Max's Restaurant San Diego, Cuisine of the Philippines

There are so many good things in the menu so it was hard to decide. It is my second time here so I ordered what I haven't tried. My friend and I decided to order the Pansit Palabok, Kare-Kare, Lumpia, Beef Caldereta and of course the dessert, Halo-Halo. We are very happy with our choices. Each one is delicious. The beef was very tender and tasted homemade. The curry sauce was creamy and full of flavor. The Palabok is the best I had. I am excited to go back and try the other items. They were short staff that day but the servers were very pleasant and nice and were able to keep up with all the patrons. They surely tried their best.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Halo-Halo, Lumpiang Shanghai Egg Rolls, Kare-Kare Beef Peanut Stew, Calamansi Juice, Lechon Kawali Sisig Sizzling Diced Pork Belly, Garlic Rice

People really like the whole spring chicken and it was done well but it's just not my thing. The sauce was a bit strange to me but I'm not saying it was bad. I love trying new things and I'll eat it all even if don't like it. They were attentive enough given there were only 3 tables at the hight of my visit.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Famous Crispy Chicken

Ordered the Kari Kari for take out and dinuguan, not what I expected. Very limited on vegetable 1 leaf of bachoy, no egg plant, chunks of beef no oxtail. Soupy and tasteless with a smidgen of bagoong and thin as if I got bottom of the pot! Dinuguan, same thing soupy. 4 chunks of meat and again soupy. Very disappointed for the money I paid. Would not recommend.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Had a great experience dining here. My wife was interested to see how the franchises here compared to the Max's in the Philippines, and it is very close. The prices are definitely on the high side, especially when you can get some of the same dishes at various Filipino turo turo (food already out on chafing dishes and you can select from the dishes already made), but it's made up for in the quality from what we tasted. For instance, the lumpia was filled with meat and minced carrots and garlic and the wrapper wasn't thick, so you could taste the fillings more than in some other restaurants. The kare kare was very creamy and you could really taste the peanut base. The pork barbeque sticks were also very juicy. So while the price is a bit high, you are paying for the quality of something made to order versus something that is out on a warmer. The service was also very friendly, and the food came out fairly quickly. The restaurant was also very clean, as were the restrooms when we went. While not someplace that we would eat often at due to the price, it is definitely a place we are coming back to as there are more dishes we are looking forward to trying.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Halo-Halo, Kare-Kare Beef Peanut Stew, Famous Crispy Chicken, Calamansi Juice, Filipino Pork BBQ Skewers

Max's Restaurant - Mira Mesa
San Diego, California

It's a rare occasion that we eat my country's, Cuisine, Philippines, but today we decided to dine at a Filipino Restaurant. Most of the time you will see us dine and write about other Cuisines from Asia such as Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc.

Today, we decided to dine at a restaurant called Max's Restaurant, which is also a chain restaurant known in the Philippines. They are known for their fried chicken and other Filipino Dishes.

The restaurant is beautiful, decorated, and spacious and offers plenty of seating for their customers. The restaurant was clean.

The food was delicious and prepared properly. I've dined at most of the Filipino Restaurant in San Diego since I grew up here in San Diego. Food in the Philippines is regional, just like many other countries, and you really can't compare it. One region may have a different type of Pork Adobe, lumpia, or lechon than a different region has. So yes, you will get varying types of food. So overall the food at the restaurant was delicious and I had no problems with it. The pricing at the restaurant, like so many others have pointed out, is very high for what you get. Out of the many restaurants that we have dined at, this restaurant has one the highest price points for their dishes. Is it worth the price? Well, the food was delicious but not worth the price. You can get more at a smaller Filipino restaurant for your money.

The staff members were friendly and they were attentive but they could have been more enthusiastic. With so many restaurants opening, this restaurant really needs to improve on the guest service experience to compete with the others.

Overall, our experience was good, but they need to work on their pricing and guest service experience.

What we ordered:

1. Filipino Pork BBQ Skewers
Pork slices marinated in a special tangy mildly sweet and spicy sauce and speared in a bamboo skewer and grilled to perfection.

2. Pinatuyong Pork Adobo (Marinated Braised Pork)
Marinated pork chunks braised in vinegar and soy sauce reduction. Made flavorful with garlic, bay leaf, and whole peppercorn. Garnished with green onions and served with diced tomatoes and onions

3. Chicken Sisig (Sizzling Diced Chicken)
Diced Max's Chicken and liver, well seasoned and tossed with celery, onions, and pepper.

4. Pancit Canton (Egg Noodles)
Egg noodles sauteed with vegetables, pork, chicken, and shrimp.

5. Garlic Rice
White rice deliciously stir-fried in golden garlic bits.

6. Halo-Halo Special
A blend of refreshing tropical fruit preserves, beans, and milk in shaved ice. Topped with a delicious scoop of Ube (purple yam) ice cream, flan, and rice flakes. A classic Filipino dessert. Less

7. Calamansi Juice (Philippine Lime)
Philippine lime juice served with shaved ice

8. Buko Juice (Coconut)
Coconut juice with coconut meat served with shaved ice

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Halo-Halo, Kare-Kare Beef Peanut Stew, Calamansi Juice, Lechon Kawali Sisig Sizzling Diced Pork Belly

Waitress was not very nice.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 1

Good service and good food

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Crispy Pata

Nice place to dine.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

$39 for this 2 not even half boxes of chicken and beef sisig.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 1

Service: 5

Fried chicken absolutely flavorful. Good and fast service. I am not that amazed with their pork sisig. Dont forget to order their Halo-halo huge serving.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Halo-Halo, Kare-Kare Beef Peanut Stew, Max's Whole Fried Chicken, Bangus Sisig Sizzling Boneless Marinated Milkfish

We ordered the fried chicken (whole) to go. They have a small waiting area separate from the dining area. The chicken was moist, a bit salty but tasty.

Parking: Max's is away from the main stores, so there is no problem with parking.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Max's Whole Fried Chicken

I ordered Lexhon kawali take out, when I opened the container there was only 5 small pieces of Lechon and a sauce container. The Lechon wasn't fresh, tasted old.It was not worth $20 (including tax) for the portion and the quality they gave.

Food: 1

Really great spring rolls(Shanghai) and pancit

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Lumpiang Shanghai Egg Roll

Nice place to dine in

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Overall good food - we had the taro leaves, a half chicken, pork belly sisig, and pancit. Everything came out fresh and hot. The fruit juices were good - especially the coconut. Definitely on the more expensive side, but a fairly enjoyable experience. If I were recommending a place for Filipino I wouldn't choose Max's first but we enjoyed our meal and I would eat there again.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Lechon Kawali Sisig Sizzling Diced Pork Belly, Half Chicken