We are back
Three weeks off, a few things put right in the dining room, knives sharpened again, and here we are. Café Max reopens on Tuesday 25 August for lunch, service from 12.15pm, just as before, just as always.
The rhythm picks up without missing a beat: lunch from 12.15pm to 2pm, dinner from 7pm to 9.45pm, Monday to Friday. The counter is polished, the cellar is in order, and the first order of the season will please us as much as it pleases you.
Reopening on 25 August is not entirely a coincidence for this house. It falls on the anniversary, to the day, of Germain Eugène raising the French flag over the mast at Les Invalides in 1944. We told that story in a previously unpublished account.
The terrace, for the mildness of late summer
Late August in Paris may well be the best moment of the year to eat outside. The heavy heat has passed, the city slowly fills up again, the light falls earlier along the avenue, and the evenings have that warmth that makes you want to linger over a glass.
Our year-round terrace on avenue de la Motte-Picquet is waiting for you from the very first service, alongside the seasonal terrace that stays up until 31 October. Mention your preference when you book and we will keep the right table for you.
This is also the season of long lunches: the nearby ministries are back at work, Les Invalides has its visitors again, and the neighbourhood relearns its September rhythm. Worth enjoying before the first coats come out.
The classics have not moved
You will not feel lost. What you come here for is still exactly where you left it at the end of July.
- Organic eggs mimosa, our calling card as a starter
- Crispy pig ears, which nobody else in Paris still serves
- Salers beef tartare, hand-cut with a knife, prepared to order
- Cannelloni filled with greens, gratinated with Parmesan
And for dessert, the ritual resumes at the counter: crêpes Suzette flambéed in Grand Marnier, three per person, in front of you. The Normandy butter has not lost its voice over the holidays.
Alongside these classics, the market board starts afresh with the late summer arrivals. Chef Frédéric Vardon already has a few ideas for September.
And the team is in fine form
The most important thing is neither the menu nor the terrace. It is the team coming back tanned, rested and visibly glad to be in the dining room again.
In the kitchen as behind the counter, everyone has recharged. You can hear it in the sound of service, and see it in the way the Tuesday lunchtime regulars are welcomed back as though they had never left.
That is what a good return to work looks like in a bistro: nobody feels that three weeks have gone by.
Book your table
Bookings are open through the reservation form or by telephone on +33 1 47 05 57 66. The first evenings of the season go quickly, especially on the terrace.
At 7 avenue de la Motte-Picquet, in the 7th arrondissement, a stone's throw from Les Invalides. Métro La Tour-Maubourg, 40 metres away.
See you very soon, inside or out.
The Café Max crew
Parisian bistro since 1941 · 01 47 05 57 66
