max's tavern

we stopped into max's tavern as a dinner break on a long car trip. we enjoyed perfect steaks, good "steakhouse" sides like spinach and garlic mashed, and excellent service at our outdoor table. one day i'd love to learn how to get thatgreatchar on the outside while staying medium rare on the inside!

lame. my wife & i went to max’s for dinner because we had gift card, it is not my first time here but i thought we would give it another shot. the drinks were good, the moscow mule was served in a traditional brass cup, nice touch. the apps were full of flavor, oysters, and a $14 maryland crab cake. for entrees we ordered the scallops, which were grilled with salt and pepper. they were flavorful and cooked right, but for $30 i wish i had more than 4 scallops 2 of which were no bigger than a quarter, quite a rip off if you were to make them at home. the mash was bland and dry. my wife had ordered the salmon special of which she asked it to be cooked rare and it came out well done and dry as sand-paper. when it came back out it was cooked perfect and the flavors worked well. still a little steep for $30. the server wasgreatand helpful. i will not go back again.

disappointing.. celebrated a birthday there november 13, 2013... not impressed. tired disinterested waitress, warm/cold food, had to ask for bread (really? even cracker barrel gets that right!)greattasting average quality poorly heated food. nice atmosphere. nice menu. dinner for two- $141. felt like i got held up at gun point after the experience. try at your own risk. :(

garbage!!!. i have been to restaurants on the east coast, the west coast, the mid-west and the south. i have been to restaurants in canada, south america, central america, the caribbean, asia pac, and europe. in all my travels and all the restaurants i have sat down in from 1 star to 5 stars this was by far the worst experience i have ever had in my life.

first of all the service...

this restaurant is supposed to be representing "hartford's premier restaurant group" but sure didn't look like it unless of course hartford is a hell hole (hmmmm). our waitress while initially appearing attentive and useful slowly wore out her welcome and reverted right back to the 15yr old who takes your order at a burger king. the "floor manager" who so politely (sarcasm is a beautiful thing isn't it) greeted us when we walked in the door most likely has a picture of himself next to the word aloof in the dictionary. while aloofness is cute when you are picking on someone in high school, it is not a trait you want to have in his line of work. all in all they both made me feel bad for them. i mean if you can't do this right where the heck can you go from here?!

enough of that...onto the good part ... the food!!!

i will first start by saying i have been to some pretty darn good chop houses in my day. i mean i live diagonal one of the best in the business (ohhhhh donovan's please come up with a restaurant for dummies book so max's can get a clue).

so i decided to start off with a little vino and some oysters. vino came in a nice little mini-carafe and for some reason wasn't poured by the waitress. i didn't think i asked her to bend over the table or anything but i suppose this is something i can accomplish on my own (ok i'm nit picking now...). oysters were adequately sized and seemed fresh (considering i was in springfield).

i decided to go with the filet (gorgonzola) and was asked how i wanted it cooked. i replied regular (she didn't get that) which would indicate med rare and got some cheddar whipped potatoes to accompany it. the meal finally arrived (longer than it should have taken) and not only was the filet overcooked, but on one of my tomato's was agreatbig section of mold. yes!! mold taking up nearly an entire piece of a tomato!!! i was in complete shock! it wasn't like it was hidden either. i knew not to even begin eating because it was that obvious.

how in god's name can you pull something out, plate it, then have it checked by whomever is back there doing the checking, get passed to a waitress (we talked about her earlier) and not see mold on a tomato?!?! there is no excuse for this and the way the "floor manager" handled it with such irreverence was infuriating to say the least. this man offered no sincere apology or anything!

anyone who rates this "chop house" highly either #1 - has never been to a real chop house or #2 - got so drunk that they didn't actually know where they were and mistook it for an applebees. i feel bad that just because springfield isn't considered to be anywhere near a culinary capital that they are subjected to a place like this and would suggest that anyone who is in or around this area stay far away from this hell hole.

all in all this was the worst experience i have ever had at a restaurant in my life. i still didn't think i should skimp too much on the tip. maybe this will help "sarah m" finally get out of beautiful springfield!