Maximo Cocina Mexicana

First time here... my mother-in-law took us after having been once before... We went on a Friday night waited in the wonderful bar because we didn't have reservations. The place was packed, the bar was full of life, the final game of the World Series was on. We had 5 margaritas on the rocks! Super Delish! The service was impeccible... everyone was crazy friendly and all had big smiles on their faces! The food was spectacular, my enchiladas were perfect, the table-side-made guacamole was awesome! Everyone was super pleased with their meal.. The atmosphere was wonderful! I love this place and can't wait to go back and try more on the fabulous menu! YUM! \r more

Maximo offers great food in an environment that is beautiful and comfortable. I love the decor! I really enjoy this place!!! more

Maximo is a well-intended concept that features some healthier, upscale alternatives to traditional tex-mex favorites, with some comfort offerings mixed in. The problem I have is that you don't always know from which side of the fence the menu items are coming. Empanaditas? Comfort food appetizer. Stuffed relleno? Healthy alternative. Short rib with chipotle mac & cheese? Comfort food entree. I know I should I have asked but I figured surely the Lasagna Mexicana (which contains Chorizo) would be on the ""comfort"" side. I guessed wrong. While this is a mammoth portion and the flavors are excellent, the ""crumbled queso fresco"" in the description was conservatively sprinkled on the top, leaving the behemoth tortilla structure below without binding material between layers. Don't get me wrong, this is a well-executed entree; however I ordered it expecting a food coma and in the end I was left unsatisfied. Next time I'm smuggling in Kraft Singles. Pros: creative menu, extensive wine by the glass list Cons: hard to know what's healthy and what's not more

Our dinner group (5) went to Maximo's on a Monday evening in March 2009. We arrived at 6:30 pm and the restaurant was quiet. A slow night.\r \r We ordered nachos and everyone ended up ordering the Spinach and Chicken Enchilada's. The restaurant is lovely, the chips and three salas tasty but it did seem to take a long time for our food to come out. \r \r The nachos - outstanding - flavorful but not greasy. \r The Enchiladas - best I have ever had. We all agreed we would return. And even though the service was slow we took that time to visit and enjoy our drinks. \r \r Great decor, delcious food, sevice needs work. It's all about the service and the value of the meal in these challenging times. And make sure your chips are the freshest. \r \r All in all a good concept and a flavorful and healthy approach to this classic cuisine. Pros: Good food Cons: Slow service more

After years of schlepping all the way down to Javier's or Trece for high-end Mex-Mex, North Dallas finally has its own upscale cocina Mexicana! The restaurant is called ""Maximo's,"" and it is located near the Galleria on the northeast side of Alpha Road and Noel Road. It just opened, and on the recommendation of a friend, I took a client and a couple of colleagues there for drinks last Friday. The ""margarita lounge"" (as they call the bar) was very cool with lots of dark wood, comfortable leather couches and couple of flat screen TV's. The place was full but not over-packed with a professional crowd that looked like they had just rolled out of their Galleria and Tollway-corridor offices. The basic margarita was good, but what really stood out were the specialty drinks like the ""tamarindo"" (a margarita blended with a tamarind puree) and the ""black and blue"" (a mojito-style drink with crushed blueberries and blackberries). The food smelled great, but we had to leave after a couple of drinks, so I went back last night with my wife for dinner. It was outstanding! I had the chili relleno. It was baked, not fried to death like all of the Tex-Mex places in town, so you could actually taste the sweet tanginess of the poblano. My wife had a pork chop with a mole sauce that was out of this world. They even got the Spanish rice right--firm and ever-so-slightly al dente, rather than the mush you get most places. Curious about who was running the kitchen, I found out that the chef (Amador Mora) trained with Dean Fearing (an all-time favorite) at the Mansion on Turtle Creek (also an all-time favorite) and was most recently the chef at Trece on Knox--makes sense. So to summarize, Maximo's: great atmosphere, great drinks, outstanding food. North Dallas as needed a place like this for a long time, and now we have it. Pros: Outstanding food, drinks and atmosphere Cons: Newly open, so still working out some kinks in the service more