Food is great, but service at the take out counter is horrible! The attendants are checked out, offer little help to translate the menu, and are more interested in playing with their cell phones and talking to the wait staff.

I went and got the whole chicken and was not impressed, it was decent, nothing special. I will try one more time on one of the regular dishes, but not the whole chicken. I will stick to my Kiki Riki in Union City.

This place is amazing. We've gotten take out from there twice. My husband and I are like wild animals tearing apart and devouring that chicken, that's how good it is.

+1 for the garlic rice.

This place rocks, another take on fried chicken that's delicious. Garlic rice and pancit rounded out our first visit. Can't wait to try some of the other entrees!

First Max's of Manila franchise on the East Coast opens in Jersey City

Published: Thursday, November 04, 2010, 1:06 PM Updated: Thursday, November 04, 2010, 1:11 PM

Adam Robb/For The Jersey Journal Adam Robb/For The Jersey Journal

With two snips of the scissors last week, Jersey City Mayor Jeremiah Healy cut through the red ribbon crossing the threshold of Max's of Manila, the first East Coast franchise of the storied Philippines eatery, at 687 Newark Ave.

For any other business, such a ceremony would signal its grand opening, but Max's has its own ritual, and moments later, Cecile Rebong, Consul General of the Philippines, was deftly splitting a chicken with a butcher's knife under the skylight of the restaurant's second-floor dining room.

Slicing through the small bird, prepared in a dedicated fryer in the downstairs kitchen, she was ready to serve the first pieces to her honored guests on a dais -- including Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez and Council President Peter Brennan -- who proceeded to indulge following the mayor's first bite. With a full mouth he gave them the go-ahead, signaling his approval with two thumbs up.

Afterward, all guests received a single piece of chicken eaten in a toast to the new establishment.

Despite the restaurant's formal introduction to the Journal Square community, most guests felt at home, as if they had eaten at Max's all their lives, and with good reason.

For many immigrants to Jersey City, their familiarity with the brand dates back 65 years to when Maximo Gimenez opened his Philippines home to American GIs following World War II.

"In 1945 my grandfather started the restaurant," Bill Rodgers, the current managing director of Max's LLC told a crowd already well versed in the story. "He was inviting GIs over to his house, serving them drinks and his niece concocted some fried chicken. We're not sure where this secret recipe came from, whether it was in her head or from a GI."

But while the recipe remains a guarded secret to this day -- despite several attempts not even the mayor could extract the formula -- word spread, as did the opportunity to experience the tender meat, traditionally served with hot sauce or banana ketchup.

There are now more than 100 branches of Max's of Manila throughout the world and after reaching from coast to coast in the United States, forthcoming franchises are preparing to open in Toronto, Canada, Sydney, Australia and Dubai.

Noting the state of the economy, the mayor was quick to share his appreciation for Max's commitment to opening in Jersey City.

"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. As you know, we are in the new Great Depression not just here in Jersey City or these United States, but all over the world," Healy said. "There's tremendous economic downturn, and its very encouraging to see that businesses such as Max's of Manila and entrepreneurs such as Patricia (Berberabe) and her family are still moving forward in investing here in Jersey City."

That forward progress began in the summer of 2008, when Max's first announced it was hiring staff, and continued a year later when, ready to open, the restaurant was forced to remain closed until it adapted to new building codes. Still, nothing could deter franchisee Berberabe whose nostalgia for Max's cuisine inspired her to open in New Jersey.

"Because of my love of Max's Chicken from when I was in college, as soon as I learned Max was a franchise I put in my application," she told the room of guests dominated by friends and family.

Such intimacy was why Rodgers believed Berberabe was the perfect candidate for a franchise. He wanted to see his family business become the business of other families.

The new owner's decades-long connection to Max's is not surprising to Rebong.

"Finally part of the Philippines is now in Jersey City," she delighted in announcing before becoming wistful herself. "How many wedding receptions were held at Max's Restaurant in the Philippines? Baptismal receptions, birthday celebrations, anniversary celebrations, graduation celebrations, parties were held at Max's Restaurant in the Philippines? It started long before we had the pizzas and the hot dogs and all those stands and restaurants in the Philippines. And we have all been part of that culture."

It is true the menu at Max's is more focused on the cuisine of the Philippines than similar chains like Jollibee in Woodside, Queens, which infuses its menu with American dishes like spaghetti served beside their own variation on fried chicken. While Rebong dines there as well, she feels a stronger connection to her homeland here where meals feature more traditional dishes including crispy pata or pork knuckle, kare-kare oxtail in peanut sauce, lumpiang ubod heart of palm wrapped in an egg crepe and, for dessert, halo-halo, a frozen mixture of fruit, rice, beans and ice cream.

"You ask all these people who migrated from the Philippines to here: Before we had hamburgers, we had Max's,'' she said. "It's part of the Philippines history, part of the Philippine way of life."

? 2010 NJ.com. All rights reserved.


http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _of_manila_franchise.html

I came here twice this week for lunch. It is a nice change from fast food. It is inexpensive.

Max's is a franchise from the Philippines. It is a sit-down restaurant with waiter service. The specialty is fried-chicken. They have noodles and other Filipino food.

Max's of Manila
687 Newark Ave
Jersey City, NJ 07306
(201) 798-2700

http://www.maxschicken.com/index.php?

Menu:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/40326556/Ma ... f-Manila-Jersey-City-Menu

Article:
http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... nchise-on-the-east-coast/