Max’s Opera Cafe

Man this is a very good place to eat the food is great and the service 5 stars you have to try the deserts amazing;) I love this place.

Big portions and OK food. Those are the big things that come to mind when I think of this place. The food is pretty basic. Service is pretty good here if that’s a concern.

I stumbled upon this café on my way to Peets. It’s a nice location. It’s nearby Peets Coffee, Books Inc., and the Landmark Theaters Opera Plaza Cinema. I came for breakfast and it was pretty empty but for a few tables. I optimistically assumed that this was a hidden gem I accidentally discovered. This was not the case. Unfortunately, this will be my first and last visit.
I ordered coffee, and Max’s Famous Diner Hash. It came topped with three eggs over easy. The coffee was bitter and the hash was bland. The hash lacked any flavor and the corned beef tasted like it had recently been warmed up by a microwave. I had to add a ludicrous amount of hot sauce to finish the meal.
Bland food is unforgivable, but the food was also expensive! The bitter coffee was $ 3.00 and the Hash was $ 17.00. Overall, I was disappointed and Max’s will go down in my book as a one and done.

I can no longer recommend this place for food. It must be under new management, as the quality has deteriorated seriously. Crab cakes for $ 18 offered two medium size patties with a lovely golden finish but no crab flakes whatsoever. The inside was wet and creamy without a crab taste or any taste except the heavy tartar sauce plopped on top. Don’t order a mixed drink here, as their specialty drinks taste pre-​mixed. Stick to wine or beer.

My family met here before going to see a performance of the Nutcracker. The location is perfect (we parked underground and walked to the War Memorial Opera House). We walked in, with reservations, and were seated right away.
The food was very good. We ordered everything from Chicken Marsala to Chicken Tacos to a variety of salads. Timing of the food was a little off (the dinner salads came with the entrée, rather than beforehand) but everyone was happy with their meal. The servers were terrific — they took our orders on a timely basis and kept our way glasses filled).
The only reason I give the place three stars is that it is simply too noisy. It is nearly impossible to carry on a conversation with anybody across the table. We sat near the piano and when the pianist started playing, the sound level just went up.

Our family of four went there for dinner after seeing Star Wars. We have been going for over 25 years as it is so convenient to the AMC 1000 and has been a family favorite. We were all surprised that the menu has totally changed. It just feels like there is new management and not for the better. There used to be waiter/​performers but not the night we went. It has always been on the expensive side but with large portions that kind of justified the price. Now the sandwiches are large but also $ 17-​$ 18. I had the Chinese chicken salad which didn’t match the menu description (no peanuts as indicated) and the chicken was way overcooked. Fries were not great, which they used to be, and most of the food was just average.

What’s left of my turkey burger! First time I waited less than 15 min for my order at the takeout counter and now I know why! Not fully cooked! The place was packed! Should’ve gone with the Matzo Ball soup!

What has happened to this place?!
My family and I used to always eat here pre-​theater, so we came here on Saturday night before seeing a show at the Orpheum. Our reservation was at 5:30 but it was already super busy. Most of my family had already been sat but I had to stand in a 5 – 10 minute line to speak with the hostess. She couldn’t find our last name but said there was one large party in the back and motioned towards the right side of the restaurant. Thanks?
Once we were all sat, our server came by and took our drink order. She was unaware of half of the drinks that we ordered (which were all in the drink menu) and kept asking us to point to the drink name in the menu. The drinks came in two’s throughout a 10 – 15 minute period; during that time we attempted to order food and she would quickly rush away before we could say anything. When it finally came time to order, she took our starter orders and then walked away, saying that she had to put in those orders before she could take down our entrees. Really?
We ordered the crab cakes and the friend calamari. Both dishes were pretty tasty. Once we were finished the dirty dishes sat on our table even after our entrees were delivered. Finally we asked another server to remove the dishes from our table. Our water glasses were not refilled once, and it was only until we were mostly done with our entrees that our server asked if we wanted any more drinks. For the entrée, I ordered the bowl of matzo ball soup, expecting it to be a super large serving that the restaurant is known for. Sadly, it was not an entrée sized dish, but I was able to take bites from everyone else’s meal. My husband ordered the Rueben and greatly enjoyed it, although he said that potato salad tasted too much like vinegar. My brother ordered the fish and chips; he said the fish was good but the fries were way too soggy. My parents ordered the grilled salmon and soba salad, and there were no complaints.
Halfway through our entrée we told our server that we needed to leave by a certain time in order to make our show, and asked for our bill in advanced. 5 minutes until we’re supposed to leave, and we’re still waiting for the bill. She seemed uninterested that we were in a rush, which greatly frustrated the entire table. We ended up having to run to the theater in order to make it in time.
The food was good enough to earn 2 stars, but otherwise a definite 1 star, disappointing experience.

Why is your hostess so mad at everyone who walks in the door? We sat next to her station and watched her greet each customer with a snarl. Very disturbing!
Ordered chicken soup and Caesar salad. Only got the salad. Waiter could NOT have cared less. The waiter took our order and the next time we saw him was when he brought the check without bothering to ask if we cared for anything more (like the other half of my dinner) or dessert.
This place has gone downhill fast in the past few years. Might as well be at Mel’s Diner across the street.
STAY AWAY!!!

Best corned beef ruben in town, earning 5 stars. Excellent matzo ball soup, love the russian cabbage as well. Grab clam chowder on Fridays. The Apple Cranberry pie!
The rest of the menu is a solid 3.5÷4. Standard American plates.

I’ve been here a few times and the food has always been really good. I decided to try the shrimp filled baked potato as it was their special. I also ordered a cheesesteak figuring a baked potato wouldn’t be that much but my waiter, Miguel, said it was pretty big and maybe I should order that one first and if I was still hungry order the second.
He was on the money. It was a big portion and easily filled me up along with the side salad it came with. And it was packed with shrimp and cheesy goodness. An incredible dish and more than enough as a complete meal.
But I don’t write this review based on the food (I had the 7 layer dessert which was also tremendous) but because of the service. I’ve been to Max’s a few times and the service has always been great. I have watched other servers with customers and always going out of their way (the one a few tables down was working on his Spanish with some South American tourists and going out of his way to help them).
Miguel was an incredible waiter. He could have just let me order the two plates and this possibly guaranteeing him a bigger tip due to a bigger sale, but instead looked out for my best interest. He was attentive and always there to make sure everything was alright and went above and beyond what most servers I have seen do. His service was better than most high end Vegas eateries I’ve been to. And I’m not saying Max’s isn’t up to those standards, but you wouldn’t expect it and so it’s a nice surprise.
Kudos to Max’s for their food, but special high praise for their service, especially Miguel!

A friend and I ate there at noon on ¹¹⁄₈ before the opera which is only 2 blocks away. This was the last time I’ll eat there. Though the restaurant wasn’t crowded at that time, the waiter was slow to acknowledge us, let alone visit our table, until I called him over. My friend ordered her lunch but I said I was going to have a drink first — he was perturbed. I ordered a hot pastrami with Swiss cheese and a side of Russian dressing (a signature offering of Max’s).
When the food arrived my sandwich had a ½″ x 1.5″ piece of cheese on each half and no dressing. After denying there wasn’t enough cheese, I had them take it back and do it right. To my shock, they added a surcharge for the cheese!
If you go there, maybe you’ll get a better server and a kitchen that knows what it’s doing. I won’t be back.

We used to eat here a lot before going to the opera. Used to be a very nice place to eat. We went back last night after not having gone for about a year or more, and things have really changed there.
I could tell immediately when we walked in. They have a display where they used to showcase their delicious desserts, but this time it was nearly empty… a few plates with pie slices on them but otherwise bare. Our hostess seated us by running to our table, slamming down the menus and running back to her post (honestly the place wasn’t even busy so I didn’t understand the rush).
Someone else noted in their review that their table was sticky. Ours too. It felt pretty gross, actually. Did not want to put my hands on that table… our glasses kept sticking to the table each time we took a sip of our water or wine.
As for the food, I had the crab cake entrée which I thought was fine. My wife ordered the Mojito Skirt Steak. This is usually her go-​to dish but this one was terrible. It was more like a pot roast than a skirt steak, it wasn’t cooked right (we sent it back only to get a very slightly improved one), and it was covered in a gelatinous sweet sauce. Gross. We did split the key lime pie for dessert and it was fine.
Two stars for the decent service, the crab cake entrée and dessert. Probably not going here again, though. Standards really took a dive at this place. If you want Max’s food, go to Burlingame or Stanford. Much nicer places.
Oh, and I just saw the «poor health safety rating» notice that Unilocal is currently displaying for this place. No wonder…

This location is far inferior to the Burlingame location. The hostess is not very friendly. We were given a pager because we didn’t have a reservation; were told it would be about 20 mins. Five mins later our pager goes off so we head back to the hostess stand. There was another couple standing there. My husband held up the flashing pager & the hostess started walking off with menus in her hand. The other couple & I were confused; we weren’t sure which party she was trying to seat. Turns out it was the other couple. Anyways, the hostess told my husband she didn’t call us even though it was clearly flashing.
My husband & I go back to the seating area, which BTW, are chairs lined up on a ramp so the seats are on a decline. Finally we were paged & led to our table.
Immediately my husband & I noticed the table was sticky. It’s probably not a good idea to paint the table tops.
Our server took our order. We ordered the avocado fries for an appetizer. The server said OK. I told her I’ll have the fish & chips; she said OK. My husband ordered the patty melt; the server said OK. Then, the server asked what it was I ordered. I glanced over & she was still writing down «avocado fries.» After she wrote all 3 dishes down, she went to the next table for their order & left our menus on our table.
The avocado fries arrived, very much lacking in presentation. The avocado fry itself was kind of bland. Avocado doesn’t have much flavor; the least they could have done was season the batter. The sauce was glopped on a lettuce leaf making it difficult to scoop. There wasn’t even enough sauce; we had to scrape down the lettuce leaf and still had bland avocado fries sans sauce.
Not once were we offer drink refills but we were FINALLY offered some bread when we were halfway done with our meals.
I think I’ll stick to Burlingame.

I’ve been here multiple times without checking in… came here with 2 coworkers. We wanted to eat at that sushi place nearby, but it’s not there anymore.
We were seated in a booth near the back. Our server was really nice and accommodated us. One coworker wanted the special without bread and extra mashed potatoes… and I got Joe’s special for lunch and another coworker got the special too. I also got soup which I thought was delicious. Chicken sausage gumbo or something.
We got dessert, but the dessert kinda took forever, that’s why minus one star, but other than that they helped us cut the cake in half and in a to go box for us.
I would definitely come back since I always enjoy their food. There is a lot of business people that go there and eat.

No.
Had a very overpriced and underwhelming lunch here. Everything on the menu is about 20% too expensive for the quality (basically diner food). I ordered the greek meze plate which came with lamb patties, hummus, pita, and tzatziki. The lamb tasted a little «off» (I had a stomach ache a few hours after eating it) and there was not enough pita for the plate. I asked for extra pita to finish my meal and was surprised to find they charged $ 3 for it. Seriously? $ 3??? You can get an entire package of pita for $ 3 and they charged $ 3 for six slivers. Boo.
Two stars for our very kind server but the food was less than mediocre. So many better options for lunch in this area.

SLOW SLOW SLOW. That sums up the experience. We were seated at 5:30pm, and our server didn’t bother to stop by for nearly 15 minutes. We placed our full order, and then proceeded to wait nearly another 30 minutes for food. Our server didn’t bother to even stop by at any time while we waited. The food was uniformly mediocre. Our server ignored our request for the bill, and dumped the dessert menus off. She then seemed insulted when we told her that we didn’t want dessert (primarily because we didn’t want to wait), and wanted the bill. That took her another 10 minutes.
If the service wasn’t so horrifically slow, it might be worth returning. But the food isn’t all that special, certainly not for a 2 hour dining experience.

Don’t get sticker shocked looking at their menus online. Their lunch prices are usually a few dollars less and the portions are very filling… even for my XXL appetite!
Had the sweet & sour spinach salad today. It has bacon, candied almonds, mandarin orange slices, cubed pears, avocado, and spinach, with a creamy lemon vinegarette. Yummy!!!
They have a wide variety of salads and other diner fares (burgers, plates, etc) Will try their kale salad next!

I’ve been coming to Max’s at this location since about ’98. I made a regular appearence each week for lunch with my coworkers when I was working in the area. Now that I am back in the area, I have been back a few times and it’s still a crowd pleaser.
I brought the whole crew in recently for lunch. We were limited on time, but was able to book a reservation via Opentable ahead of time and were seated immediately. Everyone was pleased with thier order and I got to introduce them to a new spot.
I have my usual items, I go with the pastrami or corned been reuben or chinese chicken salad. Sometimes a nice chop salad, sometime a iceberg wedge.
I love the soups, but the chicken matzo ball soup has always been a comfort when sick or on a cold day. The broth is soothing and the matzo is huge and filling, yet fluffy. Ask for the bread, the rolls are delcious and each is different.
The portions are big, but I like to eat half and take the rest to go. Even then there is never any room for dessert and they make some amazing desserts!
I ordered a tuna melt the other day and had half, took the rest home and made it into a tuna salad. Very good. At $ 13 for the plate, I would say that was an excellent deal.
This is my favorite Max’s location and I’m glad it is within walking distance of my work place. Makes it really convienant to have work lunches and meetings with good food at a decent price.

The warning is etched on the door. This is a bad place for a diet! No kidding! We went in anyway and decided to let it all hang out being New Year eve! We were hopeful that we can get a good meal and be entertained by their talented servers, as after all, we haven’t been into Max’s for well over 15 years. But alas! I now remember why we stayed away. Their glory days seemed over as we ended up getting neither.
The evening started pleasantly enough with live piano playing in the background. The dining room was nicely decorated for the holiday season and appeared cozy and swanky. The Christmas lights stylishly lit up the bar area and the glass windows. Even with a full house, the muted conversation and soft piano music added some class and sophistication to the ambiance. Being a fan of the opera, I was somewhat disappointed that none of the servers sing anymore. This used to be a unique draw for Max’s during their heydays.
The server could have been a little more attentive but overall pleasant and friendly. Soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches, pastas, desserts etc. …You name it; Max’s have them all! One can say Max’s is like a glorified diner. We shared a hearty bowl of Russian Cabbage Soup ($ 8.00) sans beets. I assume this was the non-​beets version of borscht. It was instead tomato-​y and the other ingredients were cabbage with chock-​full of beef giving the soup a savory, beefy flavor. With a subtle sweet and sour taste, the soup was great though not over-​the-​top great. (4 stars)
In the mood to play «Finding a needle in a haystack»? Try Max’s Famous Crab Cakes ($ 17.00). Two good-​sized crab cakes were served but where was the crabmeat? Bland! Bland! Bland! They looked like frozen patties with tartar sauce on top, which by the way was good but cannot save the underwhelming crab cakes. The saving grace for this dish was the red cabbage and jicama slaw that came with a mustard caper aioli. (2 stars). Skip!
Tri-​Mushroom Fettuccine ($ 17.00) wasn’t bad but needed help. Even without any culinary background, I still know it was time to add Parmesan for better flavor; to spice the pasta with a little chili crushed peppers and to add a cautious touch of salt. I am not a huge fan of rosemary and thyme bunches and had to toss them. I wish Max’s were more generous with the tri-​mushrooms (portabella, shitake and button). The mushrooms were delicious though, and were sautéed with fresh herbs, evoo and toasted garlic. The fettuccine was a toothsome morsel, had a good bite or al dente. (3 stars)
We thought we needed to order at least one sandwich since Max’s is known for their deli meats. Since no one cared for a Reuben or Corned Beef, we settled on a Patty Melt ($ 15.00) that came highly recommended from a young friend who had no qualms with fat and cholesterol! I bit my tongue and reluctantly agreed. Why not… today was NYE? We ordered the works and it came loaded with cheese, caramelized onions and 1000 Island on grilled rye. It was sinfully rich alright and sinfully tasty as well while you chomp into the cheese, the onions, the medium rare meat and only to sober up with the down-​to-​earth taste of rye. Yay! There was no guilt feeling at least today… it only starts the next day or the New Year! (4 stars)
The tart and aromatic Key Lime pie ($ 8.00) was just the way I remembered it from 15 years ago and provided a happy ending… for the year 2014, I mean. The sweet and flaky crust was filled with a creamy smooth lime flavored filling and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. It was very refreshing to your palate. (4 stars)