Max Lager's American Grill & Brewery

BertSugar

Indiana

1.89/5  rDev -47.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 1.5 | service: 2 | selection: 1.5 | $$

This place is a short walk from the downtown business area of Atlanta, so it's a great location...even if it's in the middle of an ugly concrete jungle (this is beer advocate, not architectural advocate so that's another story). Looks like an old mill/industrial building outside. Inside sort of neatly appointed with old gears and tooling and the like. Center island bar with a bunch of various tables for the restaurant portion. I did not try the food, but it all looked and smelled great. The kitchen was hoppin busy and table service looked efficient. The bartender during our visit moved around a lot to make it look like he was busy, but really didn't give great service at all. The beer? All I can say is thank God they had various guest bottles of Victory and Dogfishead. The three varieties of their own stuff (a black lager, a Scottish ale, and a stout...that's it) were uniformly atrocious: poorly balanced body, overtly/cloyingly/inappropriately sweet without a trace of hops. Not recommended. There is a distinct lack of competition that allows a place like this to survive as a brewpub.

03-28-2008 22:31:01 | More by BertSugar

muldrot

South Carolina

2.38/5  rDev -33.7%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 2.5 | service: 2 | selection: 2.5 | food: 2.5 | $$

The location downtown adjacent to the big hotels gives Max Lager's place a "captive" audience. I could tell that this was a place where the beer is incidental (most folks at the bar were drinking cocktails). The warehouse atmosphere has the initial appearance of cool but the bar area is right up front in the middle of the high traffic area. When I got there most of the folks "hanging out" were staff going off their shift which was rather frustrating because I had to wait to get served my beer. The beer selection included two seasonals but none of the beers were particularly interesting. I ordered the bison burger and it was ok but pretty standard fare. Perhaps another time might create a better "vibe" but I was disappointed with my visit.

07-21-2007 13:03:52 | More by muldrot

Loki

North Carolina

2.54/5  rDev -29.2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2 | service: 3.5 | selection: 2 | $$

Ok, this place is a little hard to review as I don't know whether to review this place as a brewery (which they claim to be) or a bar (which they seem to be better at)

Atmosphere: More restaurant than bar, and more chain, corporate, cold brewery than local brewpub.

I have to break up quality into two categories, one for their beers and one for their guest bottle list.

In-house beer Quality: Not good. Out of their Hopslosion IPA, I choose their St. Mungo 90 Shilling ale that seemed to be about 50 to 60 shillings shy. Menu say 9% but it was the weakest tasting, wateriest 90 Shilling ale I've ever had. What little malt backbone that it had was cloyingly sweet. Just not a good beer. Everything else seemed fairly boring and given the first results I didn't really want to try another.

Guest Bottle Quality list: Very good. From Victory Yakima Twilight to DFH 90 Min. to some Stone and many other great beers. But this place is a brewery right? What does it say about your beers if your guest bottle list beats most bars in the area?

Service: Good, not great. The bartender was not knowledgeable at all, except for what they were out of. Slow at times, but friendly enough.

I feel I need to review their selection like their quaility

In-house beer Selection: Poor; only five of their beers and they were out of one. Really, you're a brewery and you only have four beers available. You're not a new brewery and you only have four? Really??? I know homebrewers that keep more than four of their beers on tap!

Guest beer selection: Very good. Quality craft beers from around the country and the world. I quickly found many beers that I would have ordered; however, I wasn't there to get beers from other breweries.

Value: Well it wasn't expensive, but I didn't get anything i enjoyed so kind of a toss up.

Overall I have no reason to go back for their beers. That said I could see taking a diverse group here and being happy with the bottle list.

03-12-2010 13:49:40 | More by Loki

mynie

Indiana

2.8/5  rDev -22%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 2.5 | $$$$

Spent a whole week in Atlanta and I didn't make it to Brickstore. Sigh... well, this place is right next to the hotel, might as well check it out.

The vibe is a little uppity but not pretentious. It just happens to be where upper middle class people go to drink. Unfortunately for me, residing as I do firmly in the bottom third of income earners, the beer prices were outrageous. Like, wow sort of outrageous. Like, I'd have to think twice about paying 7 bucks for a pint of a exemplary regular-strength beer, and asking me to do the same for decidedly middle of the road, unadventurous micro brews is sort of rude.

The staff was fine. The decor was woody and they had a nice porch upstairs where you could drink. Downtown Atlanta is a nice place, and it's nice to get to look at it while you drink.

But the beers, like I said, were nothing special. And the prices were insane. In a city where seemingly every bar has at least a handful of good craft beers on tap, you might not want to bother stopping here.

04-13-2011 18:04:25 | More by mynie

jneiswender

Massachusetts

2.85/5  rDev -20.6%
vibe: 2 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 2 | food: 2.5 | $$

Went to this place during a conference in Atlanta.

I went to the place around 5pm on a weekday so seating was not as bad as other reviewers have said.

The atmosphere was very strange. The kitchen was open and in the middle of the main dining room. The rest of the place is more or less brewpub decor. Copper brew kettle and conditioning tank. The kitchen is very industrial and not very attractive.

I felt the service was actually quite nice. The waiter made helpful recommendations and was regular in checking up with what I wanted. He also offered help on what to do while in Atlanta.

The selection was so so at best. Not very much in the area of good pub food (which is what the place markets itself as). Alot of pasta and steaks but few just general munching items. Few sandwhiches.

I ordered the gumbo and the house burger. Both were quite good.

The beers were not very good. I had the sampler plate and the house red ale. Most were not served at the right temperature. The tastes were not very good representations of their respective styles.

The prices are strange as well. My burger cost almost as much as my small cup of gumbo. However, the place won't break the bank.

Overall, I would look somewhere else for a place to eat. Maybe a fallback if you can't find somewhere else.

11-19-2007 03:00:33 | More by jneiswender

Joe79

Georgia

2.9/5  rDev -19.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 2 | food: 4 | $$

When I go to Max Lager's, it to play some darts rather than for the beer.
They only keep 3-4 of their own beers on tap, and the 2 times I've been there, none stood out as exceptional to me. They weren't bad, just in my opinion they were like any average reds, pilsners, etc...
They do have a large selection of Atlanta based bottled beer too.
The food was very good, and the service is about average for a brewpub. Pricewise, I found it fairly reasonable.
To have a some brews and play some pool or throw some darts it is a good time, but to sit and just enjoy a few beers, it's not for me.

07-27-2009 19:53:28 | More by Joe79

shivtim

Georgia

2.98/5  rDev -17%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 2 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Finally stopped by Max Lager's during Atlanta Beer Week.
The inside is a hybrid-space, with a bar area right up front, a large dining area, and an upstairs. Large windows, brick, semi-industrial, mostly corporate but a little warmer... reminds me of a nice Rock Bottom. Bar was full of downtown office workers doing happy hour.

They had a decent little selection. The Hopsplosion IPA was not bad at all. Small but decent choice of bottles too from the likes of Terrapin, Dogfishhead, etc. Beer is probably a notch above a Gordon Biersch.

Service was agonizingly slow. I think they were under-staffed for the dinner shift. Had a wood-fired pizza, which was not bad at all.

05-19-2010 18:53:08 | More by shivtim

coombski

Maine

3.1/5  rDev -13.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 2 | food: 4 | $$

Having just arrived in Atlanta after being rerouted for an extra day due to snow in the Northeast, I was really looking forward to this brewpub. It was conveniently located near the major downtown hotels and looked pretty nice from the outside, a small brick building. The inside was ok, but looking into the not so attractive kitchen area while sitting at the bar didn't add anything to the ambiance.
There were only four beers on tap, so we tried the Max Red first. it was certainly drinkable, but my companion's decription was best, "boring". So we tried the Max Gold ?, I was under the impression that it was a pilsner? Lagers not being my favorites, I may not be able to do justice to the quality of these beers.
Even though the brewpub was just down the street, we didn't go back. I will say that the pizza we ate was one of the best I ever had!!!

04-17-2007 16:33:56 | More by coombski

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

3.18/5  rDev -11.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$

As I entered off of the street, I transited past a staircase to the second floor on the left side, and passed the m.d.s. on my way aft. The rectangular bar was to the immediate right once I passed the lobby and the brewhouse was to the immediate left. Further aft, to the left, was the dining area. Aft of the bar was the kitchen and I finally broke down and ate, opting for some of their B-B-Q.

The whole place had a very industrial feel, from the exposed brick and ducting to the stacked bags of malt to the cog wheel logo to the corrugated aluminum ringing the kitchen.

The food and beer were both passable and filling. I would have preferred more, but I can settle for less, especially when travelling.

02-13-2007 08:59:53 | More by woodychandler

TheEclecticGent

Georgia

3.23/5  rDev -10%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

Went to Max Lagers yesterday for the first time in many years, figured I would give it a review. The interior itself is very cool with rough wood and industrial décor. The main floor contains one bar (near the door) and the main dining area. One brewing line (operating?) with the copper vats was located near the entrance. Upstairs is a second bar, pool tables, more seating, and the remainder of their brewing lines. At the time of my visit they were running a light, pale ale, amber, stout, and three specialty beers (A pumpkin dunkel weizen, an Imperial Pale Ale, and an Abby Ale). The beers are good but none that I tried were exceptionally good. The pumpkin dunkel weizen, the Imperial Pale Ale, and the Abby Ale seemed to fall outside their listed "categories". Not that I think that they should be concrete within a style but it helps when ordering. The food was good. The group I was with had the spicy onion rings for an appetizer and I had the BBQ Chicken Pizza. The portions are good and flavorful.

01-11-2007 19:55:02 | More by TheEclecticGent