In 1984, Berkowitz opened a Burlingame location, which he recently remodeled and said is doing well. The first Max's opened in Serramonte in 1978. Rising rent and increasing competition - not just at the mall, but more widely in Palo Alto - has made it more difficult for a mid-range restaurant like Max's to survive, Berkowitz said. Pacific Catch, a small Bay Area seafood chain, will take over the Max's space, according to Berkowitz. The company embarked on a significant revitalization of the shopping center in recent years and brought in new tenants, many of them larger food and beverage chains, from True Food Kitchen and Tender Greens to the forthcoming Shake Shack this year. Simon Property Group purchased the open-air mall in 2003 for $333 million. The exterior of Max's Opera Cafe in Palo Alto. Stanford’s original landlord and director, Rosemary McAndrews, envisioned a 'street market' populated by local vendors, including Max's, the market that predated Sigonas Farmers Market, a cafe and Schaub’s Meat Fish & Poultry, among other businesses. Simon Property Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.īerkowitz lamented the changing nature of the shopping center. 'Even though we're barely breaking even, in my mind it's not worth it to continue because more bad things are going to happen than good,' Berkowitz said. His rent has steadily risen to more than $100 per square foot, with a monthly payment of about $50,000. He said the company decided against his proposal to split the large restaurant in half, lease one side to a new tenant and allow him to stay with a more affordable rent. He went month-to-month while he tried to renegotiate with Simon Property Group, which owns the shopping center. Photo by Elena Kadvany.īerkowitz's lease ended in March. Owner Dennis Berkowitz put up signs announcing Max's closure on Monday, June 25. Max's will close its doors at the end of business this Saturday, June 30. 'I thought … maybe it will drop and come back,' he said in an interview Monday, sitting outside his 30-year-old restaurant.

The latest influx of dining options, however, put the final nail in the coffin: a 20 percent drop the first year the remodel was done and an additional 20 percent the following year.

And in the last two years alone, more than five eateries opened in a renovated wing on the El Camino Real side of the Palo Alto shopping center, with several more slated to open this year.ĭennis Berkowitz, the owner of the longtime Max’s Opera Cafe, said he lost about $300,000 in revenue a year after the first three restaurants opened but was still making a profit. It started 12 years ago, when California Pizza Kitchen opened at Stanford Shopping Center.

Max opera cafe