By Eric Sousa, Staff Writer

For a place that has raving reviews on Yelp about their burgers, Max’s does not have the normal aesthetic of a burger place.

The décor was modern and unique, with calm oak paneling over dark slat-grey walls. Brick supports on the walls were interspersed with black and white canvases of local scenery. All-in-all, it feels like a stark contrast to a Five Guys restaurant.

I was admiring a still shot of New Bedford Harbor when the owner approached me. Steve Ginsberg, the manager and owner of Max’s, makes a statement with his presence.
He had an easy way about him, laughing and animated. He greeted every customer by name as they walked through the door.

I asked him about the art work, and he replied with a smile, “Those are from New Bedford Vocational High.

Every other year, we give them back to the kids that took the photographs and purchase a fresh set from the school.” I looked at them with a new appreciation.
Max’s is an establishment that is supported by the community, and they went to great lengths to support it back.

That didn’t stop at the décor. Max’s also boasts a large tap selection for you 21+ Corsairs. It supports local breweries with unique brews. They have their unique beer selection available for perusal through the app, TapHunter.

Their beer selection is sure to impress all audiences, from the Blue Moon lovers to the IPA enthusiasts. The most important thing the array of beer had in common was simple: they all went well with a burger.

Following the owner’s recommendation, I started off with the bacon cheeseburger with hand-cut fries. If you’re not much a fan of bacon, don’t worry, as Max’s has more than enough quality options to certainly satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.

These options include the Max’s Mexican, topped with salsa, guacamole, pepper jack cheese, and jalapenos, and even a Hawaiian, topped with pineapple, bacon, BBQ sauce, and cheese.

The food spoke for itself. The quality of ingredients was clear. The 8oz burger with the works satisfied my carnivorous side in a way that Wendy’s couldn’t even touch.
The rest of the menu promised to be just as fulfilling, but my Fitbit guilted me out of eating two burgers for lunch. I relented.

Of course, this quality comes with a price, and if you, like most college students, aren’t looking on spending too much money for a night out, Max’s may not before you.
A burger will cost anywhere between $5.25 and $8.99, and that’s not even including a side of fries, which will hike the price of any burger up 2 bucks.

I got to know more about the establishment. Max’s was not the first restaurant owned by this entrepreneur. He is also the owner of NY Bagels, which supplies breakfast breads to UMass Dartmouth.

Going even further back, he was the owner of Max’s Dogs. It was a hot dog stand which he ran with his ten year-old son, Max. Eventually the enterprise grew into a restaurant with a shortened name and a broadened horizon. This restaurant has stood its ground for six and a half years.

Now, I’ve eaten at a lot of places. Some would call it “irresponsible.” However, this gives me a large bank of experience to compare restaurants with.
So I feel comfortable saying that a trip to Max’s is something absolutely worth checking out.

The food is top notch; the atmosphere is welcoming and pleasing. But the biggest selling point is the people who work there.

The higher prices are made that much more tolerable by the incredible people who want nothing more than to give back to our community.

“We always make sure the people have a good time when they come in. They want to come in here and have a smile, so we make sure our staff is always in a good enough place to give them that,” Steve said.

His sentence was punctuated by a woman’s laugh at the bar. I leaned back and picked at my fries. All in all, it was a very good lunch.