Maxim's de Paris — Restaurant in Paris

I was very excited to visit this restaurant, as its name precedes itself. However, I was extremely disappointed by my experience. When I arrived for my 10pm reservation, I had to wait more than 15 minutes to be seated. Once seated, my husband & I took turns to get a better view of the entire restaurant. That is when we realized that we were sitting an undesirable part of the restaurant, while there will still plenty of available tables in the main dining area. We were celebrating our wedding honeymoon & thought that the restaurant would give us a special table, but they didn’t. Like other reviews have mentioned, the decor is beautiful! The staff & food? Not so much. Our waitress was brash & rushed us each time she came to our table. I communicated with her multiple times in French, but she insisted on speaking English to me??? I found that to be very odd, especially because she was a native French speaker. We ordered our food based on the popular items that we saw in reviews & on the Instagram page. Items ordered: crispy prawns, French fries, mashed potatoes, green vegetables & the sole (for two). My husband was instantly excited about trying the sole, as it is his favorite fish & we order it at almost every fine dining establishment that we visit. The prawns, mashed potatoes & green vegetables were very good! The French fries? Soggy, cold— like McDonalds. The sole? Absolutely terrible! Soggy, flavorless, lukewarm & nothing like we saw in the imagery on Maxim’s social media. We immediately informed that manger with the intention of ordering new plates.. we really wanted to give this place another shot. The manager challenged us the entire time— telling us that he did not understand what was wrong with the dish; asking us to explain over & over why we did not like the dish.. We told him that we would order something else & he told us that we could not, but we could get dessert. I understand that it was late, but for this to be a luxury dining experience, the response was unacceptable. Normally, chefs & management will do everything they can to have a customer happily walk away from the experience. That was not the case. Instead, the manager came back to the table with our bill & told us that he tasted the sole himself & he found nothing wrong with the fish, as it was prepared “perfectly”. Even though he attempted to be apologetic about our experience, it did not make up for him basically arguing with us when we first reported our dissatisfaction with the dish. Long story short: this place is not worth the hype. Get a cocktail, take your pictures & go eat...

Visited last week. What a brilliant evening on every level. This restaurant is well over 100 years old and the amazing decor was created to tie in with the great Paris exhibition. I have seen reviewers describe it as a museum and indeed the decor really is truly incredible.

Food, service, entertainment, everything was brilliant. The history of this restaurant is just off the scale. It was kept open during the German occupation of Paris during the Second World War and it was the favourite of the German high command.

This restaurant is iconic and has probably appeared in as many feature films as have other iconic hotels such as the Plaza Hotel in New York, the Fairmont on Nob Hill in San Francisco, the Beverly Hills Hotel and Carlton in Cannes all of which I have stayed up multiple times as I so love tradition, history and very special hotels and restaurants. Maximes really takes the prize when it comes to iconic restaurants…a visit s quite an event.

Early in the last century Maximes used to be renowned as a place to take the ladies but not the wife. I was actually there with three ladies last week (it is their favourite restaurant... they live in Paris and they insisted we go there). It was so wonderful that I am arranging to return to Paris specially in April to take my wife. I am just trying to decide which hotel to book. Currently looking at Tripadvisor reviews of Hotel Meurice and Four Seasons… all because of arranging to return to Maximes in April. When we were there last week they had an excellent band performing fresh versions of standards, with a lady singer. I understand that they normally have jazz and hopefully we will hit a jazz night next visit. I hope the band might play ‘April In Paris.’ Paris is traditionally such a great place to enjoy jazz. My favourite version of this much covered song written back in 1933 is by Charlie Parker.

Back in the summer of 1978 a friend booked a table for two at Maximes as a birthday present for me while we were in Paris. In those days I believe it had three Michelin stars. Unfortunately we had to cancel the booking as I had to rush back to the UK. For some reason I never got around to returning, until now.

You can find Michelin star restaurants all over the world... whereas this really is a one-off. I was in Paris for the Dior show and could have gone anywhere for dinner. This restaurant has a real sense of place, as does for example the Moulin Rouge. While we are in Paris in April I shall also book a two or three Michelin star restaurant and then compare which was the...

Like it has already been pointed out in other reviews, not sure what the hype really is all about!!!

I had high expectations for Maxim’s, given its reputation, but my experience was far from enjoyable. The overly dark theme made the interior feel gloomy and uninviting rather than elegant.

Then on top of that as a tourist, being forced to wear a jacket provided by the restaurant one that’s clearly been worn by others, felt both unhygienic and unreasonable. The hostess repeatedly went back and forth about Maxim enforcing the need for me to wear a jacket, It set a frustrating tone for the evening and detracted from what should have been an enjoyable experience. For a place that prides itself on fine dining, the front-of-house experience needs serious improvement

I came to enjoy a meal, not be subjected to outdated dress codes that ignore practical realities ( as a tourist why would I be carrying a jacket just for a meal at a restaurant).

The food didn’t do much to redeem the visit either. The salmon was battered, which only made it worse, overcooked ( we had requested well done though not dried out ) and lacking flavor. Surprisingly, the only dish I genuinely enjoyed was the side of vegetables (peas and beans), which were fresh and well-prepared.

Service was rushed and unrefined. A server/table manager tried to take my plate while I was still taking my last bite where he did apologize, but it felt unnecessarily hurried. To top it off, while pouring sparkling water, the table manager ( was not in white color jacket) spilled drops into and around the cup/glass, clearly a training issue that should not happen in a place of this standing.

We definitely were seated in a way where we couldn’t see the performance ( I had already lost interest in the place upon entering in there and it was nothing that would have grabbed my interest but with that price I am paying for the experience which already was horrible to begin with).

Additionally, I was surprised and frankly taken aback by the expectation of a tip when paying by card. In Europe, tipping is generally not mandatory, and I felt uncomfortable being pressured to leave one especially after the experience we'd had. It’s disappointing that a place with such a reputation entertains such behavior.

Overall, Maxim’s felt like a relic clinging to old standards without offering the warmth, quality, or attention to detail you’d expect. I wouldn’t recommend it, especially to fellow travelers looking for a relaxed and enjoyable dining...