostesses congregated at the hostess stand doing hostess things, Ie: basically nothing.
Once our food arrived our server checked on us a couple of times and brought a few refills. The manager did a breeze by as were eating, asking how things were without actually stopping at our table. Clearly he didn’t really care to be bothered by the people who make his paycheck possible.
Shortly after we had finished eating and were waiting for our cookies I saw the other server tell our server he was being given another table. He asked if anyone else could please take it and she told him no one else was available. He was visibly frustrated. When he came by our table to take our checks I complimented him on his hustle. I also asked him to send the manager by our table so I could tell the manager how well he was doing. This is where the whole evening went bad.
The manager came to the table and I said to him: «I wanted to let you know that our server is doing a great job. I know he’s been busy because we’ve been here over an hour and no one has even bussed this table next to us. I can tell he’s frustrated by how many tables he’s been given in quick succession.» The manager then replied: «Well, I’ve got servers in the back who have eight tables while he’s only got four so I don’t know what to tell you about his «frustration». Then he proceeded to tell me it’s the server’s responsibility to get that table cleaned. Now maybe they have some issues with this server, I don’t know. But I’ve never had a manager take a compliment and turn it into something negative. I know I just stared at him for a beat before finally saying — «Wow, I just wanted to praise him, I didn’t mean to make you defensive.» he of course continued on the defense by saying he wasn’t being defensive and then walked away. All of us at the table were left flabbergasted. I emailed Max & Erma’s cooperate office and suggested additional training and a proper reprimand for this manager.
Now I know Max and Erma’s has been struggling having filed for Chapter 11 back in 2009 and has been trying to «re-​brand» themselves to the public. Unfortunately, remodeling your restaurants and creating new cocktails and food items for your menu should not be your primary focus. Hire people who are excited to bring forth your image, train them extensively and of course pay them well! Starbucks and Disney World are some of the most popular places on Earth for a reason. Their staff creates an experience for their guests. Once that experience has been created people will line up for your product. For me Max and Erma’s is done. The time before today I discovered they changed their recipe for the buffalo chicken sandwich. I personally no longer have a reason to come here.

Boyfriend and I sat at the bar for dinner since it was a long wait for a table. Jon and Tyler were great bartenders and made it a very fun experience! Food was fantastic!

This is the absolute worst Max & Erma’s in Columbus! We went in a second time to give it another chance and was disappointed yet again. This is the second time that the server we had found it necessary to tell us how much they hate their job and working on the weekends which is not something your customers want to hear. The «cheese soup» which is advertised as tortilla soup was cold with nothing but fatty chunks of chicken, it was sent back. Then our server that made it clear how much she hates her job every time she touched our table got all of our orders wrong. Oh, and it smells like a dirty basement. The entire lunch was a waste of time and we will never return to this location again.
Go to the Dublin location if you choose to dine at a M&E. Its better and not far away.