Wow. What can I say about this place? Where do I even begin? I guess at the beginning!…read more I first came here in 1997, as a guest of the company I was working with, that happened to be located in Hannover. It was already their go-to, so I knew it would be good- but I wasn't prepared for how good. First of all, it's not on a main street, and even then, the entrance is hidden. But once you walk inside, it's a new world. There's a bar in the middle, and then tables all around it. It's old school meets modern, dark wood, and the walls are adorned with porcelain signs from the past. It seems dark, but it's lit well enough to see. The menu (they have English ones as well) is extensive, and I have had nearly everything on it- every single thing I have had has been fantastic- but my favorite is the Steak Forsthaus- served in an iron skillet with potatoes...my mouth waters thinking about it. I came here upon every visit to Hannover, which was very frequently for many years, until I moved on from the company, yet I still found myself in Hannover every year or two, and made a visit here. Several years have passed since my last trip to Hannover (thanks, Covid), but I finally made it back this summer- I walked in and it was like going back in time. The only difference this time was that the Steak Forsthaus was served on a plate, but it was just as good. I brought this fact up to the waitress and she said they still had the iron skillets, and on my next visit, they served it to me that way- now that's service! I cannot say enough good things about this place, the food, the service, the decor, the ambiance- as good as you will find. Do yourself a favor- find this place, walk in and order a cold beer and take in the atmosphere...

Really loved this place. Cozy pub with good tap offering and great food. Had the Shulze and it was…read moreabsolutely wonderful. Great sauce with just right amount of spice. Super helpful and friendly staff.

This is certainly the best gutbürgerliche (traditional German food) restaurant in central Hannover…read moreand may be one of the best of this increasingly rare type in all of Germany. The Schweinshaxe and Eisbein are especially fine, the former exploding with molten fat from perfectly crisped skin. I rate Max W. at five stars for doing what it does so well, but to enjoy it--indeed to eat there at all--you must adhere exactingly to its Unwritten Laws. Despite its working man's prices and an interior looking like a down-at-heel Studentenkneipe this is a feinschmeker (gourmet) restaurant and must be treated as such. You need to reserve by telephone at least several days in advance, and humbly offer them an appealing number of diners (ideally either four or six: they have only 25 places at tables and four stools at the bar and must be ruthless about maximizing their yield: do not even think of asking for a table for one; they will simply refuse (reserve--and you do still need to reserve--a seat at the bar). Persons wandering in without a reservation hoping for a table--and especially tourists without German--are treated with fine forthright traditional north-German rudeness: "Nein! Nein! Weg! Weg!" (Sometimes in chorus.) This is a performance--once one has actually received permission to eat there the staff are warm and charming in a rough, Hannover, sort of way--but, I guarantee you (having suffered this) that you will not recognize the tone of your expulsion as a jolly act when it occurs, nor will you notice the ironical pleasure the regulars are taking in your fate, because you have just become a familiar--three or four times an hour--and well-loved part of the evening's entertainment. This is the same particularly German form of quiet rejoycing at the artful humiliation of others that has made Sven, the cruel bouncer at Berlin's legendary Berghain dance club, a figure of national affection. Those refused entry at Max W. become a special German sauce on the already superb food. And whether you end up as a diner or back on the pavement with your head spinning, either way you have had a perfectly authentic Hannover experience.

Been traveling all over Eastern Europe and this has been the best German food. The food is…read moreauthentic and very reasonably priced.