Wednesday night dinner plans changed at the last minute, so I rang up a friend and said, “do you guys want to go to dinner with us tonight?” Knowing that they live out in west Delray Beach, I suggested Burt & Max’s at Delray Marketplace. A little out of the way for me and my faithful dining companion, but we put our sunglasses on, put the top down and drove west.
I’ve dined at two other restaurants at the Marketplace, Apeiro Kitchen and Terra Fiamma, so tonight was time to give Burt Rapoport and Dennis Max’s place a shot. Being that I’m a fan of their Mizner Park, Boca Raton, restaurant – Max’s Grille – I had hopes that Burt & Max’s would live up to my expectations.
We arrived promptly for our 7:30pm reservation, despite driving around and around looking for a place to park not knowing that there was a valet stand right in front of the restaurant. We were taken to a comfortable booth near the semi-open kitchen and presented with menus.
The all-day, lunch and dinner menu is pretty much like Max’s Grille with a well rounded selection of comfort food and American-style entrees including burgers. After our cocktails arrived our server asked if we wanted some appetizers. We ordered a few!
I went with the Chicken Lettuce Wraps (Bibb lettuce, julienne asian vegetables, rice noodles, chili lime sauce) – $12. They were served “deconstructed” with way more ingredients than lettuce. The small pieces of Bibb lettuce made it difficult to put these together and towards the end I found myself just eating the chicken because the supply of lettuce ran out way before the ingredients. The chicken was mildly seasoned and flavorful and the chili lime sauce gave it a nice kick. The dish would have been more enjoyable had it been served with lettuce that was much easier to put the wraps together, such as iceberg.
The second appetizer we ordered was the Steamed Edamame served with Hawaiian sea salt – $6. A very large portion was served, enough for the four of us to eat actually. They were steamed perfectly and tossed in a sauce that held the sea salt on them.
#Edamame from @burtmaxs at @delray_marketplace in #delraybeach. #instafood #foodporn #appetizer
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Next up were the Ultimate Cheeseburger Sliders (aged white cheddar, roma tomato, pickle, bbq mayo, crispy onion, challah bun) – $12. These were enough to make a meal out of, or share with the entire table. They were cooked to the requested temperature and enjoyed. They come 3 per order.
The final appetizer was something taken from the menu at Max’s Grille, the Crispy Calamari and Zucchini (banana peppers, pappadew, pickled red onion aioli, marinara) – $13. Just like the one we enjoyed at the Grille, these were equally delicions. Cooked to a light crisp, not overdone, there was a fair balance of calamari to zucchini. A nice app at the Grille and a nice app at Burt & Max’s as well.
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After our appetizers were finished, so were our drinks. Actually, they were finished before our appetizers, but our server took a while to get back to our table to see if we wanted another round. She came back to clear our plates, but even with empty glasses in front of us, did not ask if we wanted more. On her next return, I had to ask her if we could get another round.
With that hiccup out of the way and our thirst quenched, it was time to order our entrees.
The dining companion who went with the sliders, and ate all three of them, was pretty full from them so asked our server if she has the choice of the Pancetta-Fennel Wood Fired Pizza (tomato sauce, pancetta, roasted fennel, ricotta, provolone, fresh black pepper – $14) or the Margherita Wood Fired Pizza (San Marzano tomato sauce, house pulled mozzarella, basil – $13) which would she recommend, she suggested the Margherita.
I mentioned earlier that the menu at Burt & Max’s was similar to that of Max’s Grille, here is one area where it’s different – the pizza. While B&M’s has the wood oven, the Grille does not, but they do offer a nice pizzette which is always delicious.
The pizza had a great tasting sauce, a crust that had just a hint of that burnt taste that goes along with a wood fired oven without being overbearing, and the mozzarella added a fresh touch. I was thinking to myself that he would never be able to eat the whole pie after those sliders, but the pizza was good enough that he did indeed leave nothing behind.
Having had the burger at Max’s Grille, I wanted to see how the one at Burt & Max’s fared. I know, I know… there’s a Shula Burger a few feet away from B&M’s. I could have gone there to get a burger, but I wanted to try one here.
I went with the 10oz Butcher’s Blend Burger (leaf lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickle chips, challah bun) – $15. I added American cheese and bacon to make it a little extra special. I ordered it burnt to a crisp because that’s how I like my burgers and my request was honored. The verdict? Just as good as the one at the Grille. I did have a hard time finishing it, but it was good enough that I made quick work of the whole thing. The steak fries that came with it were fresh cut large pieces of potatoes that were a nice touch.
There are several different burgers available including a House Made Turkey Burger (leaf lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickle chips, pickled red onion aioli, whole wheat Kaiser roll) – $14. The turkey variety was ordered by dining companion #3 and like mine, was quite enjoyable.
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Finally, and this one has an unfortunate ending, dining companion #4 ordered the Southern Fried Chicken & Waffles (buttermilk waffle, hot sauce, maple syrup) – $21. All of us debated on ordering this while we were looking over the menu and I stayed away from it because it wasn’t served with boneless chicken, although our server told us they could do it with kid’s chicken tenders. Ummm, no thanks.
The dish came out with two very large pieces of fried chicken on top of a waffle the size of the plate. While it looked delicious, one-bite in, it wasn’t very good. When asked what was wrong, he said the chicken had an “off” taste to it that was carried over into the waffle. I commented that the chicken itself was still somewhat pink and just a little too juicy to be cooked all the way through.
None of us really send food back when we don’t like something, so when the manager noticed at the end of our meal that one plate wasn’t touched, he quickly swooped in with a menu and offered to get something else.
Dining companion #4 asked for an order of Wood Roasted Chicken Wings – $12 – which were quickly delivered and enjoyed much more than the chicken and waffles. The wings had a nice char and were tossed in a honey ginger glaze giving them a bit of an Asian kick. I managed to sneak one when he wasn’t looking and found them to be very good – a nice alternative from the fried variety.
While we had one bad dish out of everything we tried, the overall experience wasn’t marred. We could have used some additional attention when it came to getting additional rounds of drinks, but the meal for the most part was very good and up to par with what I would expect from a restaurant owned by Rapoport and Max.