Never been, just know its reputation as kind of pricey and old school. I give them kudos for recognizing that area won't really support the business model anymore and am interested to see what they try in the space - it's definitely an anchor in the Arts District!

It's a cool space. I went last month, was a tad disappointed in the food given the nice ambience. Looking forward to seeing what's next there.

I'm a little sad but mainly for the older memories of when I enjoyed going to Max's on Broad.

The last three times I went (years ago), there was grit in the mussels both visit and I'd tend to get my meal like 5-10 minutes after everyone else got theirs. Two of those visits, I complained and they said they'd make me a new batch. Well, I just got new batches of grit.

Obviously, I know mussels basically thrive in and around grit, but I also know how to clean and rinse them when I make em myself at home and I never get grit when I do it.

The third time I just accepted it as "normal for Max's now" and we didn't go back after that. :/

I used to love here when they first opened. I haven’t had a chance to go in years. Sad it’s shutting down.

They had an awesome European beer selection on tap. Gonna miss the peeing Belgium boy tap handle

Loved their mimosas. The food….. not so much.

Even if I don’t particularly love a restaurant, it makes me so damn sad to see another Richmond restaurant close. And it’s happening so often these days. Bummer

Great location but was a mess all around. The place was huge, the menu was overpriced, the format was dated, and the food was bleh

Thats two empty restaurant spaces on the same block now, with Saison closing as well. Excited to see what comes next

They probably weren't purging their mussels. In addition to scrubbing the outside of their shell, good restaurants will soak the mussels in clean salted water to get them to open up and move clean water through them.

Right. Sort, soak (purge), de-beard, rinse/scrub, steam.

At the time, I figured that they kept running out of previously filtered mussels by the time I ordered them—thus the extra wait while everyone else got their food—and it was just a constant game of cutting corners. Except it kept happening and I gave up. I can only do so much understanding as a customer.

Now, I figure they were just cutting corners and betting on a calculated risk that only some people would complain about the sandy crunch between their teeth while the rest would be too nice to say anything 🙄 Except I don't pay to have sand in my mouth.

There's already a restaurant in the works to replace Saison.

I never really went to Max's but I was around the area a bunch it didn't often seem that busy. I do hope something Saison-esque pops up in the Max's space though.

You and I would get along.

Lol, you'd probably walk into his kitchen and tell him it's filthy and then get asked to leave.

I have a cat and they get on the kitchen counters when I'm not in there in search for food! 😼

But I also wipe down my counters with Lysol wipes before cooking and watch him like a hawk when preparing food.

So far, zero reports from friends and family (or me) of foodborne illnesses from my kitchen in all my years 🤞🏻

I'm calling a health inspector.

I know where you live and I know how to drop off delicious leftover food that has been kept in the danger zone for a suspicious (but still safe) amount of time!

You probably run a dog fighting ring, too.

I had thought they were amazing the first time I went and had the Waterzooi, then I realized that everything else on the menu just paled in comparison. Shame, I would have liked to try it again, but I’m planning on replicating it at home myself.

I can't remember if I said this to you before, but I don't hold a home kitchen to the same standards as a commercial volume kitchen. The commercial kitchen by nature of it's volume has a higher likelihood of foodborne illnesses and so extra precaution must be taken.

At home, just like u/fusion260, my cats get on the counter and it's no big deal after a Lysol/Clorox wipedown. at least we actually wipedown our counters, which is more than I can say for Hobnob.

Oh, awesome! I had been getting so sad walking by and seeing the space getting cleaned out. Glad to know it won’t be empty long.

Lol and they just make it another club

Is there a close date? Didn’t see one in the article. Want to hit it one last time just for sentimental reasons. I did read the article, don’t see a date mentioned.

April 1st is the last day

It’s hard to mess up a mimosa

It’s not closing vs rebranding …: happens

We went before catching a play at the rep and everything about it was bad to mediocre at best. It was our family Christmas outing and I felt I’d let the side down. Shouldn’t have trusted the Yelp ratings.