Restaurant Review: Max's of Manila in La Puente Hills, California

l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Maria Ciocon, Sim Ciocon, Andy Heiter, Tina Heiter

Some friends and I had lunch at Max's of Manila, a Filipino restaurant, at La Puente Hills, California. To many Filipinos, Max's is a nostalgic place that brings back memories of yesteryears in Manila. The beginnings of the restaurant goes back to 1945 when Maximo Gimenez opened a cafe. The chicken, in particular, was popular, and soon other Max's Restaurants opened with the slogan "The house that Fried Chicken Built."

Max's Chicken

When I was young, there was a Max's on Dewey Boulevard (now Roxas) near Malate Church. My family used to frequent that place. It was very much a part of Manila then, part of the fabric of our lives. After Sunday Mass, for instance, we would walk to Max's for dinner. During an age before fast food, Max's chicken was as close to fast food as we could get, and we used to order it to go.

My friends who had lunch with me at Max's on Saturday were Maria and Sim Ciocon, and Tina and Andy Heiter.

This particular restaurant is located in La Puente Hills Mall. The place is clean although it has a generic look. It does not have a Filipino ambiance.  They serve Filipino dishes, and we had: kare-kare, adobo, fresh lumpia, crispy pata, fried chicken, and halo-halo.

While I enjoyed the food, I did not think it was remarkable.

I'm rating Max's of Manila in La Puente 3 to 3.5 Stars.

Adobo

Crispy Pata

Fresh Lumpia

Halo-halo

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Tags: food, restaurants, reviews, Los Angeles, Southern California, La Puente, Max's, Filipino
This is all for now,
Cecilia