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Max’s Café 60 Madera Ave. Corte Madera 415-924-6295
Americana |
Max’s Café in Corte Madera has an extensive menu to say the least. And I suppose that makes sense for a restaurant with the tagline “Everything You Always Wanted to Eat.” One of 13 Bay Area “Max’s” eateries owned by Dennis Berkowitz (you’ve probably heard of Max’s Opera Café, where the servers actually sing opera and show tunes at the table), it has the casual family dining atmosphere its loyal customers have come to expect. And no, there’s no singing here, just some ’50s pop music playing on the sound system. But if you wanted to sing I’m sure no one would stop you.
The main dining area has windows all along its southern wall, with a full bar on the opposite wall, padded leather booths along the room’s outer edges and center islands and additional tables placed in between. Overall, it has an open, easy feeling.
My friend Ian and I chose the Fried Calamari from the more than 20 different items on the “Appetizers, Bites and Snacks” portion of the menu. Battered and fried along with lemon wedges and slices of jalapeno peppers (hot!), it came with a chili remoulade and a mild cocktail sauce. And while it’s listed as “A Full Pound of Fried Calamari,” we went for the half-pound portion instead. That’s the thing about Max’s: Not only is the menu huge, but so are the portions. Hungry? This is the place for you.
Of the 12 “Big Bold Salads” items, we chose the Bistro Salad. It had romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, Danish blue cheese, candied walnuts, grapes and fresh, crispy bacon in a lemon vinaigrette. In between the salad and our entrées, we enjoyed fresh-baked dinner rolls (Max’s makes all their own pastries).
While Max’s has a wide array of dinner sandwiches (both hot and cold), pastas and burgers, this particular Max’s Café emphasizes New York steaks, seafood and barbecue items. That being the case, I chose a half slab of St. Louis Barbecue Spareribs. Billed as “lightly smoked” on the menu, their Texas-style sauce was smoky and mild. The ribs were cut apart from each other and came with crispy fries and fresh, tasty cole slaw.
Ian chose the Salmon Crusted with Dungeness Crab. The fish was moist and the creamy crab had a crispy edge—they complemented each other well. It was served with mashed potatoes and vegetables including broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms and red onions that were sautéed in a balsamic vinaigrette. A handful of fried potato ringlets provided a crunchy finishing touch.
Dessert is a big thing at Max’s. I mean that figuratively and literally. There’s an array of sundaes as well as 17 different “famous” dessert choices. Didn’t save room? Well now’s the time to find some because I’m thinking that a meal without dessert at Max’s might possibly be illegal.
After a heated debate, Ian and I settled for the Gigantic Chocolate Éclair. Now this is just my opinion, but to me, an éclair is the perfect dessert. It has it all: pastry, custard and chocolate. And this particular éclair is a wonder in itself. It’s nearly the size of a small loaf of bread. Its pastry was light and fresh and it had both chocolate and vanilla custard inside. I liked the chocolate custard a lot because it was decadent but not too rich. And the excellent coffee (trust me, I’m picky about it for sure) came in these cute retro mugs that said “Eat at Max’s.” It was a delicious end to a satisfying, casual meal. No wonder Max’s (the first one of which opened in 1978) has developed such a following. Its unpretentious, generous meals are satisfying and enjoyable indeed.
