Max's Restaurant Houston, Cuisine of the Philippines — Restaurant in Houston

I have previous experience working for the front of the house at this restaurant. For a time this summer 2025, I was a host then eventually was promoted as a server - I will tell you all about my experience with both working and as a long time customer of this establishment.

For a little background history, this is a franchise of the Max's restaurant chain that has been in California, Nevada, the original in Manila that has been in existence for years. However, this the one and only restaurant in Houston, Texas where it has been in existence since April 2021. The initial onset of the Covid virus delayed its initial opening in 2021 and though it was delayed, it opened to much fanfare, along with all the bells and whistles that come along with the typical opening of a new restaurant. I was there as a patron during the first few weeks where they had the grand opening special of $29.99 or $39.99 advertised as such for Facebook for a platter of chicken, crispy pata and eggrolls.

As first time patrons and an avid supporter of all things Filipino cuisine I was one of the few excited patrons waiting in line for the sarap to the bone chicken, and crispy pata of the long awaited Max's Restaurant that was advertised on Facebook as $29.99 or $39.99 with a plate of appetizer at the time. This was when reality vs expectation turned for the worse. As my Mom and I patiently waited in line in the the Houston heat for the doors to open at 11am, we were the third or fourth at the time along with other excited would be patrons. We were kind to each other and held the lines for one another when there was a party of 2 people that wanted to get Jollibee as they were from out of town and would be bringing the food back home. My Mom is of age and when we complained that it was hot outside, the front of the house hesitantly obliged to let us in and sit at the bench. We were excited and happy that we didn't notice how uncomfortable that bench was. As they were asking to find out how everyone would be seated, we all asked about the Facebook special that seemed to entice everyone in. The front of the house politely explained at the time that there was a limit of 1 offer per table. however it didn't specify that on the Facebook ad. To much dismay, and disappointment My Mom and I didn't want to sit and wait. however, the other patrons heard us discussing our options to whether stay and eat and overheard us discussing that the ad on the FB page did not specify that it was one per table, so we decided to stay. We were led to our table where we ordered two of the bundles of pancit canton, chicken and crispy pata bundle. As we sat there, we noticed the front of the house whispering unprofessionally about us because we were one of the ones that insisted that we can order two of the bundles for the price as the ad didn't specify a limit. My mom and I wanted to bring a bundle to my sister and her family who is a healthcare worker and doesn't have a lot of time to come in person to order food let alone have time to sit at an establishment where the workers would be unprofessional enough to be smirking behind their guests backs and talking about them. Anyway, we asked to speak to a supervisor, and as it turns out it was Rosa who used to work at Alcon Laboratories in Houston, Texas. She recently resigned from her position as an Assembler/Operator. She was polite but firm when she wanted to , but we as customer's were firm yet polite as well. We ordered our food, and asked for our table to be cleaned since the front of the house crew used "the tables weren't cleaned yet" excuse. As we sat there waiting for our bundles, the waitress continued to smirk and talk about us, and as we asked for our to go containers and the bill, I instructed my mom to pay separately using her card and for me to pay with mine. We each tipped $5.00 for the food, the service and even though Rosa was polite, the other front of the house crew weren't. Fast forward to May 5, 2025 I was hired as a new employee... more of my experience will be to...

BE WARNED! (Dec 24th) 2ND TIME around and yet again the WORSE restaurant experience I have ever had in my entire house! AGAIN! The manager, ARLENE IS A JOKE!!!! Came in Christmas Eve on the 24th. Granted, we anticipated that it’s going to be busy, so you would think that since they have an online portal where you can order ahead of time that clearly says, “Want to skip the line? Order here!” then you can pick up at your scheduled time. However, this is FAR from true. Our pick up time was suppose to be at 3pm. Arrived at 3:10 since we already know they operate “filipino time” and chances are the food is still not ready just like our prior experience. Came inside and it was a MAD HOUSE.

First off, NO ONE was directing traffic! I promise you, it was like an auction in there and you cannot drop a needle with how packed it was. Turns out, they were still fulfilling orders that was scheduled since they opened - which was 4.5 later of them being behind. There was only 1 employee, I believe her name is Myrna who was running around trying to accommodate people’s order. That lady deserves a raise! Sure, there might be people in the back but their “runner” Myrna had no help!!!!

The manager ARLENE, is a complete joke! Yes, its suppose to be busy, BUT CHAOTIC? NO! I did NOT have to be. She had a complete access to the online portal where she can view the orders. People were saying they ordered weeks in advance. She should have created a better system!!! Ms Arlene I will say it again!!! You have been put in a position of authority l, use it! I hope you know that the chaos that happened today speaks volumes about your leadership! When we came, the lobby area was a mad house! You had 3 people dining in that we saw, everybody else was picking up orders. Having said this, -You could have pushed some chairs and made more space for people when you saw it was starting to be over capacity. We are still in a pandemic. -You could have hired a greeter to help direct the people traffic. Some people were trying to order and they were so confused if there is even a line or its all mixed up with people waiting for their orders. When it was already OVER CAPACITY you should have directed people to wait outside! Common sense! -Also, You had food that are “ready” just sitting on this one table and people were just going through bags seeing if it was theirs. UNSANITARY! You should have had someone delegated for that!!!! CMON! Why are you in the management position Ms Arlene?!

YOU HAD ACCESS TO THE ONLINE PORTAL ORDERS so you KNEW the amount of traffic this crowd will bring and you are way under prepared! You had orders WEEKS in advance! The sad thing is we ordered an extensive amount of food and never got it. We waited 2 hours AND NEVER EVEN GOT ACKNOWLEDGED! THAT ALONE, should never happen in a place of business. Holiday or not. NO EXCUSE! IT WAS YOUR shortcoming not your employees. You failed to deliver! I hope, before their shifts ended, you gave them some kind of affirmation. Today was chaotic and it DID NOT have to be. Busy, YES!...

I'm all about supporting Filipino businesses in town but the Max's here in Houston is making it hard for me to do so. I went there on Wednesday 4/14/21, around 5 pm with my girlfriend. We were seated immediately. No one came to check on us or get us water until about 15 minutes. I had to flag down a server who was walking towards our table. He continued to walk past my table and looked at another server to tell her to check on my table. That other server passed on our table to check on me. The server finally took our order. We ordered half of the fried chicken, calamares, kare kare, and garlic rice. I tried ordering the bbq skewers but I was told that it wasn't available yet, which we were fine with. Around this time I noticed a couple with a baby get seated. The server brought out styrofoam plates and plastic forks and didn't explain why they were using those instead of real plates and silverware. It didn't make sense why they were doing it because from the other tables I saw that they were using real dishes and silverware for the entrees and appetizers! The styrofoam plates, plastic cups, and forks cheapened the experience. The food came out at a decent time. They brought out all our orders except the kare kare. I noticed the garlic rice immediately and was horrified. The rice looked wet and mushy. My expectations for the food went down immediately. If you can't get your garlic rice down, you have bigger problems. The chicken was good, it was what you expected. The calamares was alright, poorly seasoned. When we started eating I noticed that the couple with the baby had not been attended to. The lady went up to the busgirl to ask for the server. I didn't see the busgirl get a server. A few minutes later the Kare Kare came out. It was bland and very watery, very disappointing! At this point, the couple with the baby has had enough. They gathered their belongings and placed their baby in the stroller and left. I would say they waited for 30 minutes. I'm sure that the servers mean well and they want to do good but the lack of customer service there is a reflection of their training and management. I can tolerate a restaurant with bad service if their food is great. But with both food and customer service being bad, forget about it! I'll see Max's in a year after they figure out their issues. So for now,...