After a schooner and a special at joe Jost's we were craving a shot of jack. Drawn here strictly for that reason. The place is pretty dank and seedy but the bartender was sweet and the jack was plentiful. Made me wanna hose myself down after leaving though. Couldn't say I would return.
Review Source:It was disappointing to hear that Max's had become a bikini bar. But then it was exciting to hear that the bikini bar venture failed and the old Max's was back!
Ugh. Should have stayed a bikini bar.
The cool booths in the back are gone, gone, gone. The pours are chintzy and expensive. $7.50 for a glass of Maker's. Are you kidding me? You can get a glass of super primo bourbon at other bars for the same price or less.
I've got a sinus infection, which I suppose is a good thing, because my husband said it reeked of vomit in there last night.
The service was nice, but it doesn't even come close to making up for the lameness Max's has become.
Great dive bar for shows! But hands down the worst drink service I've ever encountered. Place was nowhere near packed and it took almost 30 mins to get a drink. Single bartender just wandering around, ignoring people. Lots of people getting fed up and leaving. Please, MS, get it together- I've never seen so many exasperated bar patrons. :/
Review Source:Don't let the negative reviews fool you. Dangerous my ass, I was a little skeptical when I went expecting something bad, but as I approached all negativity went away.
This bar is located on a pretty big street with a lot of street parking. The drinks are very cheap and the bar is pretty spacious. My band played a show there a few months back and I believe it was the best place we've ever played. Ken took great care of us and even ran minor live sound on the P.A. for us. The bartender that night was very nice and offered quick service.
Not only is this the dirtiest, dingiest dive bar I have ever been in; the neighbor hood is extremely dangerous. The live music is the worst and the five barflies that inhabit the bar stools permanently are way beyond the age of appreciating anything past the Lawrence Welk years.
If you are looking for a good place to get mugged, just park on the street and wait a few minutes.
If you are looking for an argument, come on in and strike up a conversation with any patron .
First things first.
Max Steiner's has a one-eyed fish.  And in the words of Mike Blogoff of <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmikedrinksbeer.tumblr.com%2F&s=8a5db7358d7337554c6cd281bf9608b86bddf799298cf0b2c7a0edac4763044b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://mikedrinksbeer.tu…</a> it is a "badass." Â
No really. Â It made his whole night. And that fish is awesome. Â
Slanky confirms it.  (<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftinyurl.com%2F3rcp4x4&s=b7fee5ac1cf3ab50caac33647906c33a000c8a5baae5cc8e6da4474e1af5fe07" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/3rcp4…</a>)
But I digress.
Los Angeles and surrounding counties have a serious problem. Â
There is a dearth of genuine slummy dive bars here. Â There are many divey, dive-ish and just plain faux dives around, but few have that Old Man Smell. Â Max Steiner's does. Â
And I understand this is after an upgrade. Wow! Â I almost wish I'd seen it back in the day.
But seriously. Â The bar opens at 6am. Â Let's go sometime. Â There is still some dodgy clientele. Â
A cat offered to sell me a jacket the first time I stepped out of a car to visit this venerable watering hole. Â I declined but appreciated the junkie ambience nonetheless.
There is a full bar. Â And there are always *jello shots* for like a buck. Â Can't beat it and they're not bad either.
Drinks are stiff and prices are (mostly) reasonable. Â $3.50 for a can of PBR kind of chaps my ass, but so does the fact that it's been co-opted by a bunch of whiny fucking hipsters. Â Frank Booth and I would've taken care of those neighbors in a small town-minute given the opportunity. Â So I get it. Â But it does eat into my drinking budget there.
Still for the amount I would've spent on my regular serving of beer for the evening I could have had, say, 40 or 50 jello shots, so there's always that option.
The live music being booked after the new management took over is varied and keeps an eye to providing a place for local LBC musicians to play. Â That's pretty cool. And there have been some pretty wacky acts in there. Â
All in all, it's worth trying out. Â I doubt you'll be disappointed. Â
And if you are, well, you'll probably be too drunk to care.
I actually had to request that the bar tendress add more tonic to my T&T. Â I don't remember how much it was (see last sentence), but I'm thinking cheap. Â I've seen a lot about Steiner's on facebook lately and they are booking some good bands! Â Saw a friends band there last month and already plan on going back in a few weeks. Â It looks worse from the outside and that really drunk regular was a little intimidating at first, but there's no cover, good music and strong drinks!
Review Source:This bar had a makeover? Holy mackerel!
Another good example of how star ratings can sometimes be inadequate. I guess "A-OK" fits Max's, but some of you will hate it and some of you will love it.
Security is certainly tight here, I can tell you that. I was carded by two different people at the door. That might be a first. I've been drinking legally since before 21 year olds were born. I paid a $3 cover to see Victims of Indecision.
Later, some dude was hassling a female friend of mine and I didn't know what was going on. By the time her husband and I could rescue her, security dealt with the situation. Apparently he was underage and was asking her to buy him a drink? Strangely, this dude was not kicked out of the bar. Instead, he was banished to a corner booth where he sulked for the rest of the night.
Yeah, interesting characters here all right. A lot of them seem to think that they own the place, or at least their particular seat at the bar. Max's seems to be one of those types of places.
Only bad beer on tap. Maybe some decent ones by the bottle. I drank cans of PBR, which I'll leave to the reader to judge.
Pretty cool jukebox. I may never have heard Freddy Fender in a bar in my life. I happen to be from the East Coast, mind you (and a Texas Tornados fan). The bartender gave my friend a dollar to play some tunes. I selected Ramones, Elvis, Sublime, and Cream. If it had been my dollar, I would have picked "Revolution 9" by The Beatles. Then, I probably would have been escorted out of the place.
We parked on Junipero Ave. Try there first.
what a make over!!!  this place was a divey hidden secret spot for me in the past but now I don't want people to find out.  Place is clean, hip, coolest juke box, cheap drinks, variety of live bands every night.  I think this spot is becoming the new cool spot for cool cats to hang.  Stay away from my hidden treasure spot!!!  j/k  check it out, it's the one of a kind bar you won't find anywhere else.  There's a reason why this bar's been open for over 50 years.  oh, this bar opens at 6am!!!  everyday!!!  yes, 6am.
Review Source:along time ago this bar was so scarry  it was dark and bums, drunks, gangsters use to hang out there allot! and people use to hot box it with cigarettes... anyway I went because I was curious because they painted it new... went inside the insides looks cleaned up bathrooms clean bottles weren't dusty... huge change from before when I use to go I was the young one there... years later I felt like the... umm "mature" one there. So this place is no ok to go now. ;)
Review Source:It's a little hard to breathe in here through the smoke and I don't suggest going in alone until you've acquainted yourself with the usuals. Â Otherwise, its all pretty class and the decor is a brilliant smattering of creepy vintage Americana or a rebroadcasted gang-film on Paramount Channel 13, circa 92. Â
3 dollar drinks and the partiest weirdos in town make this my favorite dive in Long Beach, a bit like Red Room round noon, sans anything consciously hip like signed skateboard decks. Â They're open from 6AM-2AM leaving only a four hour period to have the place air out a bit. Â I'm really curious as to where some of the patrons go at this point of the morning. Â Sounds like an interesting doc really... but I'd imagine they're just trying to jaywalk as many streets as possible while attempting to bum smokes wondering why payphones no longer exist.
A rather paltry selection of country and soul music but it goes well with the two beer on tap selection, Bud and Bud Light.  The limited beer on tap does not however prevent them from keeping  a well stocked bar with all the liquor you'll need.
Max's Steiner comes highly recommended. Â They're all super friendly here and you'll be introduced to some very far out, comedic, aggressively proletarian characters which if you've sensitive ears... might be difficult to deal with. Â Still, expect some enjoyable conversation with the most memorable types you're likely to meet in this town.
um. the diviest of dive bars... that's excluding the sleugh of mexican dive bars that hide out on anaheim.
had  afreind get robbed w/ a shotgun out front... random.
pool table is legit. but bar is just something else... if you smoke ( i don't ) this bar lets you, and even supplies little empty cat food tins for you to ash in... yes ashtrays would be to nice for this place...
have fun. buyer beware. girls? don't go alone.
The Ultimate when it comes to dark and sketchy...Bad area, empty...Dirty....The toilet seat was on the floor next to the toilet, and there were a couple of old men sitting at the bar...
When you come to a place like this, you might as well get the full experience and go all out....After I got my drink, I sat right in between the 2 men at the bar, and made friends.....Turns out that Nelson, while slightly creepy, has a masters degree in music, and swears by his classical guitar playing skills....The other guy, was very friendly, and was smoking a brand of cigarettes galled "Grand Prix"......You just never know with people....give em' a chance.
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