Max's Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Auburn

I am sorry to say that we were looking forward to a nice family Thanksgiving dinner and it was not what we anticipated. We came here Thanksgiving of 2012 and had a lovely dinner in the main dining area. Our table was set ,with nice decorations, our waiter was very attentive, the buffet food was excellent and assortment of deserts were great. This year there were 7 of us. They walked us down hallway after hallway, we passed the buffet line which was set up in the hotel hallway and we were actually seated in a conference room just feet short of the hotel guest rooms. Our table was a huge round table with chairs for 12. There was only 7 of us and we could not talk to one another. The table was empty of any utensils, glasses or condiments and almost before we could sit down one waitress was asking for drink orders and one told us to go ahead and get our food. the girl taking our drink orders only got 4 of us as the others went to eat. We thought at least while we waited in the buffet line that our table would be set.. When we returned to the table it was still empty except for the 4 drinks ordered. My friend had to go find the silverware and set it himself. Noone came around for any other service other than take the empty plates when we were done. The food was mediocre at best, the buffet line was a mess it looked like they just added things in any order. The antipasto stuff was at the end of the line and they only had pie for desert. The room had about 8 round tables in it with no holiday decorations. This cost us $25.95 plus tax plus 20% gratuity. We just wanted out of there. Needless to say we will not be back. Sorry Max"s, you screwed it...

The last time I came here was at least 10 - 15 years ago. It was located closer to the hotel, and was very, very special. It was terrific. A little higher priced than a typical chain restaurant, but well worth it. Sometime since then, Marie Calendar's closed and Max's moved in. We just tried it last night. Wow! I have never been soooo disappointed. If they could have at least matched the "quality" of Marie Calendar's; but no. The quality of the food was terrible and the pricing was seriously absurd. We ordered Calamari Fritto $14 (soggy zucchini & yellow squash mixed up with dried out calamari and a terrible attempt to embellish a simple cocktail sauce); Fettuccine Alfredo (dry noodles, bland Alfredo sauce) for $18 + breaded, salty skinny chicken breast for an additional $5; Spaghetti Bolognese for $18 (not much meat in sauce, and sauce was too tomato sauce-ish); oh yes, and add two side salads for another $5 each made up in large part of broccoli, slivered carrot, tons of croutons, and a sprinkling of lettuce, (no tomato, or pine nuts, or anything special). For dessert we cannot forget the "carrot cake". I don't even know what we paid for that, but it was oily, soggy, with a lard type aftertaste to the frosting and not even as "good" as something you could pick up from the grocery store. Overall, NO, I would NOT recommend this restaurant. It is terribly overpriced and the food is not even worthy of a Denny's plate. I hope that they can get it together, and not depend on their link to the hotel and to people traveling through that have no idea of what is available...

Horribly disappointed! Max's was the first place we ate on our first visit to Auburn almost 5 years ago - and we were thrilled to have found a fabulous authentic Deli style menu with equally great food - most especially, the "real" corned beef on rye sandwich that was pictured on the billboard aside I-80. But sadly, last night (Aug, '17) was the last time we'll ever eat there! Over the few years we've been coming here the previous amazing menu has been replaced with something small and snobby - including the Deli knowledge of what that sandwich is! OMG! After discarding (against numerous protests) the original true Deli rye for whatever kind of bread the new replacement is (can't identify it - something in the wrong shape, without seeds and totally devoid of any flavor!) the corned beef (and pastrami now appearing in far more skimpy sandwiches) both "look" the same - but the make-believe "chef" has somehow found the right black magic to extract 100% of all flavor - so again - maybe it's not authentic - but at least it tastes like a thick piece of soft old printer paper. (Even the tiny slice of Kosher dill seemed to have fallen out of a K-mart jar from the 1970's!)

Alas, the good-ole-days are indeed gone - and that includes the "service" which is almost as big a misnomer as calling Trump President! Only thing that's not changed is the old billboard photo aside the Freeway which is the same since before our arrival. (Maybe as it began to shed pieces and fall apart, that's where they got the "fake bread" for our sandwiches!?) #Sad...