Max's Opera Cafe

Max’s Opera Café B+
601 Van Ness Avenue
415-771-7300

This is the current home base of Max’s full service San Francisco restaurants and bars, and I think it’s one of the earliest in their once high flying chain. There are locations all over the bay area, but only Geary and Mason in the city is a full scale Max’s as far as I know. Max’s original theme was that their restaurants were a bad place for a diet and they still practice that spellbinding magic for the food addict by offering enormous plates of good quality grub in a vibrant and exciting atmosphere. The burgers they’re so famous for are huge, close to a pound of good ground chuck which is cooked to order and placed on a lightly toasted equally huge bun. With a great selection of cheese’s which are also applied with no regard or regret for arteries and the heart healthy fads creeping through the dining world these days, this platter holding the cheeseburger is served with maybe a pound of perfectly cooked steak fries and a bowl of tangy housemade Cole slaw and some house cured dill pickles which makes for one of the most decadent burgers available in our fair city.

Max’s also excels with their salads, and has one of the best Cobb’s I’ve ever had outside the original Brown Derby in Hollywood. I personally think they offer the best Reuben to be had west of New York City and offer a huge variety of pasta, steaks, poultry, sides and sandwiches. A full bar and live music which is often randomly accompanied by waiters and waitresses jumping in and singing show tunes and even opera in the middle of taking and serving you food orders. A word of caution to the Max’s first timer…save room for their fantastic house made desserts which are legendary and scrumptious. Many second and third generation regulars at Max’s consider this their favorite birthday haunt as kids and return frequently to recapture sweet memories from their youth, and smart people go their with the intention of their meal also being tomorrow’s breakfast, lunch or dinner and that is a true testament to the quality and quantity of Max’s. Great burgers & ambience!