Says Max’s marketing manager Carlo Fajardo, the restaurant chain delivers 30,000 chickens to its 82 outlets throughout the country on weekdays. On weekends, this number doubles to as much as 70,000 chickens. That’s surely nothing to crow about.
That’s not all. The restaurant also serves eight tons – yes, that’s not a typo – of pancit canton a month and almost an equal amount of chopsuey.
For the past 58 years, it has served the same fried chicken Filipinos love, as well as Filipino specials like kare-kare and sinigang na hipon. Until now that is.
Just last month, Max’s introduced its innovation on the fried chicken, its first new chicken recipe since founder Maximo Gimenez opened the first Max’s outlet at Sct. Tuazon in Quezon City in 1945.
Max’s sizzling sweet & spicy chicken serves the same fried chicken but with a twist. The sweet and spicy sauce was developed after intensive market research on what more the restaurant’s patrons are looking for.
"Our survey found that many younger diners think a sweet and spicy sauce would be cool." Fajardo explains. "‘Something hot’ was what we got from our subjects, and surprisingly this comment came mostly from female diners."
The restaurant took almost six months to arrive at the final product.
"We had to find out how spicy the market wanted our sauce to be," he adds. "It couldn’t be too hot that it deadened the taste. It should be unique enough that the flavor of our fried chicken could still be discerned from the sauce."
After they arrived at their final product, it took the third generation Gimenez family some time before approving it.
"They were concerned about branding," he discloses. "They didn’t want the new recipe to overtake the classic fried chicken recipe."
Of course, they had nothing to worry. The actual sizzling recipe uses the classic Max’s fried chicken and braises it on a buttered sizzling plate with the sweet and spicy sauce. The sauce merely braises the chicken without overpowering its delicious flavor.
Fajardo says the new chicken recipe requires a totally new sizzling plate, one that is heated at just the right temperature so as not to burn the sauce when it is poured over the fried chicken.
"There’s actually a science to doing sizzling recipes," he explains.
The original Max’s fried chicken recipe was invented by Nanay Ruby, a niece of Max’s founder Maximo Gimenez. American soldiers stationed in Quezon City after the war would often knock on the doors of residents in what is now the Timog area for lunch or dinner. There were very few homes in the area and restaurants then were non-existent. One time, the soldiers knocked on the Gimenez home. Maximo, who was Stanford-educated, entertained the US GIs and became their friends. When they brought some chicken during a visit, Ruby cooked it up so well that they kept coming back for more. That same recipe has been at the core of everything that is Max’s for the past 58 years.
"The fried chicken is really the catalyst of all orders," Fajardo says. "Many of our diners work their orders around it."
There are also a number of chicken dishes on the menu that are not fried. A new addition is the chicken binacol, Max’s take on this Ilonggo favorite. As in the traditional recipe, this soup-based chicken dish uses real buco juice for its base, adding a sweet and nutty flavor to the soup.
The new menu items aren’t the only thing new at Max’s. All of its restaurants received a facelift recently in line with its new positioning as a fast casual dining establishment.
Fajardo says Max’s can’t go fast-food because of the amenities their patrons look for. Regular guests expect to see tables set up with table cloths rather than the paper place settings in other chicken places. Considering the cooking time of each chicken order, the restaurant isn’t exactly suited for fast-food style service.
"Many customers come to our restaurants expecting fine dining service," he explains. "Our guests are our bosses; we follow what they want."
The facelift has given all Max’s outlets a more homely ambience. Apart from the signature company colors of burgundy, terra cotta and green that guide the restaurants’ interiors, as much as 30 percent of a restaurant’s property is devoted to landscaping.
"You should see our Sucat outlet," he adds. "It sits on a one-hectare lot and as much as 60 percent of the area has been devoted to gardens."
In restaurants too small to squeeze in a pocket garden, like its mall outlets, walls are painted green and decorated with large-sized images of greens and the restaurant’s specials.
Even the original Sct. Tuazon outlet in Quezon City has been renovated to this standard. The dining area has been expanded greatly, so that it no longer looks like a house masquerading as a restaurant.
Those who want to experience the unique Max’s experience should troop to this outlet on the first Sunday of the month. Upon the suggestion of veteran game show host Pepe Pimentel, Mass is observed on this day and followed by a family day-type of gathering. And yes, they all enjoy Max’s fried chicken on this day.
After 58 years, Max’s still holds true to its reputation as a family restaurant.