‘Crushed’ by eager crowds, this restaurant has grown into a Garden City hit
As the owner of Boise’s Lemon Tree Co. sandwich chain, Jasson Parra is aware of the potential highs and lows of the restaurant business.
But he wasn’t fully prepared for early reaction to his new venture, Max and Louie’s.
Almost immediately after the brunch concept debuted at 175 E. 35th St. in Garden City, his staff faced a hungry onslaught. “We are getting crushed,” Parra confessed in a January text message. “I’m so grateful. Hands down the best and busiest opening I’ve ever experienced in the almost eight years we’ve been in business.”
Weeks later in February? Not quite as hectic, but the masses kept coming. “It’s just starting,” he predicted. “Patios are not even opened yet.”
Fast-forward to now. Mid-April. During busy weekend hours, the wait averages an hour to 90 minutes. Weekdays? Less crowded, but you still might need patience.
“We are still rocking,” Parra says happily by phone, “and I don’t think it’s going to slow down in the immediate future, especially during summer.”
A ‘cute’ ‘experience’
After taking over a closed Puerto Rican restaurant, Max & Louie’s appears to be a prime example of right idea, right place, right time. Open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, it feeds a Garden City need, exploiting an untapped market in a neighborhood near the Greenbelt. “There are no breakfast places there,” my wife explained to me after visiting Max & Louie’s with her mother. “Just coffee places, and all the coffee places are slammed.”
And crucially? “It’s cute!” my wife said.
What does that even mean? As a Yelp reviewer noted in early April, “it felt like one of those places that gives you more than just a meal; it gives you an experience.”
It’s an intimate dining environment. The indoor seating capacity is about 60. That number roughly doubles if you include the two outdoor patios. The rooftop patio isn’t open yet but will be rolled out soon. Speaking of rolling? Window-filled garage doors connect the dining room to the outdoor patio.
Then there are Max & Louie’s adorable namesakes. The logo features caricatures of Parra and his wife’s dogs, Max and Louie. The walls of the clean, crisp restaurant are decorated with framed photos of the same two canines.
‘Viral’ iced lattes
But the unlikely star of the show? The iced drinks. Made-to-order specialty beverages are served in clear, 16.9-ounce pop-top cans. (These, too, are cute. With, of course, the cute little doggie faces on them.) Parra happened upon the clear cans on social media — from the Roasting Warehouse in Australia. One-third of the way around the globe in Boise? “It’s been a hit,” he says.
Sit down for a breakfast burrito ($11.25), avocado toast ($16.25) or a short rib skillet ($18.25), and you’ll notice customers eyeing clear-can drinks at other tables. My wife admits doing it herself: What is that?
Is it one of the coffee beverages like a Lady’s Lavender Latte ($8) with lavender syrup, whole milk and a double shot of espresso? Or a Lou-Lou’s Double Matcha Latte ($8.50) with matcha, housemade simple syrup, whole milk and matcha foam? Or maybe even a dirty soda? A Spicy Doc ($9) with Dr Pepper, two shots of espresso and brown sugar pecan cold foam?
Those clear cans are just fun.
“It’s gone kind of viral,” Parra says. “We have a lot of TikTokers and all that stuff, and they’re just coming in because they keep hearing word of mouth, and they’re reposting. So it’s been kind of a cool thing to see. We’ve never experienced it before.”
When you do order the scratch-made food? Like at Lemon Tree, you’ll choose from a menu that’s limited in size but crafted to be executed efficiently and consistently. Breakfast and lunch are the same.
“If you want a burger at 8 o’clock in the morning, you can get a burger at 8 o’clock in the morning,” Parra says. “If you want huevos rancheros at 2 o’clock, you can do that. People really love the fact that it’s an all-day menu and doesn’t switch.”
Max & Louie’s recently began selling drinks at a convenient walk-up window outside called Cooper’s Corner. (Cooper is their third pup. Max passed away four years ago at nearly 18.) That way, customers don’t have to brave a bustling restaurant. Some people buy drinks at the window, Parra says, then return for a meal inside and even more clear-can beverages.
Soon: Mimosas to go
Either way, when the rooftop patio opens — soon — weekend wait times should be shortened. “It’ll be ready by Mother’s Day, for sure,” Parra promises.
Until then? He will try to savor the moment. Confident in the feeling that, in Max & Louie’s, he has found a sustainable hit.
“It’s just such a convenient spot to stop at off the Greenbelt,” Parra says. “It’s really, really cool to see. On the weekend, you’ve got all these people biking up or just hanging out in the parking lot and then shaking the cans to mix everything. It’s a cool sight.”
That walk-up window is about to become even cooler. By the end of April, Max & Louie’s finally will have a beer and wine license, Parra says. “We’ll be able to do micheladas and mimosas to go. Because everything is sealed. It’s a pop top, so it’s like a Coke can or a beer can.”
Seriously? How fun — and cute — is that?
It’s just another part of the Max & Louie’s mystique.
“I’m just in awe of, ‘Woah, we built this and people are coming,’ ” Parra says. “It’s almost like ‘Field of Dreams,’ right? Build it and they will come. I feel like we finally had that moment.”
