We went out to eat here one night while we were in town house hunting and had a great time. We just happened to be there on a night there was live music so it was a very jovial atmosphere. The bartender/server was attentive and friendly and I enjoyed their selection of pizza flavors. We chose the BBQ pizza and it was different than others I've had before because they used a Nashville [?] BBQ sauce. My only complaint was the crust...it was more like a saltine cracker than pizza crust but that won't stop me from coming back once we move to town. read more

The food (we had 2 different types of pizza) Was so bad. It was like a cheap frozen pizza The price was outrageous. So sad. read more

It was probably one of the worst wood fired "pizza" we ever ate. We ordered the chicken bbq, sausage, and margarita pizzas. All were with very few toppings, and tasted like a dry hard cracker. My boys said microwaved pizza tasted better. The black and blue steak salad may have had one ounce of very well done steak in small chunks. Our bill was over $75, not worth it at all. Please go somewhere else, and save your money. read more

We had a wonderful dinner here tonight. Olivia was our server and she was thoughtful, attentive, and made great recommendations throughout our meal. We ordered the Steak Forestier with mashed potatoes and broccoli, and it was excellent. We finished with the New Orleans bread pudding along with a praline pecan coffee and a Jamaican coffee.....all delicious. We sat outside and the ambience was warm and cozy, even though it was around 20° out. The patio setup is adorable and the whole place has a really charming feel. Absolutely amazing food and genuinely above-and-beyond service. We will definitely be back. read more

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Second to me visiting Max's .Today I had the Pasta Florentine and my husband the Lemon Oregano pasta. We shared both dishes and we liked the Pasta Florentine beat because it was much more flavorful thsn the Lemon Oregano Pasta. The service here is always superb. The food came out so fast today. It seemed like we just placed the order and 5 min later the food cane out. Our waitress Maddue was super friendly and recommended the Florentine because ilif its flavor. read more

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I made it into Paducah mid late evening on a Friday, with my dog in tow. Max has patio seating, so they let me seat outside with my doggo. We fad the pesto pizza. It was prepped and arrived so fast, and was so good. Cooked well, thin crust. Spinach and pesto, I was happy. We split a bottle of wine. I will do this again. read more

Excellent food and outdoor dining area. I had the Greek chicken which was phenomenal best chicken dish I've had at a restaurant in a very longtime maybe ever. Service was great, didn't have to wait long and drink refills were quick. read more

I was passing through Paducah and this is one of the top restaurants that came up on my search. I came by around dinner time on a Friday evening and no doubt-- it must be one of the best places around because it was so busy it looked like everyone needed a reservation! They had a lovely looking outdoor area that was enclosed for the winter. It felt casual enough for me to be in jeans and sneakers but the white tablecloths gave it an elevated, cozy ambiance. I was lucky to grab a solo seat at the bar for my meal. I had a glass of their house wine and a Cesar salad that came out very quick despite their obvious rush of customers. The pizza came out shortly after and the people hanging out at the bar were friendly enough to tell me a bit about Paducah history while I waited for my food. Max's seems like a true local favorite and I was happy I stopped in. The prices were really agreeable and the thin crust pizza was filling without being too heavy on the stomach. read more

Max's Brick Oven Cafe - Cesar salad - Pizza Near Me - Paducah, Kentucky

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High price and low quality. Wifes $28 Chicken dinner was so tough it could barely be cut with a knife and impossible to chew. my $30 piece of salmon was dry and hard. Small piece of salmon and little scoop of rice for $30. What a waste. Cute place so you automatically think it has to be good. WRONG! read more

If I could give this place a negative 5 stars I would. Went for the first time tonight since new ownership and its easily the worst restaurant in Paducah. So disappointing how they changed everything. Not to mention the service was horrible. read more

Been a few times. Food was always good. Staff always friendly and helpful. This time had sausage pizza, shrimp app and Brie app, caprese salad all good. Choc no flour cake and crème brûlée were a nice ending. No alc but cozy bar looked well stocked. Will go back. read more

We've waited 3 years to come back so make sure they're open. Samuel was an awesome server and Rose is a great bartender! Give it a try. You won't be disappointed! Can't wait to come back thru on our next journey! Great stopping off point! read more

We always enjoy eating here. The atmosphere is great & the food is always tasty! Try the Lasagna or the pork chop or really anything. You can't go wrong. read more

Max's Brick Oven Cafe - Classic Lasagna - Pizza Near Me - Paducah, Kentucky

This place seems pretty popular. I suggest you make a reservation if you don't want to wait a bit. I ordered the autumn daze cocktail and it was nicely sweet. They had a parmesan cavatappi side with the daily special. They let me order it as a side even though it isn't on the regular menu. And it only cost $2! Very fair (or beyond fair). They have a heated outdoor patio, but we didn't eat out there. read more

Love this place! Big portion great price and veterans discount. We love it for a little date night. We share pasta and pizza and have leftovers to bring home. Happy hour is daily - can't beat that read more

We tried Max's after it was recommended by a friend. Called for reservations the morning of our visit and booked right at opening. When we arrived we were seated immediately. However, we were placed in the very back room and off to the side. It was a bar area that was not in use at the time and had doors that opened to the outdoor patio and bar area. There was a strong smell of cigarette smoke in this room, even though we were the only ones in there at the time. There was no one in the main dining room so I was unsure why we were placed in such a bad location. They placed us right next to a stained glass window. Unfortunately, that window was swarming with flies the entire meal because of the traffic in and out to the outdoor bar area. I also killed multiple ants on the window ledge and the table throughout our dinner. For an appetizer we had the smoked salmon dip. It was served with cucumber, tomato, and crackers. For our main entree we ordered the special, which was a bone in pork chop with gravy, and the ribeye, both were served with buttered broccoli and mashed potatoes. The food was just ok. Service was great and our waitress was very attentive. Unfortunately, I don't think we were impressed enough with the food to try it again, and honestly the placement next to the window with all of the insects was frustrating given an empty restaurant at the time of our arrival and reservation. read more

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Max's is my best friend's favorite restaurant so when she's in town, we usually end up here. I love the atmosphere here. I do love sitting out on the patio on a nice day to enjoy my meal and company. On my most recent visit (this past weekend) we sat outside and ordered their signature brick oven pizzas. I ordered the Aurora and my friend ordered the Wood Fired Chicken pizza. Both were delicious, but I think I preferred the white parmesan sauce on mine more. The crust is crispy and thin, my favorite. It was overall a delicious experience. I thought the pizzas were reasonably priced for quality and quantity, as well! On other visits, however I wasn't as impressed. If you go and grab appetizers, their pizzas, and drinks, I'd say you're good to go. I ordered the Chicken Marsala back in the fall. I felt it was honestly something I could have whipped up at home myself. The salad was spring mix I could have bought at Walmart. The "tonight's vegetables" were VERY similar to Bird's Eye frozen veggies. The food was good...but it wasn't like any Chicken Marsala I've ever had. My friend ordered the Greek Chicken and it was sort of the same ordeal. It reads wonderful on the menu, but when it came out I was sort of unimpressed. Disclaimer though, my friend said her meal was super good and she enjoyed it very much. This is just my opinion based off what I saw. If the prices were lower, it would make sense. But paying $20 a plate for frozen veggies isn't really worth it to me, I'll stick to the pizzas! Drinks and service are wonderful here. I've always had a wonderful experience with all the servers and hostesses. Overall Max's is a great place for dinner, I'll definitely be back in the future. read more

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The service was good but the food was just so-so. The pasta was over cooked, and the pizza was lack luster. I hate leaving such a poor review but it is what it is. read more

Consistent great food and cocktails. Their wood fired pizza and a classic margarita are a must. Love the dip on the appetizer menu

I am a Paducah resident and this is my favorite restaurant. Love the food, the staff are awesome and the atmosphere is wonderful.

The salads we had were okay, but nothing special; however our waitress was great. We chose it as it was within walking distance of our airbnb. read more

Great food, service and excellent bartender outside (Amy!). One of Paducah's gems and a go to place for a casual dinner and drinks or a special occasion. Highly recommend! read more

Max's Max's is a great place definitely a do not miss! The staff is all super nice and friendly and the food is amazing! Honestly, I wish lived in here because apparently the chef creates weekly specials that are 1 week only and I hear they're usually phenomenal! Max's is on my list for every return visit to Paducah! The prices may seem a bit steep but are totally worth it... you can pay a lot more and get way less! The portion sizes are plenty fair plus you get a free basket of cheesy bread and crackers with seasoned garlic oil for dipping! The Shrimp Portofino was great with lots of perfectly cooked shrimp! The Jambalaya was very good... it had cavatappi (basically macaroni) instead of the traditional rice! The andouille sausage in it wasn't very spicy but was good and there was plenty of it! The pizzas are unique masterpiece creations you can smell walking in... perfectly cooked in their wood-fired brick oven! Their signature Aurora Pizza (Italian sausage, mozzarella, fontina, artichokes, roasted garlic, peppers, onions, tomatoes, Marsala parmesan sauce) is amazing! I haven't tried it but the spinach artichoke dip is supposed to be great! Our waitress was very friendly and helpful and the Pizza Master even came to our table to chat for a while! He's a culinary genius! It's on an old brick-paved street, and it's fairly quiet with a beautiful patio and so a great place to relax for the evening! It only has 3.5 stars on Yelp right now but it deserves 6! read more

Nice place for date night. Awesome old brick building with all the charm of downtown. Service on this trip was fast and very attentive. I've been on a really busy night and left after 90 minutes without my food. Menu has some staples and a few new things. I usually try to get anything that goes into he brick oven. I recommend the Brie! Also don't skip that cheesecake! read more

Max's Brick Oven Cafe - Pizza Near Me - Paducah, Kentucky

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The restaurant is well decorated and has items from many area buildings. Service was attentive and friendly. The food is outstanding. Pork chop was excellent and pasta is delicious. read more

Visited on a day trip from Bowling Green, Ky. Sat inside with nice atmosphere, good service and interesting food choices. People nice. Food good with fair prices. Owner was very pleasant. We will be back. read more

Adult restaurant, ONLY. Kitchen is slow, don't be in a hurry. It's a small space for maybe three "cooks". Food is average, nothing special. French decor with an Italian menu. Small bathrooms that are not super clean. Dusty light fixtures and air ducts in main dining area. Outdoor dining has terrible chairs with no cushions. Canopy needs either a deep cleaning or replacing. Fairly small wine list for a European style establishment. Overall 5 out of 10, I recommend for my 60+ y/o parents. read more

Max's Brick Oven Cafe - Canopy - Pizza Near Me - Paducah, Kentucky

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This place was wonderful!! Food was superb, but more than anything the waitress was beyond perfect. Jackie!!!

Great food, great vibes, great drinks. Atmosphere was great for a date but casual enough for me to come In by myself dressed down slightly. Service was fantastic as well! read more

Excellent food with phenomenal service. Our server Jackie was excellent. I would highly recommend.

This place serves food as good as the hot dog stands in Chicago. Highly recommend this lil place out on highway 62

We had a great meal here. Depending on what you're looking for, both the indoor and outdoor seating areas are nice. The patio had a relaxed feel and it was perfect for having a low key dinner and a glass of wine. The margherita pizza was delicious. read more

Max's Brick Oven Cafe - Seared tuna and Margherita pizza - Pizza Near Me - Paducah, Kentucky

This restaurant is NOT the best to bring kids it's kid friendly but they don't even have a kid's menu we were looking on the menu under pizza and we don't see pepperoni pizza so then we ask the waiter to see if the they can make pepperoni pizza and he looked at us like it was some kind of horror question Now this is the good part The people are very nice and patient the restaurant is vey cute and the fries are the best EVER My Papa says the Moscow Mule was awesome!!! The blueberry lemon drop is delicious as is the veggie pizza! read more

Love coming here every time we're in town. The German special was fantastic. Much more on the menu than shown on Yelp. I want to go back when the weather is nicer and eat outside on the patio. read more

I was in KY for work, staying in Paducah, and thought I'd check out some local places. The Max was recommended by another downtown shop owner. The Aurora pizza was amazing, but the gnats not so much. The moment the server brought me my $10 glass of wine I had to start fanning the gnats away. I wanted to slowly sip and enjoy my wine, but nay nay. I got distracted by a funny TikTok and a kamikaze gnat made it past me, did a nose dive into my glass and drowned. Drinking my cheap wine at home I would've fished him out and kept drinking but not in the middle of a half way decent restaurant so I asked for a new glass. I got half a glass because I had taken 2 sips before the "incident." It made me feel like it was their way of letting me know that asking for a new glass of wine because of a dead gnat was ridiculous. The server apologized because they wanted to give me a full glass but the owner said no. The restaurant was quaint, the service was great, the pizza was good, but will I be back? Probably not unless I take it to go to enjoy the food with my cheap wine I don't have to fight gnats over. For the owner if you're reading this...you may want to look into how to get rid of gnats. I'm sure I wasn't the only patron fighting the battle. read more

Destiny was a great server and handled quilt week customers with grace on a busy night. Started with yummy baked brie appetizer and followed with more cheese with the 4 cheese pizza. Enjoyed the extra crispy crust and gorgonzola. Jambalaya pasta was good too with nice quality and good-sized shrimp. I won't hesitate to ocme back again in the future. read more

Max's Brick Oven Cafe - Half eaten four cheese pizza with nice crispy crust - Pizza Near Me - Paducah, Kentucky

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The rest of the menu may be great but my experience at Max's--my pizza-salad-coke experience-- was not good. I should have known I was in for a bad time when I ordered over the phone for carry-out but decided to eat in the restaurant once I arrived to pick up the food. The place was fairly empty and it was 90 minutes to closing time but you would have thought I'd asked to storm the place with 100 of my closest friends. After the hostess got the green light for my dramatic request, we walked past the oven, where someone obviously mentioned my change in plans as evidenced by the guy harumphing his way to the back room with the no-longer-necessary cardboard pizza box in his hands. Is this a rare occurrence in Paducah? The diner who changes his order from take-out to dine-in? Perhaps I was breaking new ground. A slightly fictionalized account of the encounter follows below: An airy, open pizza establishment in Paducah, Kentucky. 1990's rock plays softly overhead as two men stand beside a wood-burning pizza oven, one of them holding a cardboard pizza box. Hostess walks toward both men. A tired, worn, overweight, unshaven man in gray shorts and a maroon University of Minnesota t-shirt--who, despite his large stomach, unkempt eyebrows and road-wary exterior, is undeniably handsome--follows close behind. Man with pizza box gestures for hostess to come toward her. Man with pizza box: "This guy? This guy wants to eat here now? Instead of taking it with him?" Hostess: "That's what he says. I know ... weird, right?" Man near oven: "He what now? Does he not remember what he said?" Hostess: "He came in here and gave me his name and said he decided he was going to eat here so he could ... " MWPB: "But he called in a carry-out order. He made that call. We didn't tell him to order it to go. He did it." MNO: "Amateur hour, man. Fricking amateur hour." Hostess: "I know. Don't ask me. Maybe that's how they do things where he's from." MWPB: "Well, that's not how we do it here!" Hostess: "I should have told him 'no.'" MWPB: "You should have but you didn't. So now it's my problem. What am I supposed to do with this pizza box? I already folded it together?" Hostess: "I'm so sorry. I don't know ... I have no idea. I am so sorry." MWPB: "Whatever!" Hostess and handsome man turn toward bar. MWPB takes pizza box to room in the back, shaking his head. Stomping is heard over "(You're my) Best Friend" by Queen. MNO lets out a huge sigh and turns back toward oven. MNO: Amateur hour." Fade to black The hostess seated me at the bar, where I quickly realized I was "that guy" from the gaze of the others nearby. "Can I sit at a table?" She gestured to her left. "Over there." My waitress was friendly, it not also perplexed. I added a Diet Coke and a Caeser salad to my order--a Margherita pizza--and quickly received all three. l noticed the salad looked like it had been sitting on the counter for an hour or two. After a bite, I realized my original assumption was probably off by a day. The pizza? If that's what qualifies as a Margherita pizza from a wood-fired, brick oven in Kentucky, I can understand why residents of the state keep re-electing Mitch McConnell. Chewy yet brittle; dry yet greasy. And bland. Gas-station pizza, covered in plastic cheese. Like when a 10-year-old kid goes cheese-crazy at Make-Your-Own-Pizza Night with his fellow Cub Scouts. Here's the thing: A wood-fired Margherita pizza should be sparse and made with simple ingredients: fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce, some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, a little mozzarella, a drizzle of olive oil, a few basil leaves, some seasoning and that's it. Did anyone do any research on how to prepare your namesake menu item? Call Sapori Napoletani Pizzeria in Chicago. They can walk you through it. Or look on the Internet. Recipes are everywhere. While you're at it, remap the entire pizza portion of your menu. Some of those combinations don't make sense. And they're too busy. Your thin crust can't support the numerous toppings on some of your pizzas. Your setting screams out for better pizza. You can do it, preferably with the assistance of a chef well-versed in wood-fired pizza. But really, do something. Right now, you're not close. Imagine if you were. Imagine if your pizza lived up to the restaurant's name and decor. People would be lining up until you chained the door shut. They'd be singing the praises of pizza that would never be confused with something that sat under a heating lamp at a knock-off 7-Eleven. They'd be transformed. It would be the birth of new Kentucky, one that sets aside horse racing and basketball and politicians who decide it's OK to ignore a vote on an extremely qualified Supreme Court justice because the nominating president only has 11 months left in office--that's almost a year! Imagine that! It would be incredible. You can do it, Max. The people of Paducah, the residents of Kentucky and the citizens of this great nation are with you. It's time. read more

Max's Brick Oven Cafe - A soggy salad and a bland, too-cheesy pizza made for an unpleasant dining experience. Not a total loss, though — the Diet Coke was strong. - Pizza Near Me - Paducah, Kentucky

Jessica was such a nice waitress, some of our group is going back the next night and asking to be in her section. Pizza was wonderful along with the Caesar salad. Our friends food also looked amazing. The bread pudding and crepe brûlée are great! The chocolate martini was excellent! read more

I'm not into fancy food but it was actually very good. My boyfriend and I went for homecoming night and I was very pleased. I had the lemon oregano pasta which was amazing. My boyfriend had the aurora pizza which was not the best pizza ever but it was still good. They were out of a lot of beverages. We had the best waitress. She was super friendly and quick. Her name was Margaret. I definitely recommend this place for a nice night on the town. read more

Very good pizza, service and stories about the history of the building. The back of the menu explains how some features were found. Prices are reasonable. We enjoyed our server and the bartender knew how to make our cocktails. Our server had the perfect balance of friendliness and professionalism. We would return and this is on our "favorites" list. read more