MAX’s Wine Dive

Absolutely loved the food! The collard greens and fried chicken were absolutely amazing!!! The environment is nice and chill and the staff was friendly. Went here for brunch on a Sunday afternoon and made reservations the night before. I was seated immediately and had a drink within 5 minutes. Overall I will be coming to this location again and i highly recommend it to others!

We celebrated my sister’s birthday last weekend and… We had the gluten free fried chicken which was crunchy, moist and fabulish. To top if off we had a few bottles of champagne. Nothing better than maxing out my calorie count in 10 seconds or less. Worth it!
Service was awesome!

Brilliant — amazing every time I go. 25% off bubbly on Fridays. Never pass up the chefs specials! Proper fancy southern food done right! Love the staff and plan to make this my go to!

Haven’t been here before, and it was on the bucket list since observing it in Austin, but missing the chance to visit.
Had about 35 minute wait that ended up being 20, which was nice. They were extremely efficient at clearing tables and seating tables, which was impressive. Most Dallas restaurants are notorious for sophomoric service and slow seating regarding the host stand, so definitely a nice change of pace.
We started off with an old world red wine flight (See posted picture). 2 of 4 really spoke to me and my companion. Specifically the Bichot Viellies Vignes Burgundy and the Fontecuoia Sangiovese Reserve. The former would be good for an afternoon gala. The latter was just good, plain and simple.
Next came the spinach dip. It was spinach, in a cheese sauce, with bacon bits and another non-​descript white cheese on top in a mound, surrounded by too thin tortilla chips. Mixed it all in and it was very delicious. Too much for two people, but definitely good. I tend to prefer my spinach and artichoke dips thicker, with more of the select vegetable, but this was your standard fair.
From there we split a Max & Cheese, and a straight order of Max’s Fried Chicken. My companion voraciously ate the Max & Cheese, but graciously left me half. It was everything a pricey mac & cheese should be. I’ve paid more for worse, so was pleasantly surprised.
The fried chicken was large, moist, and just enough frying. It was too dark, with just enough crackle. The collard greens were good, larger leaf so less out-​of-​a-​can-​ish. The mash potatoes, while sadly small in total, were delicious. The toast was your standard. My companion did not like the honey sweet chili dipping sauce, but I thought it was fitting. Just wasn’t interested this evening.
We added an additional glass of the Sangiovese from before (See, told you it was good!), and a Finca Del Sur Malbec. Both were good, but I’m prone to the lower prices Malbec’s; I haven’t found greater quality or flavor in anything beyond store bough. Definitely can’t say the same of the Sangiovese; it was worth every penny.
Service overall was friendly, helpful, and relatively timely.
My one star off is for the menu; it’s all oil, grease, or cream based. The mashed potatoes were the only untouched starch amongst it all. You need something to counterbalance all the amazing comfort food on your stomach; just saying.
Again, great place, and would definitely return.

OMG this fried chicken! AMAZING! Best I have ever had. I will come back soon. The glass of champagne was such a great combination. I had Moët imperial and it was great! Loved it!

Chicken and waffles were amazing! A bit of a long wait, but we had a large group. They have a full bar, a pair of TVs, and to top it off Ben was a great waiter. Good times!

I wish I can say more about this place as I was there for an event, only had a glass of their champagne.
I probably try their gluten-​free fried chicken.

Definite potential here, but there are some factors that prevented me from having a better experience when I came here for Saturday brunch. Compared to a lot of other restaurants in the West Village area, we waited about 20 minutes to be seated when we came at noon aka prime time. We actually didn’t plan on coming here, but all the other brunch establishments required at least 30min-​1hr wait, plus we were in a time crunch. There was a weird soy sauce-​like smell when we walked in – a little off-​putting, but my nose adjusted to it while we waited for a table. Service was efficient, and the food came out pretty quickly. Their brunch menu is also pretty unique but limited, with a decent number of dishes including fried chicken (which is apparently what they’re known for). I ordered the «Southern Chicken Benedict,» and I was really excited to try it because it was a unique and southern twist to my favorite brunch dish. Think cornbread instead of english muffin, fried chicken instead of ham, and collared greens instead of spinach. SUPER YUM RIGHT? Unfortunately, I can’t quite say that. I’d give the fried chicken itself 4 stars, tasty and not dry at all. There was also a little spicy kick to it. However, the dish overall was really salty. It’s surprisingly a very heavy dish too, even though it doesn’t come with any sides. Based on the first bite alone, I was a fan, but by the time I finished, it was just a little too much and too salty for me to enjoy.
Overall, I’m glad I tried the food here, but not sure if I would come back again until they tweak the saltiness level of their food. At the least, I do think it’s worth a visit. The restaurant itself isn’t very big so I wouldn’t recommend coming here with a party of more than 4.

So this is my second time coming to MAX’s Wine Dive. And the first time in Dallas (I tried the Austin location many years ago and apparently forgot to review that location but my memory, unfortunately, has an expiration date).
What I do remember was that MAX’s Wine Dive in Austin wasn’t that great — and it was pretty generic. And I understood that to be the hallmark of a chain restaurant. What I did not realize was that the «chain» is actually a small one, with pretty much one location for every main Texan city (and one in Denver). And I didn’t realize that it also started in Houston. Regardless, I remember leaving the New Year Eve celebration thinking that the food was not very ingenious and that it tasted mass-​produced.
Fast forward two years to today, I can tell you that the brunch is better. I do have some gripes though — with the primary one being that they did not offer much in the menu in ways of proteins. There was only two dishes that had proteins — and they both consisted of fried chicken. The rest were just heavy on carbs (and no, I don’t really count the eggs and bacon as proteins on the same level as the meats). But as far as it tasted, it tasted pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.
I ordered the Fried Chicken platter which is jalapeño-​buttermilk marinated, deep fried slow and low, served with mashed potatoes, collard greens and Texas toast. That’s what the menu said, at least. And what I got was good collard greens that had been cooked in apple cider vinegar, good mashed potatoes, bland toast (not buttered enough, and it wasn’t served with butter, jam, or any spread), and good fried chicken — one dark leg, and one white breast. The leg won over the breast over the flavor, since I didn’t think the breast was marinated long enough and it came out a little bit too dry the farther in you eat into it. At least, most of the meal was good, and you’d be full before you could eat everything.
I also tried a friend of mine’s Fried Egg Sandwich which consists of artisan sourdough, three fried eggs, applewood-​smoked bacon, Gruyère, Bibb lettuce, tomatoes and truffle oil, served with truffle chips. Even though there’s no chicken here, and these ingredients are pretty very basic. Basic enough that I could make this at home actually (the truffle flavor infused oil tastes similar to mine. If you don’t have one, you should get it ASAP. Order it at Amazon if you have to). However, it did come out tasty, even though the person who ordered it complained that her egg yolk wasn’t made over easy, or runny enough.
I also shared the MAX ‘n Cheese, which is the cavatappi pasta tossed in truffle cream with provolone, Gruyère and Parmigiana Reggiano. And I thought it tasted good — the mix of cheeses were a good blend. And it’s always awesome to have a hint of truffle thrown into the mix. So really, I can’t complain about this one even if I wanted to. My other friend, who is pickier than I am, tried to comment on it being too cheesy, but we laughed since we knew that all mac and cheese are cheesy by default. Overall, this was a good mac and cheese. If anything, I would have liked it more if the pasta was a tad bit more al dente. It was not mushy, but it wasn’t al dente either. It was almost-​mushy. Perhaps they could try toasting it with the cheese more before applying the truffle oil. But that’s just me being picky on perfecting what is already a decent mac and cheese.
Would I come back? I wouldn’t mind. The mimosas were good. Service was friendly. And overall plates were tasty even though the food is not at the point where it should be to become a foodie destination. As for the price points, they’re a little more higher than what I would like to see, but then again, the portions are much bigger than what I would have desired. I guess that’s the American Dream, isn’t it?

The best thing about Max’s is the chicken, hands down. Whether it’s fried chick, chicken wings or chicken breast– their batter is phenomenal!
Sadly I had to give them 3 stars, maybe next time 4 but I’m a big fan of customer service. It was a Sunday brunch on the patio at 11:15 and they had only one guy working– it wasn’t his fault, just poor planning. Our drinks came at strange and late times but he also gave a few for free so that helped!
I had the chicken friend chicken waffle– gravy on the side add syrup. It was fantastic! I also suggest trying their honey chipotle sauce, it was great with the chicken!
Mimosas $ 3 and not too bad, good ratio of oj to champs.
I will definitely be back, their chicken is to die for!

Went here for Saturday brunch, it was AMAZING! My friend and I both got chicken and waffles… Their fried chicken is the best I’ve ever had. Perfection. Our friend got the French Toast and she said it was really good. She got grits on the side, which I tasted and they had a really good flavor.
Service was good, and mimosas were only $ 3.
Go here!

A cute idea for a great area of Dallas, however their menu needs some work. Interesting options ranging from fried chicken to past dishes.
Prices are kind of high. We started with the wine flight and were somewhat disappointed with the amount of wine in each glass. Like literally a sip. I was the. Disappointed to hear they didn’t have any burgers… Um okay. It was a Saturday afternoon? Not a huge menu. Ended up with a stomach ache afterwards.
Service was friendly although they seemed more into themselves than the customers. Opted for not wine the second time around and went with our waitresses suggestion of something with absinthe in it. Yucky. I couldn’t even finish half of it.
Atmosphere was kind of dead but it was a rainy day. Cute concept poor execution. Don’t know if I’d come again

Our family got together for brunch and we had a great time! Our waitress, Asia, was great, the food was delicious & the atmosphere was perfect. We even were asked if there was particular football game we wanted to watch. Would definitely recommend this place to others.

Queso is worth having and they have good happy hour wine choices for everyone. I would just go for happy hour and queso, ordered another small plate and it was flavorless.

Haven’t been to Max’s in about two years and oh boy have things changed! When I went two years ago, food was great and cooked to perfection. Not the case this time. First, the food took forever to come out and when it did my chicken was not cooked. It was bleeding. So I told the waitress and she says «Oh a vein must have busted». Bish whet?! That chicken was UNCOOKED. Call a spade a spade. Miss me with the false excuses. I’m not new to the chicken game, I’m black… So she takes it to the back and brings out a new piece in like 5mins, which was weird and suspect to me cause they claim to cook the chicken «slow», umm ok. Anyways, my sister’s chicken was a bit pink also. She tried to eat around the pink parts but I guess that didn’t help because she has been on the toilet and throwing up since she ate it. Smh. Safe to say, I’ll never be back!

Lord, the service is so freaking slow here. We went for dinner on a Wednesday night around 8:30 pm and more than half the tables were empty.
We kept it simple, just ordered the fried chicken plate and fries as an appetizer to hold us over since the chicken is supposed to take «15 or 20 minutes.» The fries alone took over 25 minutes and the chicken took around 50 minutes to arrive at our table. This is insane. I wish I could say it was worth it, but I was disappointed. The chicken itself was ok, although on the salty side (maybe they left the chicken in the brine too long?). The collard greens tasted old and the mashed potatoes were only ok. The fries were pretty oily but we were hungry so we scarfed those down while we waited for the chicken. Not a fan, maybe their other dishes are better, but I was under the impression their chicken is where it’s at but no way it’s good enough to wait 50 minutes for or is it worth the price.
I don’t know if I’ll come back for dinner, maybe happy hour/​brunch food will be better.

I was expecting so much more from Max’s after all of the hype.
We came here for dinner a few weekends ago and were surprised to be greeted and seated so quickly. I loved the patio.
Our waitress was another story. She was rude and short with us the entire evening. When I asked a question about the menu, she offered little help.
My husband ended up ordering the friend chicken and I chose the Foie Gras Peanut Butter and Jelly with fries. While we were waiting for the food, our waitress never refilled our drinks and spent most of her time flirting with one of the other tables.
When our food arrived my I was shocked to find an ordinary peanut butter and jelly sandwich. For $ 22? It came with a half of a banana and a stalk of celery. While the sandwich was good and rich (because of the foie gras), it was not worth $ 22 and I was appalled at myself for ordering it. The fries were delicious. And my hubby loved his meal.
However, for what we ended up paying and for the service, we unfortunately will not be back.

Stopped in here for a glass of wine. For being labeled as a dive bar, it was more expensive than I was expecting. I would have liked to see more glasses of wine in the $ 8-​$ 12 range. (There were only a few on the menu in red in this range and two we couldn’t get because the tap system was broken). They did have wine flights, which I don’t see very often. I also liked the T-​shirts the waiters has on that read, «champagne and fried chicken. Why not?» The service was good. We sat on the patio, which was well shaded in the afternoon. There are a few wine bars in this area, so would love to stop by others the next and do a true compare.

Max’s remains a great spot in the West Village if you want to avoid the stuffy wine bar crowd and let loose with some friends after work at a place that feels like bar, while still drinking the good stuff. Much of its happy hour menu is fried; but deep-​fried anything is a fitting contrast to the charcuterie boards which seem to have found themselves on every menu in Dallas (ho…hum…). They even deep-​fried the Pan Borracho, and smeared a spicy, peppy sauce atop. This «drunken bread» would have made an indulgent snack when baked, but after frying it made for a rich treat reminiscent of state fair fare.
On this, my second visit, the manager and server were very attentive and tried to right the wrong of my substandard service on my previous visit.
–Bottom line? Max’s wants you to be happy. And with all that wine flowing at those happy hour prices, I’m betting you will be.

Sunday brunch was just so busy that we had to wait a couple of minutes to be seated but once greeted we were welcomed with great warmth!
Sarah was our waitress and she was very friendly and prompt and attentive. We are a fan of chicken and waffles at breadwinners and wanted to compare bears with Max’s. The chicken fried chicken had a great amount of crisp, flavor and spice. Note — this plate is enough to serve a party of two.
I ordered the Eggs Any Way — scrambled — and they had a side of habanero salsa that gave a good kick in the buns even with just a dab.
I didn’t have their mimosa; however, I saw a ton of people around me that ordered this. It all looks so delicious but I just don’t drink that early.
Timing was a little bit slow on waiting for the food but service was spot-​on.
I will say that Max’s chicken fried chicken and waffles beats Breadwinners!
We’ll be back for more food!