Max's Bakery & Delicatessen — Restaurant in Vancouver

Max’s has gone downhill in the last few years. It used to be a very high quality European-style deli but is now indistinguishable from a corporate grocery store deli.

Food: Hit and miss. It looks great but their taste quality has tanked. Unsure why, maybe cheaper ingredients and sub-par process. Sometimes the baked goods are over-baked and dry. Savoury foods are often either too salty or under-seasoned.

Service: I am appalled at the service level these days. The staff behind the counter has openly mocked what we ordered to each other (it was funny that someone would want something that wasn’t breakfast food at 10:30), addressed online orders in the middle of serving us, and mistakenly charged me for two of a drink item and insisted it was correct after asking where the second one would be if I hadn’t moved from the order area. It used to be a treat to chat with staff; that’s long gone. It’s worse than Tim Horton’s whose staff at least says have a nice day when you leave.

Atmosphere: This was never a place for atmosphere so no change here. Clean enough and spacious enough.

Summary: it’s been 27 years of business but I’m taking mine elsewhere. With the abundance of choice in Vancouver, Max’s has become a shadow of its past self. Better options are out there, you can safely...

I have been coming here for probably 30 years and in that time have introduced many of my friends and associates to the establishment. I used to live locally but now I drive over from the UBC area. A few weeks ago I was in there buying a coffee and I remembered after I had purchased my goods that I still had one of the Max's loyalty cards. The lady behind the counter explained that they were no longer using such but she did check it, told me that there was $18.50 cents of value on it and that the next time I was in I should "cash it in" against my purchases. I was back at Max's today, when I asked to have my cards value credited against my purchases I was told that as they no longer used the cards and it was of no value. I explained that I had been a customer for 30 years and to just dismiss my "loyalty" was very disappointing. The lady that I was speaking to, the owner I think, repeated her stance and then walked away. So for $18.50 Max's has lost a very long term customer who will not be introducing anyone to the establishment from here-on-in. A short sighted and disappointing approach to...

I love this place, every time I come here I feel like a child in a toy store, overwhelmed by the sheer ridiculous amount of variety of choices to pick from. They have a huge selection of ready to eat foods and desserts. From pirogies, curried lamb pie, Jamaican patties, garlic herb mashed potatoes, salmon and lox bagels, salads, and the desserts…don’t get me started on those. They have macarons in at least 20+ flavours, sticky toffee pudding, cheesecakes in multiple varieties, eclairs, brownies, so many others i can’t even remember. They also have a huge selection of bottled and canned drinks, with many from around the world that you won’t find in many or any stores. Today I got my mum a corned beef on rye sandwich, and I had herbed chicken breast and garlic herb mashed potatoes. We ate that before I remembered to take any pics but I took pics of our desserts, which are sticky toffee pudding, New York cheesecake, and a trio chocolate brownie. All are so amazing. This is definitely one of Vancouver’s finest places to grab a...