Max's Restaurant Chicago, Cuisine of the Philippines
Cindy Rose · 697 Google reviewsMax's Restaurant Chicago, Cuisine of the Philippines — straightforward filipino in Irving Park. Nothing about this place is trying to impress you, and that's the point. Real recipes, real ingredients, no shortcuts. Liz Rivers: "The crispy pata was also cooked to perfection, with tender meat and crispy skin" [$$]
What 537 diners keep saying
What 537 diners keep saying
verbatim, from Google
“It feels at home dining in this restaurant where you eat the good food and with the good servers. Thank you everyone for always giving your best to always feel us at Home.”
“2025-September If you’re craving delicious Filipino food, this is the place! Plenty of parking and a clean, welcoming space (even the women’s restroom has two stalls—small detail, but appreciated!). The food was absolutely amazing, and the halo-halo dessert? It’s HUMONGOUS—seriously, it could feed 10 people and still have leftovers. 🍧 The waitresses were so polite and made us feel right at home. Come hungry and bring friends—you’ll need them to help tackle that dessert! Highly recommended!”
“This was the second time there and I thought I had a review previously but I don’t. So this place is amazing with Filipino cuisine and being Puerto Rican some of the dishes I am familiar with like the beef steak. I had chosen that with garlic fried rice and it was delicious. My wife and her kids order sisig , crispy pata, pancit, pork bbq and beef soup. It was the best. Definitely recommend going.”
“I ordered the lechon kawali sisig, and it was perfectly crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, and the beef nilaga, which was perfect for a cool, windy day. For dessert I got the buko pandan and it was very refreshing. Flavorful food and excellent service!”
“Great authentic Filipino food! Max’s never disappoints. Max’s Fried chicken is simple yet satisfying! Sweet Potato fries were so good! The Filipino bbq skewers, you get 4 that had plenty of delicious meat enough to share. Crispy Pata was good! Also plenty of drinks and desserts!”
“We recently visited Max’s Restaurant in Chicago and tried their Labor Day Weekend Bundle ($80), which I thought was an excellent deal. The set included a whole fried chicken with fries, crispy pata, pancit sotanghon, and beef kare-kare. The fried chicken was a standout: moist, juicy, and with perfectly crunchy skin that tasted just like I remembered. The crispy pata was also cooked to perfection, with tender meat and crispy skin. The pancit sotanghon was flavorful, and the beef kare-kare had a rich, delicious sauce, though I wished it had more vegetables. The bagoong alamang was very salty, so a little goes a long way. We also ordered a large rice, which was the perfect side for all the heavy dishes. For dessert, the leche flan was just okay, less sweet and not as rich as others I’ve had. Overall, the food was delicious, portions were generous, and the bundle offered great value. The service staff were friendly, hardworking, and efficient, which added to the experience. The one drawback was the bathroom, which was not well maintained and had clutter nearby, taking away from the otherwise positive impression. All in all, this was a solid 4-star experience ⭐⭐⭐⭐. We enjoyed our meal and would definitely come back for the food, while hoping to see some improvements in the facilities.”
“We have been dining here since it opened but recent price increases border on the arbitrary & exorbitant. The last straw might be that they just raised the prices again while also making the portions smaller!! This was very obvious with the Lumpia Ubod! Crispy Pata is great but also getting smaller and pricier.. Their famous fried chicken has become so dry that we stopped ordering it some time ago. Sad to see the quality deteriorate while prices become unreasonable. Updated 6/7/26: Response to Max's Truthful reviews are for the good of all. They open the eyes of the public and also businesses who are able to use reviews esp. the negative ones to improve their quality and pricing. Customer relations with open minded management is vitally important. Quality is good on most dishes but the prices and sneaky portions unfortunately are not proportional with similar fares from local restaurants rates.”
“Below average compared to other Filipino restaurants in Chicago. The pork sisig was extremely oily and salty. Garlic rice was probably the only good part of the meal — very fragrant and flavorful. The Kare Kare had large beef pieces, but the meat had a slightly gamey taste, and the peanut sauce just wasn’t for me. Prices were reasonable ($20–30 per person), but I probably wouldn’t come back when there are better Filipino spots nearby.”
“We drove an hour to get to Max’s and arrived at exactly 4:45 PM on New Year’s Eve. The staff initially told us they would ask if dine-in was still possible. I mentioned that I checked online and saw that the closing time was 6:00 PM. The supervisor on duty, Gino, approached us and said they could no longer accommodate dine-in. I politely asked if we could be considered as the last dine-in customers, given the posted closing time. Unfortunately, he responded in a not-so-good tone, saying that if we insisted, the staff would have to stay late. 😕 I completely understand being concerned about staff hours especially on New Year’s Eve with so many bulk orders but the way it was communicated felt unprofessional and unnecessary. That was the most disappointing part of this experience. We decided to just take the food to go, and before leaving, I even apologized to the staff, knowing how exhausting the day must have been. 🙏 I genuinely hope our food was prepared with care. That said, I am still an avid fan of Max’s, even back in the Philippines 🇵🇭, and the food remains top-notch and consistent as always. 🍗🔥 For today’s experience, I’m giving 2 stars, mainly due to the supervisor’s attitude. However, I still love Max’s and hope future visits will be better. ❤️ Update (March 2026) We visited Max’s today, Saturday, around 2 PM and the place was buzzing! Even with the restaurant nearly at capacity, the weekend staff handled the high volume with impressive professionalism. Everyone was incredibly polite and accommodating despite how busy it was. A special shout-out to Jeanna, who provided truly exceptional service. She is a model employee and made our dining experience seamless. To Max’s management: Jeanna is definitely a keeper! As for the food, it was exceptional as usual. Its always a reliable spot for a great meal but the service today really took it to the next level. We’ll definitely be back!”
“Obviously our Waitress did not care at all maybe because it was sunday, no smile, just did NOT CARE Ask extra salt, the shaker was so.. dirty, and they csme back 5 minutes Katerina go take it for another table, ...really 1 salt shaker in the entire restaurant My kury kury was warm and the eggplant not cook hard ...not good. This not the traditional way Will not come back . Napakalungkot!”
“We ordered classic pork sisig and lapaz batchoy. We barely ate either of them, (maybe 1-2 bites) sisig was so smushy it didn’t look appealing at all and not tasty, same with the batchoy. We told them we didn’t like it and we didn’t even eat it but they still make us pay full price. Very Disappointing! Edit: responding to Max’s: Actually we absolutely did tell her! When she asked how it was we told her it was not good and very mushy and we weren’t eating it. She told us next time just order the sisig kawali. Then she brought us the check. So to say we failed to mention anything is a straight up lie… growing up in the philippines I have had lots of sisig amd this was definetly not “original sisig” it was honestly very bad”
“Missing item from the order and had to wait 30 mins from the pick up time. This order was already placed the day before! Mind you I had to call 8 times NO ANSWER! First call was answered and no one was talking. All I hear was customers on the background. Had to pay $18 more for something I didn’t receive.”
Sounds like your kind of place?
Star it — your hit list is where dinner decisions get made.
One email a month — new openings, hidden gems, and where locals are actually eating.
More Filipino in Uptown & North Side
See the ranking →
In the same lane · Filipino, mid-range
If it's packed, walk to…
More good rooms in Irving Park, minutes away.