T.L. Maxwell’s Restaurant & Bar

I’ve been here twice. The first time Mr. Maxwell was there and the food was delicious. Steaks were tender and everything was memorable. Everything was fabulous! Over some months I thought about this place over and over, then decided to go again with some friends. The second time I had orange roughy and it was so soft that I almost felt like there was nothing in my mouth as I was eating it. I like fish to be prepared in such a way that I can feel some substance to it. And although I’d asked for only broccoli, I received a veggie mix. Another thing was the bread and butter. I spread butter on the bread and took a bite, but something tasted old. The butter was piped in little flower/​star shapes and refrigerated, and maybe the butter took on the taste of the other items in the fridge, because either the butter pieces had an unpleasant taste, or else the bread was on the old side. I’m really not sure which it was. My companions thought their food was just okay. I was really disappointed. I suggest going when Mr. Maxwell is on the premises, because that may be the difference.

If I could give a zero star I would. I wanted to take my husband to a nice dinner for his birthday on a Tuesday night. We were one of 2 parties in the entire restaurant. They sat us quickly… and then we sat for 20 minutes without ANY service. The waiter attentively served the one other table in the restaurant and we were never even asked for our drink or appetizer order. Sorry TL Maxwells. Very unimpressed. This might be understandable if the restaurant was packed, but literally there was one other party of three.

I had been wanting to try Maxwell’s out for a while. I have heard great things about them and am always looking for a great steak place in town. We started off at the bar. The bartender was very friendly and attentive. We were there on a Saturday at 6 pm and I am surprised that they weren’t that busy. Once all of our party arrived, we were seated in the dining area. The ambiance is nice. It is a dim lit more intimate place. The waiter was very helpful and friendly. He was very attentive at first but as more and more people started to come in, he was pulled in different directions. We started off with bread and appetizers. They came out pretty quickly. I ordered the filet and and added a salad. I was surprised to pay over $ 5 for a side salad, but hey if it is a good side salad I don’t mind paying. It really wasn’t. The salad was basic and not very large. I was expecting more for the price. In fact, that seemed to be a theme for me throughout the night. I order my filet well done (I know, I know… I get a lot of flak for ordering a filet well done but that’s what I like). When I got my steak, it was more on the medium side. Our waiter seemed so busy that I wasn’t able to really catch him so I just ate the steak. When you are paying higher prices at a steak house, you should at least expect that they can cook your steak how you order it. Overall, my meal was just okay. If you charge the white-​tablecloth prices, you have to have the white-​tablecloth quality and I felt that this place wasn’t quite at that level.

A great old-​fashioned special occasion place in downtown Bakersfield. The menu is more classic than creative, but everything you have here will likely be good. The real knockout? That dessert. The South African bread pudding. It’s likely the only thing that is truly worth its price. I remember the wine list being pretty good as well.
To me this place is teeming with opportunity — a good downtown location, commitment to quality food, good service. It just feels like stepping into a place where your parents celebrated their anniversary in 1995. Picture this with a modern renovation, an upgraded menu that takes some risks, and a boost in staff… could really bring a freshness to Downtown.

Service has always been great, whether we’ve gone on a weekend night or weeknight. Waiters/​waitresses are always super friendly and professional. TL Maxwell steaks are the ones I measure all others by. It’s our go-​to place when we need a good red meat fix.

My husband and I went to eat at T.L. Maxwells for the first time on New Years Eve, and our experience was anything but pleasant. We had a reservation for 8:30 p.m., when we got there our table wasn’t ready so we sat at the bar for a drink. We sat there for about an hour watching people leave and their tables just sitting there dirty while we were still waiting. I finally had to go up and ask the hostess if we were going to be sat anytime soon and pointed out a table in the corner that had been empty for a while, so she went ahead and sat us there. We sat there for about 15 minutes before someone came and plopped some bread down on the table, finally at about 10pm our waitress came to our table. We placed our dinner order and also ordered a few more cocktails from the bar, which we noticed our drinks sat at the end of the bar for about 20 minutes while our waitress walked passed them numerous times without grabbing them. My husband finally walked up to the bartender and asked if he could take our drinks to our table, which by that point were watered down and gross. Irritated and hungry, we noticed almost all of the tables except for two were empty, but were still dirty! They weren’t busy at all at this point, and we were surprised that such a classy restaurant would allow tables to remain dirty for so long. We waited such a long time for our dinner that my husband was ready to just pay for it and walk out. He said to me at one point, «If our food is back there ready and just sitting there like our drinks were, and if my food is cold then I will send it back and we’re leaving.» We FINALLY got our food! The pasta I had looked horrid, and honestly I had a way tastier pasta earlier in the day at Luigi’s for $ 9 than the one I got for almost $ 30 at T.L. Maxwells, I had a few bites and was done with it. My husband said his pork was pretty good, but his mashed potatoes and veggies were cold. $ 140 bill later, we felt like we had wasted our money, our time, and our New Years Eve at the wrong place! We ran into an old friend as were were leaving who said they were giving the restaurant a second chance after a similar bad experience, but won’t be returning either after their night. Needless to say, we won’t be dining again at T.L. Maxwells.

The bartender was excellent. The atmosphere was very cool in a Frank and Dino way but from there it went downhill. We never got to eat last night. We we’re seated in the lounge and it took an hour to get our drinks and after an hour and half the waitress decided to take our order! We did get bread and a $ 50 bottle of wine after waiting an hour. The service was terrible and the waitress acted like it was no big deal. We ended up leaving and went straight to Urrichios to grab a bite. Happy New Year

It has been a few years since I have had dinner at Maxwell’s, but the experience was superb!
The stuffed mushrooms with a sherry cream sauce are to die for! The Rib Eye with a hunter sauce and for dessert a flourless chocolate torte with Wild Turkey caramel sauce rounded out the meal perfectly!
It’s a little pricey for me, but I would love to visit again soon!

Service is above par and they’re friendly.
I had the Bruschetta and the bread was firm with a crunch and the tomatoes had a nice spicy bite.
Unless you’re going to have an adult beverage. The sodas are narrowed down to Pepsi products… but that seems the norm for downtown restaurants.
I ordered the New York strip with a side of their Alfredo. Medium Rare for them really means medium rare. It was great to go to a Bakersfield steak place and actually get MR as ordered.
Alfredo has great flavor and wasn’t overly heavy.
I can definately say that this would be a great recommendation for that «something different».

This place is a local treasure with delicious menu items and kudos to the wonderful staff. They have a vintage bar that is awesome to hang out at and the bartender, Jason, is friendly and inventive with interesting cocktails and gives great suggestions for wine pairings with dinner. My favorite waitress is Beth. She is always so welcoming and I feel and want to be a regular patron just to hang out with her. She provides prompt service, does everything she can to accommodate our party and also gives excellent recommendations for the best wine selection. I will be back at Maxwells in no time ! See you all there !

I love going here. The food is wonderful, my favorite is the mushrooms and the blue filet. The atmosphere is romantic and the building has great history which I love. The staff is exceptional and always make me feel welcome.

My server was so sweet and helpful!
I actually wandered into the restaurant because the Italian restaurant close to my work was closed due to a private party. I had no idea of what the food was like… but I really liked it. I didn’t have my usual large appetite for some reason but greatly enjoyed the stuffed mushrooms and the soup. Both were recommended by the server The soup was full of stuff, and hearty without tons of cream. I think I’m a bit tired of heavy, creamy soups. I took my cesar salad with shrimp home, and just polished it up. It was great …
The restaurant has a bit of a «Cheers» feel to me, because there ws clearly a well loved, frequent customer at the bar that the servers were calling by name. They also were trying to make a special drink for him. There was a woman from out of town who also sat at the bar… people were very friendly and chatted it up with the bartender. Warm feeling.
The place has a dark, romantic, classy feel. It wasn’t exactly the best lighting to get work done, but they were super accommodating and sat me in the brightest part of the bar area. I definitely will go back. Next time I will try the rack of lamb. I heard the guy at the bar say they had the best rack of lamb…

This is a late review. I went a few weeks ago on a Saturday night.
Pros: Nice quaint little romantic restaurant off the beaten path in an alley.
Cons: Not enough Waiters/​Waitresses The restaurant seats approximately 50 guests give or take, and the night I went they only had 2 wait staff working and a bus person. The wait staff were running around trying to keep up with the customers. My drinks took forever to get refilled, and I constantly had to remind the Waiter.
By the time I got my food it was Lukewarm at best. I would have sent it back but I already invested approximately an hour into waiting. The dessert was good.
Overall the atmosphere is nice and I am glad I tried it out, but to be honest for the price I paid I expected a more pleasureable experiance. Maybe I went on a off night.

My boyfriend and I had an EXCELLENT dinner at Maxwell’s! I ordered the Salmon Fallbrook, which was one of the best Salmon dishes I have ever had. He had the Filet Mignon which was cooked perfectly. We finished our meal with Pecan Pie, which was KILLER! It had so many pecans and a fudge topping! But what made the evening extra special was our awesome waitress, Marina, and the bartender, Jeff

Two thumbs down. This place needs an serious update and deep cleaning. We ordered the gorgonzola balsamic steaks, there were just «ok». The veggies and baked potato had been previously prepared and you can tell they didn’t taste fresh. To be honest the veggies tasted as though the were frozen. If you’re looking for a romantic place to eat, this is not the place to go. The only reason I have this place 2 stars is because our waiter was very pleasant. Lesson learned.

Great fillet steak with blue cheese stuffing. On par with Ruth’s Chris and Mortons. Will make this a must for special occasions!

Excellent, excellent, excellent! This is that old place in the alley that youd never know was there if it wasnt for Unilocal.A bit on the expensive side but well worth it even you consider that youre getting the best meal in town. Mine was the rib eye with blue crumbles. …perfect! The mushroom app… very good. The sour dough bread .too hot to touch… perfect! Etc etc etc.
And dont forget about Daryn behind the bar… you get great service to boot. We ate at the bar and met local Father Dan, a fun Catholic Priest… in for a great dinner and a martini, and a young rockabilly couple out on a date… fun fun fun

When i first came in i didnt know what to expect out of this place because there was not many pictures on Unilocal to get an idea. I walked in & i can say it was smaller than most «fancy» restraunts. The service was nice, they would make sure you felt welcome and they also made sure your water was never empty which is important to me at any restraunt. Altogether the food was good and i would love to go again when im in the mood to spend $ 20-​$ 35 on a plate

Maxwell’s fillet stuffed with bleu cheese is the best in town. Perfectly cooked!
The bruschetta was nice, though the bread was barely toasted and the item was misspelled in the menu.
The first round of bread we received was stale, and it was accompanied by odd-​tasting butter that probably had freezer burn. The second round of bread was fresh and very good.
The stuffed mushrooms were inconsistent; it tasted as though half of them came from a different kitchen entirely. The sauce, however, was to die for!
The fake plants that practically line the walls are quite tacky and need to go. The ceiling is cracking and needs to be repainted. The more I looked around, the more disappointed I became with the atmosphere inside the restaurant.
Our server was very friendly. She could have been dressed a little more appropriately for waiting a table at a purportedly «fine» restaurant.
The cost of the food was incredibly low considering the amount of food we received.
I must reiterate that the best steak in town is cheap and it’s at Maxwell’s. The service was good. The ambiance was not eye-​catching, and some of the food items (butter, bread) were disappointing. Overall, Maxwell’s earns three stars.

This place had promise. The alley location and tiny door gave it a ‘20s speakeasy vibe. The bar area was clean, classy, and I loved the curved ceiling.
The dining area needs a makeover. The carpet was old and grungy and the lighting was poor. It wasn’t dim and romantic — it was so dark I had to break out a Surefire flashlight to read the menu.
The service was OK and the servers were friendly. They missed the mark when pouring wine. The server just opened the bottle and left it at the table. If you’re going to serve wine, you might as well figure out announce wine name, present bottle, present the cork, pour a taste, and then pour to the rest of the table. That’s why diners pay a 400% mark up on wine at restaurants.
I ordered a shrimp dish over pasta, which was served with a side of rice pilaf. Why would you serve a side that’s a grain when the entrée already has a starch? The shrimp was burned and the sauce was too heavy. I didn’t even touch the side dish. Lastly, that dish was ~$ 30. The execution and pairing of the meal did not merit that price point.
I won’t be repeating this mistake again.