Maxwell's Beach Cafe

My family decided to try out Maxwell's for lunch. They were well-staffed for the lunch rush. Great server and excellent food. They even gave our child her own "appetizer" plate ahead of the adults. We loved lunch so much we returned for dinner!

Took an hour for the food to get here while other people were served even though they were seated after us by at least 10 mins. And the food was bland and not worth the money paid. Nothing was special.

We had a fantastic dining experience! From the friendly hostesses to our amazing server! The food was so good! And even though they were crowded the service was great!!

Worth the short wait! Our server was amazing - thank you Anna! Our food was fabulous - kudos to the back of the house! The owner was working just as hard as his staff - way to go, Steven!

Excellent service and easily the best food I have had in the area. I visit Spencer regularly for work and often try out out the restaurants. This is the best I have been too. My co-workers and I had the Hummus and Brie appetizers, both were amazing. Between the three of us we got the Chicken Bravura, the Vegas Strip Steak and the Ahi Tuna. They were all amazing. Again service was great! I will definitely be coming again.

Warning, this place is busy! At 8:00 we still had to wait 20 minutes! It was definitely worth the wait though!

This is the perfect place to eat if you are down by the amusement park. The food is incredible, the service is great, and the views can’t be beat!

Thought the worst thing to come of the ownership change was my favorite mussels getting taken off the menu… Turns out, the worst thing is the owner himself! I watched him verbally abuse a family - using sexist and profane language - at the. After 15+ years of calling this my favorite restaurant on the lake, I am confident me and my children will not be returning. Gross.

Great food and right on the water! Staff was super friendly and very accommodating since we have young children.

EDIT AFTER OWNER RESPONSE: We’ll aren’t you quite the passive aggressive, egotistical business owner? Because of an overall disappointing dining experience, you decide it’s best to speak down to me about concepts of inflation, your impressive “high profile” guests, and my table’s perception of your declining food quality. Rather than taking it as constructive—and strictly accurate—feedback, you write the most disappointing response you could muster. My family is the reason Maxwell’s exists where it does today, and have been regular patrons since we essentially handed over the keys and location to Lewis in the beginning. I’ll leave it to my other family members if they’d like to return, but I will not be. It’s clear the golden days of Maxwell’s are long gone.

ORIGINAL POST:
I almost never leave 1 star reviews for anywhere but after my experience at Maxwell’s tonight, here’s why it is well deserved:
-Took 1.5 hrs to get our food after ordering, spent nearly 3 hrs here in total.
-The lobster and prime rib (two expensive options?) were very cold. Obviously sat out for a long time while other food was being prepared. This is the THIRD TIME this has happened in two years. I’ve come to understand that -> Maxwells = cold food. Maybe the kitchen needs some retraining.
-The lamb was very undercooked, even for a meat that could be eaten on the rare side. Sent back to be fixed.
-Lobster bisque tasted spoiled or something was wrong. Multiple people at my table all thought the same. No one ate more than one spoonful for it to be obvious.
-Didn’t bring out our ordered appetizer (otherwise the server tried her best and was kind.)
-Had to ask 3 times for water from different workers. 3rd server/worker took 10 min but they eventually brought it out.

How the Okoboji area has been conned into believing Maxwell’s is one of the best restaurants is shocking to me. And with prices rising every single year, I question how they are even still popular. Prime, the Waterfront, and Kazarelli’s are all much better, but don’t seem to have the same reputation as Maxwell’s?? The only factor keeping Maxwell’s alive is, of course, location.

(edited to be as precise and accurate as possible)

If I could leave less than one star I would. We received the most disrespectful service at this over priced restaurant. We went there for dinner as a group for a friend's birthday, and a US Veteran reunion. Two of the steaks that were ordered were very overdone. When we asked the server to have them sent back and redone, the manager proceeded to pull our pregnant party member inside to prove that in fact they had cooked it correctly and that it was just the outdoor lighting that made it seem incorrect. After a 25 minute wait when the new steaks arrived, our pregnant party members' steak was covered in Cabernet sauce, of which she had ordered originally without. When she expressed again that it was not what she ordered, the manager insisted that it was good and that she should just eat it as is, not even offering to take it back again to make it right (this was a $40 filet, mind you). After a mistake was made on one of the parties' bills and it was brought to our servers attention, the manager came out and demanded to know if we were rude/mean to her because she came in crying. That server assured us that it had been a long day and that it wasn't us she was upset about. We did LOVE our server, she was fantastic! After collectively spending $400 one of our party members tried to speak to the manager about his disrespectful actions towards our party. We had people yell at him to get away from the the kitchen and the owner got involved and wanted to know what else had gone wrong besides our steaks being incorrectly done. The manager then placed his hand on our pregnant members lower back and when asked that he not touch her, he replied that he was escorting her out. She replied that she did not need to be escorted out, that obviously she was not drunk. He then remarked " Oh, I guess I didn't get you drunk off of the Cabernet sauce after all". Never have we ever experienced this amount of disrespect at such a "high end' establishment. Would absolutely not recommend.