Max & Erma's coming to South Florida!

In yesterday's Palm Beach Post there was a blurb that Max & Erma's is planning to open up two locations in south Florida in the immediate future. The first will be on Southern Blvd. in Royal Palm Beach and they plan to open up in November. The next location will be in Jupiter sometime after that. The franchisee has also said that they plan for as many as 10 locations across the region (Wherever that means?)

I've never eaten at Max & Erma's but from their website, it looks like it could be another place like The Counter, which promtly went out of business down here. Any info on this place would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all

Max & Erma's are all over the place here in Pittsburgh. IMHO, they are a short step up from the Applebee's and TGIFs of the world. I do admit to really liking their tortilla soup, but the rest of the food is very forgettable.

I wonder about the opening of any new Max & Erma's in the near future. Max & Erma's was just sold last week and the new owner of the company says no expansion this year.

http://www.maxandermas.com/PressReleaseFiles/Sale_of_Company.pdf

I see they have taken jalapenos off their menu for the time being, but have resumed putting tomato's back on.
http://www.maxandermas.com/assets/documents/pdf/Tomato_Jalepenos_Poster_1.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

Max & Erma's are all over the place here in Pittsburgh. IMHO, they are a short step up from the Applebee's and TGIFs of the world. I do admit to really liking their tortilla soup, but the rest of the food is very forgettable.

When I lived in Pittsburgh, I used to go there for their Penn Pilsener.....Oops, wait a second- they didn't brew it-they just served it!

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

but the rest of the food is very forgettable.

Good word for their food, FORGETTABLE!
We ate at Max and Erma's while in Erie, PA at the nearby indoor waterslide park.
It was me, my sister and hubby, and their 4 kids.
Nobody's meal jumped out at me as being that special.. quality was MAYBE about average.

Even though it has a VERY fun sounding menu, the food sounds better overall than it tastes!!

As I am sure Michael Hoffman can attest {well, maybe not, if he wasn't there from their inception}, Max & Erma's started in Columbus, Ohio.

Their original location, in the German Village of Columbus, is very unique. When they franchised in Cincinnati, when I first visited, they had a great, new idea. They had humungous burgers, and an ice cream bar. This was in the 1970's. They had phones on each table, and each table was numbered so every one could see the number, and you could call other tables. As a kid, I thought it was cute & fun. I can see now how calling other tables, while dining, would become obnoxious.

But, they had HUMUNGOUS burgers, AND an ice cream bar!!

They don't have that stuff anymore.

They are just a generic chain restaurant, without anything much unique to offer.

ALTHOUGH, if you are in Columbus, Ohio, go to Schmidt's for food, but stop by the original Max & Erma's for drinks.



Not necessarily a place for the kiddies...

Well, maybe for the kiddies, but, if you stop at the bar...



EDITED TO SAY I KNEW I TOOK THESE PICTURES FOR A REASON!

If you like good food...don't go here.

quote:

Originally posted by soozycue520
..... But, they had HUMUNGOUS burgers, AND an ice cream bar!!.....

Four or five years ago they had the ice cream bar at the Greentree Pa location. Very average at best and all three times I was there (Greentree was the last) the service was barely adequate.

Kevin

It's like going to Applebee's or Friday's or Chili's --- if you like those chains you'll probably enjoy it. As others have posted "average". Not terrible, just average.

Andrea

quote:

Originally posted by soozycue520

As I am sure Michael Hoffman can attest {well, maybe not, if he wasn't there from their inception}, Max & Erma's started in Columbus, Ohio.

Their original location, in the German Village of Columbus, is very unique. When they franchised in Cincinnati, when I first visited, they had a great, new idea. They had humungous burgers, and an ice cream bar. This was in the 1970's. They had phones on each table, and each table was numbered so every one could see the number, and you could call other tables. As a kid, I thought it was cute & fun. I can see now how calling other tables, while dining, would become obnoxious.

As a matter of fact, my youngest daughter managed the German Village Max & Erma's for a couple of years back in the late '80s and early '90s. She started working for the company in the late '70s as the first-ever administrative assistant. She was 17, I think, and one of her duties as a teenager was to make runs to the wholesale state liquor store to pick up needed booze. When she eventually celebrated her 21st birthday she dropped in to the state store to let them know she'd just become of age to buy the stuff.

She worked as a hostess, waitress, dishwasher, line cook and assistant manager prior to taking over in German Village.

Shortly after that first Max & Erma's opened my wife and a friend were having lunch or something there and some little boy, who turned out to be 10, kept calling her and asking for a date.

You're right about their burgers. They were always really terrific.

Great story, Michael.

I agree, it's not Roadfood-quality, but the one in my town (Huntington, W.Va.) is still yards above the surrounding chain restaurants (TGIF, Applebee's). I've taken dates there and we've always been happy with both the food and the service.

quote:

Originally posted by Duesy

Great story, Michael.

I agree, it's not Roadfood-quality, but the one in my town (Huntington, W.Va.) is still yards above the surrounding chain restaurants (TGIF, Applebee's). I've taken dates there and we've always been happy with both the food and the service.

Huntington, eh? When we lived in Charleston in 1965 and 1966 we used to drive to Huntington occasionally because the kids loved McDOnald's and Charleston didn't have any. On Saturday nights I used to do the 11 o'clock sports at WSAZ from the Huntington studios and my wife and I would usually stop for dinner at Jim's Steak and Spaghetti House.

I have not visited Max & Erma's in years. The first time I tried them was in Columbus, OH and at that time, they were very good. That was probably about 15 years ago.

They were directly adjacent to my hotel north of Columbus.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

phones at the tables? in the 70's in Connecticut there were 2 bars one in Manchester, one in Southington called The Dialtone Lounge.
anyone remember them?

I had dinner at a Max & Erma's just off I-65 in southern Indiana. I enjoyed it. It's a chain but it's still something I can't get in Nashville.