06/27/09

Good Food...Horrible Management

by iumat21

We have truly enjoyed going to Maximillions and in the past have encouraged others to make the drive to Cary and try it out.

Unfortunately, we waited 45 minutes to be seated no host or hostess on duty. Appetizer arrived - no silverware. Drink orders arrived 30 minutes after ordering them.

When I spoke to the owner regarding this she became very defensive and began blaming our waiter who had been outstanding. She growled at him about the missing silverware in front of customers. When I reminded her that SHE had seated us, and that it was rude to yell at/blame an employee in front of customers, she was quick to inform me that she was the manager/owner and that she could snap at whoever she wanted.

That was our last meal at Maximillions...sort of sad.

• Pros: Pizza and Salad are amazing
• Cons: Owner's Wife/Manager

05/09/09

Avoid the grilled pizza at all costs

by goobex

Decided to finally go here and try some differerent pizza. These are individual pizzas but good size for one person. The Neapolitan is stone baked and the crust is crispy. The grilled pizza is billed as having a very thin cracker like crust. DO NOT GET THIS CRUST as it comes out very soggy and limp. If you like the toppings on one of the grilled pizzas you can get them on the Neapolitan crust. Ate at a table outside but for some reason the waitresses couldn't handle the very few people that were there. We wondered if they were also serving tables in the adjoining restaurant. Went to the bar to catch the end of a game after we were done eating. There were a handful of people already there watching but for some reason the bartender insisted on playing her CDs loudly on the sound susyem. You'd think she'd have the common sense to play the audio of the game HER CUSTOMERS were watching. Once she knew we didn't immediately want a drink (we still had the ones we were drinking when eating the pizza outside), she kind of ignored us including wiping off the mess that was on the bar in front of us. Won't be going back.

• Pros: Variety of pizza toppings
• Cons: A little overpriced, bad service, loud music at bar

05/05/09

Best Restaurant I've found in Triangle

by jsack4343

This was one of, if not the best meal my wife and I have had in our 10+ years since moving here. We had heard about Maximillians, but had not tried it until Friday evening. I can't believe a place this good is right here in our backyard. We had the beef tenderloin skewer appetizer to start - it was served over a bed of sticky rice, marinated in a soy/ginger, extremely tender. I had the smoked porkchop served over a stuffed chile rellano. I would not have thought to pair these two together, but it was amazing. The chop was huge and cooked perfectly. I had enough for lunch the next day. My wife had the crab and shrimp stuffed mahi - again..perfection. Foe dessert, we shared the carrot cake - which is made there fresh. Nedless to say, we will be going back. I was in a bit of a food coma when we left from eating too much, but if you are looking for an upscale place with a diverse, ecletic menu, try Max's. PS - this is the first review I have ever written here, but the experience was so good, I felt I had to share!

• Pros: creative, fresh, amazing presentation

02/08/09

You have to go here!

by DallyD

My boyfirend and I went to Maximillians last night and it was insanely good. We kept looking at each other with looks of disbelief because the food was so incredible. The soup of the night was lobster bisque...best soup I have ever had. We also had the scallop appetizer which was amazing . Both entrees were great. We finished off with key lime pie. Everything is a unique twist on the same boring dishes we all have over and over. The chef is obviously very creative. It inspired me to write my first review of anything....ever. Please go! You will not be disappointed. I noticed some people commented on service, but our service was fantastic.

• Pros: Creative flavors and comintions make food exciting and enjoyable
• Cons: You may have to wait, so prepare to have a drink at the bar.

08/22/08

Best restaurant in Cary

by egallivan

I am very surprised to see the poor reviews of Maximillians. My husband and I recently moved from Raleigh to Cary, and this is the best restaurant that we have found in the Cary area. They have a talented chef and the food is delicious. It is as good as Michael Dean's or Humble Pie in Raleigh. The atmosphere is also good, which is hard to come by in Cary. We don't have kids, so I can't speak to kid friendliness. However, it is definitely a good place to go to celebrate a special occasion, or go on a date. We've been 3 times now and have always had good service, although each time we have had the same male waiter. The food is not cheap. It's generally around $20 per entree, but well worth it in my opinion. The desserts that we've had there were fantastic. I highly recommend this place if you are looking for a really good meal in Cary.

• Pros: Fantastic food, good atmosphere
• Cons: It's fairly popular so you may have to wait without a reservation.

07/18/08

Not exactly kid friendly, inexpensive or conducive to conversation

by OldeCary

I'm glad to see others' complaints about the slow service and poor attitude of one or more female wait staff; until reading other reviews I thought maybe I was expecting too much. Tip: try to hold out for one of the more mannerly male waiters. The food is well prepared but I would have rated it three $$$ rather than two. I'm amazed to see Max's listed as "Kid Friendly." There are no children's menus, child portions or discounts for children. I've been a dozen times and never seen a child in the restaurant - mine are well behaved and appreciate good food but would not have the patience to wait to be seated or served here. It is also a noisy place, often appearing to host large and boisterous business associates, making conversation difficult.

• Pros: Good food and variety of selection
• Cons: Slow, sometimes snooty waitresses, expensive, noisy, not kid-friendly

04/28/08

Great food, poor service

by Dominici

It took forever to get seated even though we had reservations and the food was excellent but it took an eternity to come out as well. Basically for a 7:30 reservation we were seated by 8:30 and started eating dinner at 9:30. And to top it off we had a server who had a horrible attitude. Maybe it would be good for take-out - just call 2 hours before you need the food.

04/17/08

Simply Amazing food

by avnc

Two of the best and most memorable meals I've ever had, have been had at Maximillians. Simply amazing and delicious food. Excellent, respectful and non-intrusive service. The Espresso-rubbed ribeye is awesome, the BBQ Korean beef is great, specials and cocktails also incredible. Highly recommended.

• Pros: Amazing food, good service, good drinks
• Cons: Location odd (but not bad), can be pricey for NC

01/12/08

Reservation system reminds me of a Seinfeld episode

by seanhatfield

We had reservations for 4 at 7:30. We arrived on time and we were waiting in the area near the front door. We didn't really want to go to the bar and we stood there for a while and were asked again to go to the bar to wait. It got to be 8:00 and one of our party went to ask the hostess (tall blond) when our table would be ready. She said they were cleaning it upstairs. We continued to wait for a while longer and the hostess passed by us on the way to the bar and we attempted to ask her again about our table. She did not stop, just pointed to a table that they were cleaning downstairs. What happened to the table upstairs????? I don't know. There was a 4 top that had been empty near us for about 15 minutes and I was unsure as to why we didn't get that table. The hostess was very rude and walked by us numerous times and offered no explanation or apology. I don't mind waiting when a place is busy, but take responsiblity and at least offer an apology and give an update on an estimate as to how much longer.

That being said, when we finally sat down, our server was knowledgeable on the menu and the food was excellent. I would highly suggest getting the bread as an appetizer. I would recommend the restaurant based on the food, but I would recommend going on a week night hoping it wouldn't be as busy. My biggest complaint was the hostess. I pinch of politeness would have gone a long way.

• Pros: delicious food
• Cons: wait time and rudeness of hostess, I would recommend making reservations, however they are not really helpful

05/11/07

Luxurious food, casual service

by darlla

I tried Maximillian's for the first time last week and had a friend not recommended it, I probably would not have known it was there. The restaurant is in a little strip mall right off Chapel Hill Rd and it is pretty small on the inside, with about half its space taken up by the kitchen. We dined on a Friday night and we had a reservation, however the restaurant had a few empty tables and I wouldn't have described it as "packed". The food was fantastic, I'd describe it as more of a classic menu with an eclectic spin, but not very Asian. Really the only Asian-inspired items on the menu were the sashimi grade tuna and a spring-roll type appetizer. Apparently they change the menu from time to time though. They offer a lot of specials as well. I had the grouper off their menu and it was very flavorful. The portions were quite large as well, no need to get appetizers. Also they brought out some wonderful warm rosemary bread with a great melted cheese on top, served with a balsamic-olive oil mixture for dipping. The wine list was not very extensive but they do have a nice little cocktail list. The pomegranate martini was refreshing and unique. Be prepared to spend money here, the menu had some average priced entrees but others were decidedly more. On to the not-so- impressive part of the evening, the service. For the meal prices here I expect a little more attention on the behalf of the servers. The restaurant was not overly busy but the service was slow, it took about 15-20 mins to get our drinks from the bar after we ordered them. We had to flag down our server to ask about our drinks and he blamed the slowness on the bartender. He didn't come back after bringing our food to check up on us or refill water and we had to flag him down for our check. Overall the food here is very much worth the price and potential slow service, and if my experience is the norm, just be prepared to spend a good 2 hours here and you shouldn't be disappointed.

• Pros: unique upscale menu, quality food
• Cons: service is not upscale, small dining area