Soon after World War II, Stanford-educated teacher Maximo Gimenez happened to befriend the American occupation troops stationed at Quezon City in the Philippines. The year was 1945. As Maximo’s bonding with the soldiers thickened, they began visiting his home to chug down a refreshing beverage or two. It was when this became a regular affair and the troops began insisting that they pay for their beverages that Maximo thought of opening a cafe, where the troops could have food and drinks to their fill.  
Back in the day, the quaint little cafe rolled out delicious heaps of chicken and steak as Maximo’s niece, Ruby, who managed the kitchen, devised a special recipe for chicken that became an instant favourite with the troops. In no time, the scrumptious tender, crispy and juicy chicken captured the imagination and the appetite of the Filipino crowd as well, signalling the birth of Max’s Restaurant, as we know it today.
“For 71 years, Max’s, the brand, has endured and grown phenomenally,” Sinu Joy, Operation Manager, Max’s, GCC, tells Community. “Today, it is a billion dollar company that’s also listed in the stock exchange. In the Philippines, there are nearly 150 Max’s outlets. In the GCC, we have nine and we are planning to open two more in the UAE, where we already have six. We have one in Kuwait and two here in Qatar. Soon, we will be expanding to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as well.”
In Qatar, the first outlet at Al Sadd, near Royal Plaza Mall, has completed one year, while the second outlet on the B-Ring Road has completed six months. “It has been such an incredible journey for Max’s here in Doha. We are doing much more business here than what we had expected. If you ask any Filipino about Max’s, he or she would tell you this is like the premium restaurant for them. When they come to Max’s, they know what they can expect,” Joy says.
Clearly, both the Doha outlets have been screaming successes. Joy elaborates, “As some sort of a trend, you will see a lot of Filipinos who have had their weddings, christenings, birthday parties, in Max’s. If you go to the B-Ring Road branch of Max’s on a Friday, you are likely to find 300 to 400 people gathered for some party. We do almost 1,000 covers between the two outlets on a weekend. Sometimes, it’s even more. This Eid, in seven days, we must have done nearly 12,000 covers.”
While the top brand is best known for its Max’s fried chicken, which takes around one and a half hours to prepare, it has now introduced the lip-smacking seafood promotion to offset a possible “menu fatigue”.
Joy explained, “Since we are the number one Filipino restaurant and the first choice for Filipinos who opt for a fine dining place, we thought, here in the GCC, we wanted to give them something new. It was a survey that we did last February that made the path clear for us – seafood was the first choice that people had opted for when asked what more they would like to see in the menu. Hence, we have come out now with the special seafood menu. As soon as this finishes, we will come up with the regional cuisines, which, too, have been requested for by our customers.”
Executive Chef Henry Suarez, a Filipino, has dabbled in all sorts of cuisines before putting his heart and soul into the Max’s menu. Armed with a more international approach that sees him throw in more Asian flavours such as sweet and sour notes, Suarez has come up with a winner in the five popular seafood delicacies “prepared in true Filipino style with an international touch”.
“From the juicy sugpo (tiger prawns) to meaty alimasag (black pepper blue sea crab), our flavours are sure to thrill all seafood lovers,” Suarez says. “With this seafood promotion, we are targeting other nationalities apart from the Filipinos, of course. For us Filipinos, crabs and prawns are an integral part of our meal. To make it different, we have added a spin like the fresh blue sea crab is tossed in homemade black pepper sauce, and wok-fried prawns have been prepared in sweet chilli, garlic and oyster sauce. I must mention that all of our sauces are made by us; they are homemade, not readymade.”
Great care has been taken to ensure that the catch is fresh. “We order our mussels, for instance, twice a week from the Netherlands. It’s fresh, not frozen,” Suarez says. The lapu-lapu or deep-fried hamour, he predicts, will be a hit with Qataris as they love hamour, which here gets topped with homemade sweet and sour sauce, mango, pineapple and mixed peppers. The tahong or sautéed mussels come with lemongrass, ginger, cherry tomatoes, green chilli, and Thai sweet basil leaves.
“We wanted other communities to also frequent the restaurant,” says Joy. “This new menu additions have given us that entry point. Qatar is still doing very well despite the recession in the region. We are quite happy being here. For instance, we launched this seafood promotion only last month here in Doha, as in the region, and it’s been a hit here already.
In UAE, we have six outlets, and we sell around 120 seafood portions. In Qatar, we sell that many in just two outlets. Our friend chicken has never changed, and nor has our kare kare or bulalo. The Filipinos love these mainstays but they are also ordering these new dishes, too, and are liking it.”
The biggest hit of the five new seafood stars has to be pusit or grilled squid. “Of the 120 portions that we sell in a day, around 50 are usually of pusit,” Joy points out. Stuffed with chopped prawn, onion and tomato, the grilled squid is served with chilli and lemon soy dip.
To illustrate the massive power of the brand Max’s, Joy cites an instance. “In Kuwait, when we opened our biggest store, a sprawling 10,000 sq ft space accommodating 400 seats, the first 10 or 12 days, we served more than 1,000 people a day. We had to actually send back people at night as they just wouldn’t stop queuing.”
However, quality remains key despite the overwhelming demand, Joy maintains. “We have this once-in-a-year promotion titled Chicken All You Can, in which you pay us a fixed price and you get to have as much chicken as you want. But still, we don’t dilute the brand at all. We serve quality food. In UAE, last month, I remember the queue started at 6.30pm and ended at 11.30pm. As many as 2,500 guests had come by in those five hours. Now that’s the power of the brand.”