GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Max’s South Seas Hideaway, a two-story tiki bar and restaurant in downtown Grand Rapids, was crated with the goal of providing “an escape from reality without having to leave your hometown.”
“You can basically feel like you’re in a tropical paradise even in February,” says owner Mark Sellers. “You forget the outside world exists when you’re inside.”
Inside, customers won’t find any windows to the outside world. What they will discover is an interior covered floor to ceiling in artwork, from colorful paintings and palm thatch to hand-carved tiki statues and vintage tiki lamps that bathe the space in orange, green, teal and blue light.
“I would stand in front of anybody and exclaim that Max’s is the most unique restaurant in Grand Rapids,” Sellers said.
Max’s, which opened in 2019, boasts an impressive selection of cocktails and tiki drinks curated by co-owner Martin Cate, an award-winning rum and exotic cocktail expert who created Smuggler’s Cove tiki bar in San Francisco.
“Our cocktail program is pretty serious,” Sellers said. “It’s not cheap, sugary drinks you get on a beach somewhere.”
Popular cocktails at Max’s include Puka Punch, which is made from a blend of rums, lime, orange, honey, pineapple, passionfruit, falernum bitters and mind. There’s also the Painkiller, a drink that’s created with Pusser’s rum, pineapple, orange, coconut cream and nutmeg.
“We have 33 cocktails on our menu,” Sellers said. “So there’s a lot of choices.”
Max’s has a variety of food on its menu.
One of the most popular items is the Pu Pu Platter, an appetizer plate that includes three huli ribs, three smoked chicken drumsticks, three chicken strips, two vegetable spring rolls and crab Rangoon dip. Another is the crab Rangoons, which consist of jumbo lump crab and cream cheese filing, crispy wonton, furikake, green onion, and lemongrass chili sauce.
“We make almost everything in-house from scratch,” Sellers said.
Max’s launched in fall 2019, just several months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Michigan, resulting in the closure of in-person dining at bars and restaurants across the state. Max’s has survived the shutdowns, but it’s been “tough,” Sellers said.
“We’re in the enviable position to be breaking even basically right now,” he said. “So, we’re not losing money anymore. But last year, the whole year we lost money.”
He added, “Even when we reopened, we weren’t hitting the break even mark because there was no vaccine yet and a lot of people were just afraid to go out.”
Looking forward, with in-person dining in Michigan scheduled to return to full capacity on July 1, Sellers is hopeful the rest of 2021 will be a success.
“We definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel now,” he said. “I’m looking forward to July 1 when we can have more tables and take more reservations.”
Max’s is open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday. You can find its website and menu here, and the restaurant can be reached by phone at (616) 551 -0016.
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May 29, 2021 at 06:02PM
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Local Eats: Max’s South Seas Hideaway offers ‘escape from reality’ in Grand Rapids - MLive.com
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