Max's Wine Dive (Brunch) - YES, please!

****
Price: $$
Reviewed: Brunch
Attire: Casual
Location: Downtown
It's a rare occasion when all 3 Foodies get together for a meal, but Yas came to Austin, and we grabbed brunch before seeing her return to Houston!  Max's Wine Dive is a great place to get your friends together, nurse your hangover, and have an amazing fattening brunch!


deep fried eggs benedict: ***

JENN: Cat is going to say, don’t come here if you’re trying to be healthy, and I’m going to have to concur…it’s the fat kid’s paradise. I had the divine pleasure of experiencing the deep fried eggs benedict – poached eggs wrapped in prosciutto, the fried in bread crumbs (that sort of taste like the restaurants famous chicken). Two eggs were placed on top of arugula and asparagus and then drizzled with hollandaise sauce. Now, I’ve had way better hollandaise, but that was the only complaint. If you like your eggs runny, you will be disappointed. They’re going to be medium if not well done (which is how I like my eggs!)

mimosas: ***

The mimosas are a great deal ($12 for a large carafe). But...they were orange mimosas. Nothing more, nothing less.  I didn't dance in my seat.  Nothing spectacular or to write home about. I will say, at least they weren’t skimpy on the champagne.

the health nut: ***

CAT: Jenn, and our waitress for that matter, were absolutely right. Max’s Wine Dive is not, I repeat, NOT a place you want to eat if you’re trying to be healthy. Being the only “Health Nut” in the group, I decided to order my namesake. “The Health Nut” consisted of sliced fresh fruit, vanilla-mint yogurt and house made macadamia nut granola. It should have been named “The Squirrel Fodder.” However, if you’re not hungry, and looking to avoid the calories, feel free to order this dish. The yogurt was surprisingly tasty. It was light and sweet. By itself, the granola was too...well...nutty. It was a bit salty, with no sweet counter seasoning. I wished for a honey marinated macadamia nut. However, when mixed with the yogurt, the vanilla-mint balanced the heavy nut taste perfectly. It was pleasing, but nothing to shout about. There just simply wasn’t enough food, and not enough variation. It felt more like a continental breakfast at La Quinta. For good measure, and because I was starving, I ordered two eggs over-easy. After a bit of pepper, my meal was salvageable, but not brilliant.

fried chicken and waffles: ****

YAS: The Fried Chicken and Waffles were AWESOME. This may sound weird, but I could dine happily on just the chicken skin alone! It was crispy, not overcooked, and seasoned to perfection! The chicken was moist and was easy to cut through and there was A LOT of it! A thigh, leg and a breast to be exact. I ordered a side of a blue cheese/ranch mixture (and of course added a few dashes of Tabasco sauce. Hey! Don’t knock it until you try it!), and used that as a dip for my chicken--DIVINE! The waffle was cooked to perfection, lightly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, and it had a wonderful buttermilk and vanilla taste to it. The waffle came with honey, but I opted to use their syrup instead and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was! This is not your ordinary “Hungry Jack/Aunt Jemima/IHOP” buttermilk syrup. It had notes of cinnamon and it went perfectly with the waffle. Mmmm mmm GOOD!

red velvet pancakes: split decision. Yas: * Jenn: ****

YAS: Yes, I ordered two entrees. Before you judge me, you should know that I was torn between MAX’s Famous Fried Chicken and Waffles and MAX’s Red Velvet Pancakes. So, I decided to go with the latter with a half order of the former. While I waited on my meal (which took awhile because the chicken takes about 30 minutes to make) I sipped on a refreshing glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. But, I digress. On to the God awful Red Velvet Pancakes. Jenn had low expectations (see below), so she wasn’t disappointed by the taste. I, on the other hand, experienced extreme discomfort when I thought I would be tasting a red velvet pancake but got a chocolate/cinnamon one instead. EEK! The pecans that came on top were slightly burnt and tasted bitter and the whipped cream cheese could not salvage the disaster before me. Never. Again.

JENN: Pish posh, Yas. Those red velvet pancakes were glorious! (sing it with me.) They were the appropriate amount of chocolate for me, and cooked to perfection (I don’t like restaurant pancakes because they’re never cooked all the way through. Pancake batter ≠ cookie dough). I didn’t need all of the pecans (which were burnt)...I don’t like cream cheese icing, and I’m meh on syrup (please remember my aforementioned hatred for soggy pancakes), so it was wonderful. When Yas tried to give her pancake remnants to the waitress, I quickly intervened. Waste not, want not! (Whatever that means.) Matter of fact...I need to find a way to get a to-go order of these (or come up with a recipe for you all)!

ambiance: ***

JENN: I guess the place was pushing for natural lighting, because it was as if there wasn’t a simple light fixture in the place! Our entire party had trouble reading the menu...and we’re all under 30. But if you’re nursing a hangover...this might actually be a good option for you. Or if you’re a vampire.

service: *****

Our waitress was great! I always dread going out with more than 5 people because the waitstaff may get flustered, get orders mixed up, be irritable because of so many people (with questions about the menu, or have strange orders like we did), etc. But our waitress was kind, patient, and exceptionally friendly. Oh! And if you’re a wine snob, they’ll do tastings at your table too!