Max's Opera Cafe — Restaurant in San Francisco

This place used to be my favorite restaurant when I was a kid, so I'm trying to weigh my memory of what Max's used to be vs. what I experienced on my birthday last week. I remember Max's being a semi-nice restaurant with friendly staff, huge portions, and good service. Only one of those things remains. The hostess who greeted my girlfriend and I was not particularly warm, but we rolled with it. Our server was soft-spoken and pretty confused about a request for a spicy margarita, offering to make it spicy by putting in Absolute Pepper (or Peppar?), which is vodka, not tequila, and su9rely would've been awful. He offered to check with the bartender about how they could spice up a margarita without asking what our second choice would be if they couldn't come up with something, which was the end result. Food was okay. Far from great, but nothing off-putting. The portions are still huge, which warmed my heart. What's still bothering me today is what happened when we requested to-go boxes, which just about everyone at Max's does. A busser came by and set two plastic to-go boxes on the table with a plastic bag, and then just turned around and left! I was appalled. I worked in restaurants for 7 years, from diners to Michelin starred joints, and I never, EVER would've just set boxes on a table, expecting my guests to box the food themselves. Max's Opera cafe, I'm certain, used to be a nice enough place where they would box the rest of your gigantically portioned meal for you. Otherwise, what the heck are we tipping on? You failed to execute a not-that-difficult cocktail request. Never once were we made to feel welcome or taken care of, and then I need to box my food up before I leave? Who's serving who? What's next, should I plate the food myself in the kitchen? Heck, maybe I should grab an apron and get to cookin' too. Unbelievable. Sadly, I'd be...

We made Father's day reservations here, for a late lunch/early dinner after catching a show at the Orpheum , in the hope invoking some nostalgia in my father in law from when his son worked here in the 90's/2000's.

The Service- From the moment we were taken to our table the waiter displayed horrendous attitude. As he took us to the table he placed reserved signs on all of the booths in the area and said they were for "regulars". Fine, I can get that, but he said it with attitude, like we were undeserving of a booth.

My mother in law ordered a white wine spritzer and was brought a glass of white wine, when she reminded him it was supposed to be a spritzer he left and brought her back a glass of soda water. The professional thing would have been to take the drink back to the bar and have it added for her as opposed to just brining her a cup of soda water for her to mix herself.

We ordered a specific appetizer and when the other apps arrived we inquired where it was and his was response was " Oh she (the hostess) told you we were out" No... she didn't. If she had we would not be inquiring about it's status now.

The saving grace was that everyone found their food to be delicious. This is the type of place that you should get your order to go, because although the décor and atmosphere is nice, (especially when the pianist is there) , and the food is good, the service will absolutely leave you with a bad taste in...

Disappointing. Traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner for two seated outside at 2:00 p.m. PRO: Excellent bistro salad ($9). Reasonable price for a turkey dinner ($23). Generous portions. Good dressing and mashed potatoes. Generous slice of good pumpkin pie ($9). CON: Service was rude and erratic, possibly a temporary waiter. I had to move a heater to my table and start it myself. Water was served without being requested despite the water emergency. Promised bread never arrived. Entre arrived almost immediately after my salad, so I had to send it back to finish my salad. Entre was not correct (just turkey instead of turkey and ham combo). Turkey was dry, probably from being kept under a heat lamp. Cranberry sauce was nothing special, probably canned. Green beans were tough, probably not very fresh. Pumpkin pie arrived without silverware. Overcharged by $10. Manager corrected it when I pointed it out, but offered no apology or...