Although this is my third time at Max's Of Manila (once at Waipahu and twice at Dillingham). I am happy that there is one place open for "dine-in" during this covid-19 pandemic. The restaurant was nicely set in the pandemic guidelines with adequately spaced tables for customers to enjoy a meal.. I ordered Lechon Kawali, Pancit Palabok, Tamarind soup with pork & sbrimp, Shang Hai Lumpia, Dinaguan and rice. It was totally delicious and I plan to add this to my favorite places to go to. Check out these photos of my dinner and dessert read more

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UPDATE: Took my wife here for the first time in a while. I've always favored the hole-in-the-wall family restaurant so I wasn't too excited on coming here, but my wife insisted since we were going to Costco anyways. We ordered the garlic fried rice (simple, but garlicky and yummy), pork adobo (was ok and a bit tough), pinakbet (very yummy, not enough meat), daing na bangus (fried milkfish was yummy and meaty), and halo-halo (beautifully made dessert, but not sweet enough for me). The garlic rice scoops are huge so if it's just you and your partner, a small serving is more than enough. The staff were quick, helpful, and very friendly. The restaurant is huge and has a lot of tables and chairs to dine in. It's a bit cold inside the restaurant so bring a jacket. The parking lot is huge and is shared with Costco and Dole Cannery. read more

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Very good ! Always a good spot to celebrate any type of celebration ! A lot of varieties of good food ! Would definitely recommend friends of different culture to try some Filipino dishes and deserts ! read more

I have no doubt that the food will be good but service on Web order placed at 1201 for a 1245 pickup. Allowed a little lag time and got to restaurant for pickup at 1pm. Order was not ready yet. read more

If I could do negative stars I would but it's only allowing me to review with one star. First off, am I overseas? There's urine all over the women's restroom, on the toilet seat and it smells of an alley behind the bars. My husband rent into the mens room and someone had vomited and no one cleaned it as well as a lack of paper towels. Adobo fried rice was more of soy sauce colored rice with salted egg, sprinkled with adobo flakes. Pork sisig, on a warm plate, not sizzling. Just all around bad experience. We keep trying to give it a shot. But every time is a let down and this time just sealed the deal. Never again. If I'm ever craving fried chicken or sisig, I'll drive from east Oahu to Waipahu. Bright side... my San Miguel beer was good. Can't screw that up. read more

Really good Max's location. The food doesn't take long to be served & all the staff & waiters are friendly. I come here every month or 2

I'm not a big Filipino food fan, but my daughter LOVES the lumpia from Max's. I also like them because unlike normal lumpia, these come in the cutest bite sized form. They're stuffed with pork and vegetables, fried crispy and served with two types of sauces. I tried the red sauce which was kind of like a sugary watered down ketchup. Not the greatest, but I couldn't stop dipping my lumpia in it. On this particular occasion I ordered the lumpia using Grubhub on the Yelp app and really liked that I could just punch it in and walk over to pick it up. Everything was ready when I walked into Max's but the women who worked there told me to call them next time instead of ordering from Grubhub because it costs more. I think I basically paid an extra $.75, but I don't know what Grubhub charges the restaurant. Duly noted! I ate half the order and saved the rest for my daughter who was so happy to see her favorite deep fried savory treat after a long cheer practice. This is her very favorite lumpia, and she always requests it when we are bringing a dish for school potlucks. I think the filling could be improved upon, but the size of the lumpia are so cute especially for kids! read more

Max's Restaurant - Dillingham - Fresh Lumpiang Ubod - Filipino Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Tasty, comforting food selection and good service. Busy around lunch times but the staff works with grace under fire.

Location Dillingham Costco. I came at around 4;30 asked the lady if they have available table for two, The lady ignored me and she turned my back to me. Waited for 20 minutes and finally they asked how many people. Sat on my table and I waited again for 25 minutes. Asked the other server if I can order now and he said wait for your server . Finally the server came ask the order without smiling. I think she don't like her job. So disappointed and the cashier arguing the other customer. Staff needs to train how to handle customer. read more

Had Mother's Day dinner tonight. They don't accept reservations if your party is under 10. We walked in and Hostess was nowhere to be found. Finally after standing there for at least 10 mins someone came. Very nice lady and polite. She said they are cleaning tables now and won't take that long. We got seated in 15 mins that's pretty good for a busy night. Waiter took awhile to acknowledge us. It's a busy night so it's understandable. We ordered, liempo, pancit, kare kare, fried chicken, daing n bangus and fries. We waited a long time for our food and when it came they are mostly cold specially our liempo. It's so white seems like it's half cook and dry also. Told my server to heat it up because it's very cold. When he returned it it's still looks half cook. Liempo was very dry, chewy and bland. We did not eat it at all. Mentioned to our server but he does not seem to care. Rest of the food are mediocre. You can tell they are short staff because you can't find anyone. My husband wanted dessert. We ordered buko pandan and halo halo. Usually desserts are fast because it's pre-made and its already sitting in their refrigerator in the dining area. They just have to add ice cream and toppings. With that being said, took our server almost half an hour to give us our desserts. In fairness to them, desserts are the best part of our dinner. Taste and service are going downhill. It's my second review and still a big disappointment. read more

Max's Restaurant - Dillingham - Half cook inihaw n liempo - Filipino Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I like this place, we had dinner here and must say the food is delicious and tasty. If you ever in the area, and crave filipino food, this is a nice place. I like dining in rather take out. I like the convenient being in the restaurant and looks clean. read more

Max's Restaurant - Dillingham - Halo Halo... the best dessert by far - Filipino Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I was fortunate to travel to the motherland, Philippines, recently and I ate at the Max's in PI a couple of times... due to tasting the better quality of food and service at the birthplace of Max's, I can no longer enjoy the Max's here in Hawaii (tbh, Max's here has just been 'okay' for me) I've ate at this location and ordered take out multiple times in the past. Like mentioned, it has been okay, from the customer service to the food. We dined here on a slow Tuesday evening and again service and food was just ok. FOOD that we usually order: Garlic rice, Kare Kare, Pinakbet, Bangus, Halo halo, and Buko pandan LOCATION: a little dingy, they could use a deep clean. I can be sensitive to certain smells, and this restaurant smells weird. Like they should really clean the place. Also, be alert if you're in the area at night, they share the same parking lot as Costco and it's known to have suspicious ppl roaming around CUSTOMER SERVICE: the hostess and cashiers aren't very personable and kind of have a high maka vibe to them, but the servers are quick, however, they do not come around often If you just want a Filipino food fix, I suppose you can order from here just don't expect it to be 5-stars. I prefer the Waipahu location for the quality of the food. But there are other better Filipino food options available in the area (Kalihi) read more

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Used to love coming here for the fried chicken, but recently it hasn't been as good. Don't know why seems like the chickens are smaller too.

Since the pandemic started and continues to devastate the US, I can see how our restaurants are suffering. Prices are going up, portions are getting smaller.... at some places, the service has suffered greatly as so many employees are quitting their jobs. I'm happy to report that Max's service is still wonderful, as is their food. I took my son's girlfriend to lunch there the other day and although I always order the same thing - lumpia, pancit, pork adobo, garlic rice and halo halo ( and chicken to take home!), we love the food and often come back for lunch. Pancit canton is the pancit with the thick noodles. Although I love the regular pancit with the thin rice noodles, I was starving and wanted this. It was just the pleasant amount of saltiness and umami that deeply satisfies when your stomach is screaming "feed me"! The lumpia was nice and crunchy, but only had a meat filling. I really prefer it with the carrots, onions, and cabbage, but it still had a nice meat filling...... the garlic rice was very garlicky and superb, as usual. Pork adobo was a smaller portion, which is a sign of the times, sadly. I wish they had used more vinegar during the preparation, but we still enjoyed it. I had a bit of a problem with the halo halo, which consisted mostly of crushed ice with some jellied fruit on the bottom and a tiny piece of flan and ube ice cream on top. I won't be ordering this again. We took home half a chicken for dinner. Dining out has become a challenge, with prices climbing higher because of the pandemic. Let's try our best to continue to support local. read more

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So today is their 77th birthday. And they had a promotion of getting a fried chicken and crispy pata for $20. Like everyone we all jumped online to get that price for those two items. It took me awhile to get my order in but I'm glad I did. My pick up time was at 11:45 which gave me sometime to do a Costco run. So I got there arb11:45 and I was not greeted anyone. There was an employee trying to figure who's waiting for an online order and seating customers as they walk in and then there's a another employee doing some computer thing not acknowledging any customers waiting. When someone did mention about picking up an online order she told them to wait for the other lady. Mind you there were like 10 people waiting for their orders. No time on how the wait is gonna be even though we all did our order online and we were all on time for picking up order. I did not see any manger to help us understand what's going on with the online order. I only see that one poor employee going back and forth with the customers and kitchen staff. Please if your gonna do a big promotion like this please be ready and have the answers. I don't mind waiting if I have to.. I just like to know how long so I can come back do other things. Thank you read more

I called and spoke to the manager over the phone september 19, 2024 3pm. She addressed herself as a manager on duty. She was very rude. Wouldnt allow me speak and wouldnt allow me to address the reason why i called. She kept talking over me. And when i tried to talk she would speak louder and continue without stopping. She asked me my name, when i gave it to her that it was Bud (which is my real name, thats what it is on all my credit cards license and birth certificate) she didnt believe me and said im a liar. Who is she to decide if my name is real or fake? If my name was sarah would she stop and listen to what i have to say? And why is she so focused on my name and not why im calling? makes no sense to me. She has no control over her stress and emotions. I have owned and managed several business in my life. I would never trust a person like this as my manager. I wouldnt even have her on payroll as minimum wage. She doesnt know how to represent and give the correct image for the owner of this business. She cant manage stress, she is rude and unprofessional. I asked her, "please can i just say what i need to?" She said "no because your talking nonsense". Thats word for word, literally what she told me. After all that she hung up on me without saying bye. You chose a real winner to be your manager. read more

After helping my friend moved into a new place, we were very hungry and decided to go to Max's for lunch. The parking lot was very busy. It took us about 20 mins just looking for a parking. But when we got to the restaurant, we were seated right away. We decided to do a family style so we ordered Bulalo, Sinigang, Crispy Pata, pancit, and fried chicken. All dishes were good. Just a typical filipino food as we expected. read more

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My dad and I are visiting Hawaii and decided to try Max's for lunch. I had the Lechon Kawali (crispy pork belly) with garlic rice. I enjoyed the crispy pork belly but wished it was more crispy. The carrots were flavored with something but had a weird after taste. The sauce that came with it had a slightly sweet taste that I didn't care much for. I asked for hot sauce but it never came. The garlic rice could've used more garlic flavor (seriously lacking). Overall my food was good but the service was extremely slow. I probably won't go again. Parking was limited since it's in the same parking lot as Costco. read more

Max's Restaurant - Dillingham - Lechon Kawali and 2 Scoop of Garlic Rice - Filipino Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Got here early at 4:30 to setup in a private room in back. Workers here was very accommodating. We setup for dj/karaoke. They let us plug into there big screen TV, a big help. It eliminates the projector/screen that would take up a lot of space in this small room. Party started off with a bang, singing got started early. Comedian Tony emceed, he was a blast! There was a short Magic Stage show by OB-1 Magician. The work crew came in again and accommodated the party with bringing out the cake and serving ice cream. Food was good on the private buffet in the room. Of course Filipino food. Great night, everyone close the night singing karaoke. Mahalo! read more

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I am not familiar with Filipino food beyond what homemade recipes my friends shared with me growing up, so I was excited to finally try this place after a recommendation by my wifes colleagues. But try as I might, I have a hard time finding anything positive to say about Max. I cant quite nail down how I might describe the food but a few words come to mind: overcooked, cold, gummy, and in the case of some vegetable dish we ordered....purple. Its possible we just didnt know how to order the right things. But surely theres a better representation of good Filipino food than this? I give it an extra star because the restaurant was bright, clean and comfortable. read more

My wife and I love trying new places to eat, so after going to Costco we decided to try so Filipino food. Max's is in the same parking lot of the Dillingham Costco. Walked in and it's a pretty big spot, wasn't packed and we got seated right away. My go to anywhere is Lechon kawali, so I got that and a salad with the max crispy chicken. My wife got the pork skewers, a salad and Shanghai lumpia. Everything was tasty and good portions. I guess when I think of Lechon kawali I think of it having tomato, onions and green onion for garnish but I got crispy pork with two onions and two half tomatoes on top the pork. But I guess every place is different. The only junk part was our salad plates had lots of water on the bottom. Oh and the server should know ahead of time if got salad or not and what dressing get or are out of!! Other then that was a pretty decent place for Filipino food.. read more

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to the MAX! Truth to be told, I had my very first visit to Max's earlier this month with some good friends. I had no idea (#truth) that they were quite fond of Filipino foods. We had wanted to venture to Waipahu on this particular Saturday night earlier this month, but we eventually settled on this location for dinner. LOCATION / PARKING: Near the Iwilei Costco. Adequate parking directly in front of the restaurant. This location is fairly large with lots of seating, as well as a private room/private event space. There seemed to be lots of celebrations going on the night we visited, but thankfully we were seated almost immediately. FOOD: The menu (to me, personally) resembled a operating manual for a large appliance or instrument, as it was slightly larger and heavier than I expected. With that being said, the menu items are very descriptive and there are many colorful pictures of their dishes. My two friends and I shared the pancit canton, sinigang with beef (soup), pork adobo, and white rice. Another truth: I don't eat Filipino food often, so all of the delicious delacacies we shared that night was such a treat. Firstly, all of the portion sizes were just right for our group of three. My favorite: the Sinigang with beef soup. It was tremendously good. The tamarind added a savory sweet and sour component to the dish. The pork adobo was tender and prepared well, with a generous serving of sides and sauce/broth. Although there was rice, the pancit with its protein and vegetables was the perfect complement to our meal. We finished the entire serving. To complete the meal, we ordered dessert.....of course. We shared the most heaping and behemoth serving of halo halo that I have ever seen (#truth). For those not familiar with halo halo, its a dessert that is comprised of shaved ice, evaporated milk, coconut, fruits, etc. Max's interpretation of halo halo is crowned with a scoop of ube ice cream. The perfect end surely. SERVICE: Very satisfactory. The servers were friendly, the waters were refiled in a timely manner, and they checked on us periodically throughout our meal. I truly did appreciate that they didn't rush us out as we were finishing dessert just after they had closed. BOTTOM LINE: Great Filipino comfort food. Good service. I'll be back.....and probably with my mom since she likes Max's too (#truth). read more

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I don't normally eat Filipino food but when I do, it's usually Max's of Manila because I've dined in several times and it's always been a positive experience. Tonight, we decided to order delivery since we didn't want to make that drive. We ordered our usual favorites, Kare Kare, Lechon Kawali and Dinuguan which my husband absolutely loves. Tonight's dinner was a disappointment, unfortunately. The Dinuguan was way too waterly! The Lechon Kawali had more pieces of fat than meat, it just looked like a bad piece that was over fried. If it wasn't a piece of fat, it was a super cruchy hard piece. The only thing that saved this meal was the Kare Kare. Other then the driver getting here on time, and the Kare Kare, I would have given this order a 1 star. I just wasted $50 on this meal. read more

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This place always brought big smiles and full tummies! The parking is located in the same lot as Costco Iwilei and if you're lucky, there's parking right outside the restaurant. Depending on the amount of people will determine the wait time. I always call to make reservations but it's usually walk-in. The first time I came here was about 6 years ago. I wasn't familiar with Filipino food and was nervous trying the different foods. Oh My Goodness. So much food and so good. We usually order the package c which includes a variety of food (sorry! I forgot the specific foods that are in there!!). The packages comes with a free beverage and vanilla ice cream. If you want ube ice cream, then it'll cost a little more but IMO it's TOTALLY worth it!! Another thing that's good about the packages is that you can take home food. Delicious lunch and dinner for the next few days. lol. Unfortunately, I come with my family and we get package c. I'm sure everything tastes great and the different desserts. Another favorite is the Halo Halo. Yummmm!!! The employees speak English, Ilocano and probably Tagalog. Very helpful and prompt. Love the service!! read more

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Can I just say - Mmm masarap! I love Max's! Especially this location, service is always good and the food tastes just like Home. My go to dishes are always the beef nilaga - stewed beef in a light beef broth filled with veggies like bok choi, cabbage, green beans and a few potatoes. Second up is the lechon kawali sisig! Oh my heaven, crispy crunchy pieces of decadent sizzling lechon with onions in the most delicious light (soy lemony/tangy savory) sauce. I also frequently order the sinigang (tamrid based soup with leafy veggies and shrimp). The small portion of rice is plenty! It's three large scoops of jasmine rice. When you're craving some down home Filipino food I suggest trying Max's. They never let me down! I like how clean they keep the dining area, and it's nice to see the servers in their uniforms. I enjoy this place out of all the other Filipino restaurants on the island. No doubt! read more

First and last time and never going back. Food was not hot when it came out and tasted like it had been sitting out. Food also tasted super low quality, like it's packaged food just warmed up read more

Food was good , service was tolerable . However terrible experience with our waitress . 0 stars out of 10 . Her name is Gina . I was just dining there earlier this evening with family &' as she was serving us she was very rude &' incompetent. We felt very rushed &' interrupted the whole experience . Thumbs down for the waitress I highly recommend NOT to be served by her even that she may very well be not serving at all. I work in the restaurant industry myself long &' almost all hours of the day , although I know how tiring it may be , I still very well know how to be professional using the skills to take care of a customer. I hope after seeing this review , this waitress will be held responsible for her poor customer service skills &' management conduct proper training . read more

We love Max's and wanted to support them during COVID, but last night's dinner was so disappointing. We had the whole friend chicken, but it tasted "old", like it had been in the freezer for a long time. Smelled funny, was dried out - freezer burned, and our stomachs were gurgling all night. The pancit bihon, is one of our favorites, but it was bland. The pinakbet had only limited kinds of veggies, mostly pumpkin, hardly any okra and no bitter melon. I know it's hard to keep fresh food on hand, but I don't think we'll chance it again during this pandemic. read more

My review is for yesterday, June 13, 2024 at 6:32pm. Our server did a wonderful job taking care of us from beginning to end. He was funny and patient and always happy. He seemed to love his job. The food was great. What made me upset was the host at the front. We said we have a dinner here and I THINK he assumed it was for the party that was going on. I say this because he kept speaking in Tagalog to my wife and I am the one trying to respond but couldn't hear him from the noise and he kept speaking directly to my wife. We do not understand the language... He repeated himself at least 3 times in Tagalog to my wife (she cannot speak English) I'm still trying to hear and trying to make out what he was saying because he was facing my wife when I'm the one trying to talk to him. The 4th time he finally spoke English, asked for what name and I said I don't know who made the reservation but someone's coming to the front to get us.. at this time I was already pissed and I haven't even been inside for 10 seconds. the lighting from the sun setting and the glare from the front door around this time was terrible as it hurt my eyes and it was as hard to see the host at the same time. He was raising his voice and It's the fact that he was getting impatient and raising his voice in Tagalog , seemingly irritated that he kept having to repeat himself. I was the one speaking to him but he kept speaking to my wife. My wife cannot understand Tagalog. She is Thai, I am Ilocano. It was my wife's first time at a Filipino restaurant and first Filipino encounter at a Filipino business , she also just moved to the US from Thailand and he gave us such a bad first impression and reputation. He should not be in customer service if he is this impatient. read more

We had a Birthday party to attend. Got here early and found parking in front of restaurant. Set up DJ and music. Appetizers were spring rolls & calamari. It was pretty good and crispy. Also, ordered Green tea. We had a set party dinner. Menu C. Staff was very helpful and got our surprise cake ready with candles. It was great party! read more

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Do not order the chicken adobo! The chicken adobo was real bad. It looked like a boiled chicken without any soy sauce. Crispy pata was great but too expensive for little to no meat. The serve was below average. Barely anything customers and I kept asking for drink and it took a while. Wait time to be seated was less than 5 minutes so that's was a "+". read more

The food is good. Service needs to be more professional. After being seated, there's no water and utensils served because the servers and hosts were too busy making a video to show off to other Max's restaurants. Also, no one came and checked on us on how's the food was or if we needed anything else. read more

My favorite restaurant forever. Place was very clean and my waiter was very nice. I had the max budget and it came with lumpia, chicken and rice. I regret not ordering it with garlic rice lol because the garlic rice is the best. Then I ordered nilaga and that was very delicious. For dessert I got leche flan which was the best. I'll take a picture next time. read more

I love filipino food, like LOVE it. For us, Max's is great when you want something pretty delicious but don't want to drive a ways to get it. I should have written down what I ordered, but look at the photos! I like their crispy chicken but especially like their pork and vegetable dishes. read more

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Sunday is always busy but at least acknowledge customers that have been standing there for a while it's common courtesy. We were standing there for almost 1/2 hour NO ONE said anything to us but they were bringing in Filipinos that got there after we did. I'm so mad right now! read more

Location - Plenty of parking. Plenty of indoor seating, no outdoor seating. They even have a room to the side. Looks like you can rent it out. Service - Very friendly, very attentive. Food came out at different times, but the server apologized. Servings are pretty big and family style anyways, so I just had some of what my husband ordered. Food - Arroz caldo. Almost as good as my mom's. Don't tell her. Perfect flavor and texture. Huge portion. My husband had the garlic rice and sisig. So good. And another giant portion, we couldn't finish it and took it home. Ate it for breakfast the next day. Still amazing. Def. going to come back here. read more

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Way over priced and mediocre food. Need to have more combo choices. Ordered beef Sisig to go and the meat wasn't even warm because it was drenched in mayonnaise. First time here and it will be my last. There are better Filipino restaurants with better food and better prices. read more

Being a person who frequents this area for various shopping needs, I never noticed Max's was here as it's tucked in the back of Dole Cannery in the sea of parking lot. It'll always be a special place to me as Kristine introduced me to Filipino food on one of our first dates from here. Since then, we've been back a few times and always have a fun time! The restaurant is modern and kept clean. It's casual and simple; the booths and tables are comfortable. It's larger than it looks from the outside, with rooms especially for large groups. You enter and are seated by the host stand. This is a family style restaurant, so be sure to order lots to share! They have a fun selection of Filipino beers, so it's been fun to try new things. I love many of the dishes as to my unpracticed palate, everything is very distinct. I love the pancit palabok because of the egg and lemony zest. The garlic fried rice is a must for a staple side dish. The grilled fish is great for picking and very flavorful. They have all types of meat and veggies, so go crazy trying all the yummy dishes, especially if you never had them before. I always get a happy family vibe when we come, as all the parties seem to be large and enjoying a big meal together. Prices are reasonable, especially since you'll be taking home leftovers. read more

The food is good but every single time we order phone or online we get the worse service ever. How can you order mobile from their online site and money had been taken out but the order wasn't received. I think that's stupid!!! Once a while ago when we had dined in we didn't tip because of how bad the services were and the waiter came out yelling at us. read more

Lechon kawali was very tender with crispy skin. Just had to go order but would definitely order again.