Max’s Kosher Cafe & Marketplace

Excellent service, very friendly. The food is amazing. Best falafel in town

I worked in the area back in 2008, and I ate here at least once a week. I have been waiting eight long years to have this shawarma again. Today I finally made it back there, and I was not disappointed. When you order you only need to say three words. Shawarma. Everything. Spicy.

I agree with Jim P from DC: get the shawarma, they are fantastic! The Matzoh-​ball soup is good too. Pass on the rest of the traditional American food. Décor is just so-​so.

I have been going here for years. I have had them cater numerous Shabbat and other special occasions. They always do a wonderful job. Best Falafel and Shawarma anywhere!

Max’s does not disappoint. I come by here occasionally for a delicious lamb shawarma sandwich with all the juicy toppings I could ever want.
Nazneen the really kind tall woman at the register takes my order, she’s very professional and greets the customers very nicely with a positive attitude and energetic smile.
Next, the man at the shawarma bar makes my sandwich with excellence and success. I hear he is also an expert in preparing the meat and that he was brought over from the Middle East to make his amazing food. It obviously shows in the product because this is absolutely the best lamb shawarma in the area. I will keep coming back.

The quest for kosher food that is reliably good… meaning when you finally take your family out… can you be certain that the food will be good… This is an issue most of us know… Max’s never disappoints. The soup is always fresh… salads perfect… and pita soft… Clean the tables yourselves. it’s an honor thing. and if you have to clean it before you sit down… you will just have to manage :)

TL: DR other reviews, see below:
— Don’t get the regular food.
— Get the Schwarma.
— Don’t get the Falafel.
— Get the Schwarma,
You will be happy if you get the Schwarma — half, full or platter.
If you’ve been to Israel or are from Israel, you know how good and fresh the food is there. The Schwarma at Max’s is on that level of freshness and deliciousness. Did I mention that you should get the Schwarma there?

I’m going to this place for the last 16 year and I can’t tell you what I really think about this place because each time that I’m ordering the same food it taste different !
I also think it’s a little bit expansive and for a kosher food, we don’t have a lot of choices around here and it’s a shame !!!

I feel bad for the kosher people who have this place as their only option. Anyone else who actually like their food has no sense of taste. Let’s start off with the good. Their falafel though under seasoned, was pretty good. Same case with the shwarma. The veggie burger was disgusting. The steak sub? Dry leaving your mouth with a horrid aftertaste. Tuna sandwich was pretty good and so was the grilled chicken. The fried chicken tastes like cardboard. The cucumbers in the salad had a funny taste. The cabbage or lettuce or whatever that green stuff is that comes with the falafel is aweful. I’m not gonna talk about the appearance but what you get is what you get. So so.

I don’t understand the 4 star reviews.
The two of us came on Sunday during lunch. Our order came out in drips and drabs; they were going to serve us a hot sandwich that had been sitting in the pass for 10 minutes without a heat lamp.
The food was 3-​stars but the service was 1.5 stars. Pass.

Went to this place last night and LOVED it!
I came as part of a big group and the staff took great care of us!
Not to mention the food was amazing!!!
Would most definitely recommend this place and can’t wait to go back myself! :)

The food is good the service at the shawarma and the falafel is horrible! you have to beg for an extra pickle or an extra something and even if you pay for extra salad you get a very small portion.
Most of the time even if you pay for a whole shawarma, you get a half empty pita!!! at the moment I am fed up with their service. I have been putting up with them for the past three years because they are the only place in town that offers shawarma and now have decided not to go there again until they change their cheap policy towards their customers. I’m very disappointed, have complained to the General manager but he doesn’t seem to care

Really good falafel and schawarma especially their pickled salad and tehina.
Their café style food isn’t bad either. Good portions and tasty. Food not too salty.

Incredibly authentic! I was craving middle eastern cuisine after being back from Israel for so long. This place knows how to keep the traditional flavor and it made me want to eat everything in the store. Absolutely delicious everything is great! I’ll be back!

The first time I ventured into Max’s Kosher Café I was blown away. The food was freaking awesome. So much so that after we purchased our initial order, and sat down to eat. We decided that we would take food to go, because we knew we wouldn’t be back in the area for some time. The said thing is that I was right, we haven’t been back in the area for a few years.
Today I was sitting home minding my business. Just waiting for my lady to come home from running a few errands. She gets home, and come to the room where I was working, and goes guess what I got. I’m not sure what it was, but I immediately said with a smile «That’s Max’s, and there is a shwarma in that bag!» Out of all the places in the world, this has been the one place that I have talked about, but never been able to get back to, and if I was wrong about what was in that bag I would have been slightly disappointed.
This place has it all though. Do yourself a favor an at least check out there online menu. I now find myself in a situation where I know if I don’t go out of my way to eat here, Then it will be another 3 years before I have another Fix. I can’t go on like this! I will be sure to go out of my way next week, just to get back to this location. It is that good, and I hate driving. I highly recommend this this restaurant. STAMP!!!
To bad I ate all my food before I could take pictures, but it was that serious.

Max’s was very authentic. I am not Jewish but I can definitely see the appeal for everyone else who wishes to eat here. The food is all very good and I think it’s one of the best places to get a pastrami sandwich and New York style Jewish food in the area.

Passing by, needed a nosh, read the reviews. Maybe the shawarma and falafel are better, but I was not at all impressed by my sandwich. There’s better rye bread in the supermarket, the pastrami was lean but not highly flavored, and the cole slaw was insipid. And oy, that tiny little under brined pickleh. Not an especially generous serving, and at $ 12, such a deal I wouldn’t give even to a shaygetz. OK, I’m an alte kaker who remembers Posin’s, but this deli didn’t even come close.

Two words. Move on.
The food — I am not sure how it stays open. Has anyone ever ate real Middle eastern food before? I am lost how this place is rated so high.
A never return for me.

The absolute best schwarma you are going to find. Perhaps anywhere. The falafel is always delicious but people come from all over for the schwarma. I can’t eat it anywhere else now. I am spoiled. Not really a fan of the rest of the menu. If they are out of fresh schwarma meat I leave.

To be honest, I’ve only ever gotten the Falafel and once the Shwarma, and I’ve been coming to this place for YEARS. The falafel is so good that there’s really no point in trying anything else! Max’s Falafel is made by the best falafel maker outside of the Middle East and tastes authentic because it is authentic and most importantly, made with love!
About the other items on the menu, I really can’t tell you much about them since the falafel bar is the only thing that brings me to this place. I did get fries here twice and both times they were soggy and bland — almost like they had been made ahead of time and were sitting out for a while, but this place still gets 5 out of 5 because of the man behind the falafel bar!
If you haven’t tried Falafel from Max’s then you’ve not tried falafel at all!

Delicious shawarma and falafel sandwiches. Reasonable priced and I really like that you can add unlimited toppings. I got the half falafel and hubby got the shawarma. We also got the chicken poppers which were decent (the sauce was actually pretty good).

This was my first time here. I tried the half chicken schwarma and I wish I ordered the full. I told the man at the toppings bar that it was my first time and to top it with whatever he likes. It was delicious. The fries would have been excellent if they were hot. I will be back.

The falafel/​schwarma is the best that you will find outside of Israel. They are a kosher meat restaurant so everything is overpriced. The falafel and schwarma are worth it though.

I love this place. It’s a hole-​in-​the-​wall establishment, but the food is amazing so I don’t mind.
I always get the falafal. It reminds me of the falafal I had while in Israel. Fresh ingredients and flavors are always consistent.
Go there… just not on Saturdays. It’s a Kosher place!

I adore Max’s. Growing up in New Jersey and spending a lot of time in NYC, I am a sucker for a good Corn Beef and Knish. Max’s consistently hits the spot for me.

There is not much options for kosher food in the area — I think max’s can do better if they use a better Pita for the Shawarma and to tell the guys that work in the Shawarma and Falafel kiosk to be lass cheap and to smile more to the costumers.
Overall they doing an ok job and if you keep kosher you don’t have many options

We’ve never had food like this, so this may be bias BUT this place is so good! The fiancées been wanting to come back the last couple weekends but we haven’t. They give you a lot of food for the price and everything tastes fresh and homemade. We ordered a full size shawarma platter ands half falafel in pita. It was our first time so we asked the middle eastern man to dress it however. It may have not looked «pretty» but it tasted really good. The shawarma platter was spicy but very addicting– the bf loves super spicy stuff. The falafel was pretty good too. The platter came with a full size pita bread which was nice and soft. Next time we will prob just get one platter and share. For 10 $ a platter that’s a great lunch deal!

I was in the Silver Spring area and wanted to try the schwarm based on reputation. After paying for the food, I stood in the schwarma line for almost 30 minutes. The portions were very skimpy. I had to go back to the register to get my fries and stood there for about 10 minutes because the person in front of me had a huge order and was occupied with the iPhone. Go figure that one out. Max’s was at full staff but it was very slow. Very rude service. In the Washington, DC area, there has to be better schwarma. I won’t be returning to Max’s.

There’s a few things that you’re gonna have to accept when you walk into Max’s.
One… you might not be able to walk in. Huh?
The hours are a little weird.
Let’s reiterate them here:
Monday Through Thursday: 11:00am-8 :30pm
Friday: 11:00am-2:00pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: 11:00am– 8:30pm
I swear, I’ve been over to Max’s like 5 times, each time it was closed. And I was just so confused. I almost thought they had closed the location. I was so confused. So make sure you’re within those hours. That’s the first thing.
2. This is the not the tidiest place you’ve ever been in, and the décor is a little outdated.
3. The servers don’t have a warmest smile or disposition. They’re more of a minor note to this sweet song… if that makes sense.
Now, a few more things that you’ll have to accept.
1. This is one of the best if not the best falafel you’re gonna have in the area. The amount of flavor that is packed into these balls of chickpeas could make a grown man cry.
2. The man behind the counter serving falafel and shwarma is gonna have a liberal amount of freedom to put what he thinks is right in your pita. And you’re gonna have to trust him. Cause, all I know is that the pocket of mixed salads, sauces, and patties he gave me is making me drool over my keyboard as you read along.
3. The shwarma — something I tend to avoid because the adaptations I’ve had are usually dry and stringy pieces of overcooked meat… this one is juicy and tender with nice roasted flavor.
4. The potato knish is full of flavor. In this area, I’ve found that 6 out of 10 places you’ll get a flavorless potato knish. Maybe I’m not just getting them from the right places… or maybe people just don’t understand how much seasoning and fat potatoes can absorb.
5. The Max’s Poppers are tender white meat breast pieces that are moderately crunchy and are reminiscent of Chik-fil-a’s famous nuggets. This was a special today– and I absolutely loved the spicy sauce which was both sweet and spicy.
6. This neighborhood institution has been there for 20+ years. You’re gonna have to pay a visit to Max’s if you haven’t already. Just accept it.
#WheatonForTheWin

Been here a few times already. This place is now my Plaka Grill (when I used to live in Fairfax). Cheap and good shawarma/​falafel. I love how they layer the chicken, the toppings, and more chicken, and more toppings, so you’re sure to get a balanced bite! I got the corned beef sandwich yesterday, which wasn’t that cheap (11.50) and it wasn’t as good as the falafel/​shawarma. Admittedly, the place isn’t pretty, but the service is pretty quick and the food is satisfying. They’re closed on Saturdays though, bummer.

Authentic Israeli shawarma and falafel place, one of the only places in DC metro that offer such a great food with affordable prices.
I’ve been coming here more often lately for the shawarma, it’s very good, fresh and clean place.
Parking is free, and plenty. You can choose from a variety of food on the menu.

This place used to have a great rep for its food. I came in hoping the shwarma would still be as good as it was a few years ago, sadly I was mistaken.
The meat was very bland, the pita fell apart, and the sauce was flavorless. Plus, it was $ 12!!! Seriously?
Sorry guys, this place is off my list (although the girl at the register was pretty hot)

The place neef some serious restoration!
There burgers and steak sandwich are nice but the SHAWARMA/​FALAFEL bar are the worst! When he put you the SHAWARMA and salat its like they sale it by weight! Or by ones… one onion, one cerret…
The SHAWARMA stuff are the worst

Schawerma was disappointing, décor is old and worn down, and the whole place was poorly ventilated (you can see the smoke hanging in the air).
Why on earth is this place so highly rated on Unilocal?I won’t be returning.