Max & Erma’s

I liked this place, but then they closed it without notifying me. That made me angry. Chicken tortilla soup was delightful,

I live one mile from this M&E and lunch with friends here many times during the year — most recently, today! I have NEVER been disappointed in the food or the service. Quite the contrary! Food is always tasty and the wait staff have always been terrific! We always time our arrivals a bit before normal lunch or dinner hours (arriving at c. 11:30 or 4:30), and we have never had a problem being seated. Regardless of where I am, I always try to avoid arriving at restaurants during busy hours for OBVIOUS reasons. My only disappointment with Max n Erma’s is that they took the chicken salad off the menu. Aaaaaaagh! PUT… THAT…BACK!!!

I wish I could give this NO STARS! Heed my warning — I should of listened/​viewed Unilocal before going…
I waited 5 minutes for a hostess to come and take my name, on a Sunday, at 5:30 to eat. This place was not packed. Why?
While waiting, I used the ladies restroom. Let me tell you… I’ve seen cleaner restrooms at a truck stop. Good gosh — it was disgusting. There were two stalls and one of them was disgusting, from what the other ladies were discussing while waiting for the I was in. There was paper all over the floors — really? Doesn’t anyone come and check this? So I go back out and we get seated. The area around us is gross, carpet is very dirty and not swept, dirty dishes on empty tables, and it looked very un-​kept. Our waiter came up, I’ll keep his name out of this, but he looked like he just woke up and rolled out of bed and came to work. He took our drink order and left. Came back and dropped them off and left again. Like really? your menu isn’t that big! We got the pick three on the menu — comes with the tortilla soup, burger and fries and a cookie. The soup came out quick (the only good thing that happened) we finally got our food — I swear it took like 30 minutes. I got my burger and it was very pink in the middle, but had the waiter asked how I wanted my burger cooked, he would of known that I wanted it done and not pink. However, there was NO WAY I was sending it back. I didn’t even eat all of it. I gave half of it to my husband to eat. The fries are very salty. NEVER did our waiter come and ask if the food was ok, how we are — nothing. RUDE! Then he comes by and says «Your cookies will be right up» — like ok? We don’t get a choice of which ones we want? I guess not, so we get the cookies — they are outstanding, as always, but not worth the trip. This whole «adventure» took a hour and half. Others around us that didn’t have our waiter seemed to have better service, so I am wondering if it was who waited on us? Either way, I am not going back to find out.
How disappointing, because we recently moved here to Pittsburgh from Virginia where they took out our Max and Erma’s — we loved it there, so we couldn’t wait to go back to one — how quickly we found out not all are the same…

Sorry M&E, there are problems here.
Since my first review, I’ve been back a few times. Here’s what I’ve observed:
— Last time, I it took FIVE MINUTES for the hostess to appear at the «wait to be seated» sign. I walked into the bar, around into the dining room, and found NOBODY, no servers, nothing… Had my sons not wanted to go here, I would have left.
— They don’t seem to wipe the tables between guests. That’s right. Maybe they brush them off, but my booth (and the booth next to mine) were covered in crumbs. Just not good.
— Service is very friendly, but S-​L-​O-​W.
When I combine these three observations, I conclude that this unit is just not very well managed. «Kinda okay» is good enough for them. Again, the food is good, but there are so many other choices.

Arrived for dinner multiple times at this location at 5pm! Waiting for staff to show up to their job! One waitress asked us to to serve our own ice water and iced tea from the waitress station!

Absolutely horrible service, when we entered the hostess gave an audible sigh like we were inconveniencing her with our presence. We were seated for over 10 minutes and never had a server come to even take drink orders. Needless to say we left, and we will not be going back.

There’s really absolutely nothing special about Max & Erma’s. In fact I would say it’s probably about the most boring chain restaurant out there. No wait, Ruby Tuesdays still exists… but at least they have a salad bar… hmmm. Anyways, the only reason I keep coming back is because my husband’s family LOVES to use their back room for every occasion. Ugh. Can’t we just have get-​togethers at someone’s house like normal families do?
So since we are forced to show up for family functions I’ve had cause to try much of the menu, and most of it is average or below. The only thing that has been consistently good is their tortilla soup. If you’re not getting that, don’t bother. I’ve heard about free cookie Wednesday, but come on, is that really going to drum up that much business? At Eat N’ Park, free cookies are a staple. Get it together Max & Erma…

I had the Tuscan chicken, and it was not very appetizing. The service was good, but the food left a lot to be desired.

We’ve eaten here probably 20 times. Everything is usually good but sometimes it’s delicious and sometimes it’s just very average. Never had a bad meal here but tonight I had the ribs and they were fatty and cold. My wife usually gets the Cajun shrimp pasta which is always good. I’ve had several of the burgers and you really can’t go wrong there. So with all the visits here I would give it an average of 3 stars

Not up to it’s previous brunch standards. Buffet has scaled back in variety and quality. Still good but no longer excellent.

Went there on my first day in Pittsburg. Wasn’t the best experience. My waitress was to busy talking to her coworkers that she couldn’t even give us any sauces. The food was ok but nothing to great. When I go back to Pittsburg I will not be going there again!!!

Stopped for dinner there while traveling on business. Greeted by a friendly hostess, seated and ignored. After 25 minutes without a server, I left. Will not recommend to anyone else passing through. I don’t know if all the wait staff didn’t feel like serving one person because tips are smaller for one than a group or if they were just incompetent or just rude. Extremely dissatisfied.

Free cookie Wednesday. Yum. Fish tacos were good but did not have Sam Adams special on draft. They were out.

This is one of our go-​to spots for a night out with the kids. The food and service are always dependable. This is the best Max and Erma’s I’ve been to in PIttsburgh. Good quality American food, and free cookies on wednesday nights. Oh, and it’s almost never too busy on the weekend. Great place for kids.

Had a beer and an appetizer, so-​so. Service was nice and quick, which is about all I need with the kids. Kids seemed to like their kids meals, the usual Mac and cheese, grilled cheese, chicken fingers. Huge line at Mad Mex on Friday night, none here. I doubt we will go back, too many other choices.

GREAT Burger ! Loaded with Flavor, and ice cold beer. I normally do not visit chain eateries, but this place was close and very good for the money.
Good job guys !
OHHHHHHH, Did I mention FREE COOKIES ???
Nice Touch !

M&E’s rules! I had the Honky Tonk Burger last time I came here recently and it was so good. I love pulled pork, and they piled it on top of the burger along with bbq sauce. Sooo good. The service was excellent. I also like the bbq chicken quesadilla and those fresh-​baked cookies. yum!

Oh why do people trash Max and Erma’s? ‘Cause it’s a chain, and that’s the cool thing for foodies to do? *sigh*
Order a Garbage Burger like I did this past Sunday afternoon and stifle yerselves. Geez. The meat is butcher-​fresh, the bun is bakery-​new, and it is stuffed to capacity with hickory-​smoked bacon, cheddar, Swiss, American, mozzarella, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, guacamole & marinara sauce. It is a mishmash. It is a monstrosity. It is manly. Eat one or go hide and weep in your expensive loft.
Honestly, M&E’s does a mid-​rare burger quite well, better than many independent restaurants I might add. I’m pointin’ yer way… August. Henry’s…
And of course, who can’t order some of those patently fantastic chocolate chip cookies? Does M&E have any other dessert worth ordering? Their barrel-​shaped, Tootsie Roll-​ish, choco-​chunks puncuate the balmy, ductile baked dough and take you to a simpler time. Unable to resist digging in hastily, each one became…
And serving them on a baking pan just forces me to crack a smile. Did your mother do that for you as a kid on a rainy day? Mine did.
The BBQ Chicken Quesadilla is a fine way to start the meal as well, its avocado ranch dressing being the highlight, the quesadilla itself merely serving as a vessel for the sweetness and tenderness within.
We found nothing shabby about the joint, and the service was friendly and on-​point.
Come on with it. I ain’t afraid of yinz.

Great place. Love the variety in the menu. Fresh bake cookies is such a great dessert!

What’s better than fresh, homemade free cookies?!
Well, a gluten free cookie, but whatever, I can still enjoy myself in sharing free food with other people.
Max & Erma’s is like the place to get everything. If I’d ever been to an Eat N’ Park I imagine it’d be like that except classier. Well, I don’t know about classier, again I’ve never been to Eat N’ Park. But back to Max & Erma’s…
The location we went to always has a crowded parking lot. I don’t know why it’s so busy but there’s hardly any parking there. Allot a few more minutes for parking. You’ll need it.
Once you’re in though it’s super fun. Build your burger, eat greasy appetizers, and taste some delicious milkshakes. I’ve had the lunch special — soup or salad or half sandwich for pretty cheap. It’s just enough food to not leave you in a food coma after lunch. The only thing I wish (and yes this took away a star) is that there were more sandwich options. So sometimes I get the soup & salad and I’m still hungry. That’s a no bueno.
Then there’s dinner. Their burgers are kind of fantastic. I’m still not over the whole eating a rare cooked burger so everywhere in PA gets added bonus points for that. So overall it’s a good burger, but it’s certainly not the best burger I’ve ever eaten and there’s nothing really creative about their burgers to make them stand apart from other place’s burgers.
The atmosphere is something between a TGIFridays or Chili’s but very Pittsburgh-​centric. I found it somewhere between comforting and annoying. I don’t really like chain restaurants but this one had some nice personal stuff to keep it from venturing into the Fridays realm.
Also, if you’re a craft beer & burger sort a gal, you’ll notice this place is not for you. There’s more than Bud, but not a lot.
P. S. Free cookie night is Wednesday.
P. P. S. Get the white chocolate macadamia nut.