Max & Benito

Review

Kaiserschmarren

Photo: Max & Benito Sometimes a restaurant opens its doors and you get the feeling that you've seen the same place exactly 40 times in the past 15 months. Because every detail corresponds exactly to the current mainstream and there are absolutely no surprises lurking behind these doors. The new non-surprising restaurant of the week is called "Max & Benito" and features Max (Archduke Ferdinand, Maximilian I of Mexico, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I and puppet emperor of Napoleon III. He speaks English, serves tacos and burritos and opened two weeks ago in a cool, empty restaurant in Wipplingerstraße right next to the Hohe Brücke.
The rough natural wood tables and benches look exactly the same as in any other restaurant at the moment, the displays have been fitted with lecterns, just like in "Sex and the City", the display case/counter in the middle of the restaurant is tiled in blue, above the counter is the black board with the white lettering on which you can read the menu and without which there is apparently currently no operating license.
The principle behind the food served here is the American "customer's choice" system: you can put together your own individual dish in almost every respect, which is of course quite ingenious, as it suggests freedom of choice on the one hand, but also leaves the responsibility with the customer - if it doesn't taste good, it's unfortunately your own fault. But it's not that difficult anyway, chains like Chipotle have been doing this for over 20 years. Specifically, you first have the choice between the basic principle: large flat burrito, which is filled and rolled up (€ 6.90), taco (tortilla, filled with filling, eaten folded, € 2.50 per piece), burrito bowl (filling in a plate, without flatbread € 6.90) or salad (which can be topped with various fillings, € 6.90); then the fillings: grilled chicken, braised chicken, braised pork, "beef barbacoa", a kind of pulled beef, and grilled vegetables; then beans, black or white, guacamole, rice, salsa, romano lettuce, cream and coriander, so also everything just like at Chipotle. This is then stuffed into the large patty - and you have a soft, bland burrito. What can we say, the success was not long in coming. The smart-casuals from the law firms all around, the investment consultants, key account managers and agency creatives bit into the dough rolls with fervor. And Max & Benito is sure to last longer than the wonderful Porcus next door, where you could get boiled pork with Czech beer. To sum up: a new tacos-burritos designer fast food restaurant with a nicely designed logo and filled patties that won't hurt anyone. Max & Benito, 1st, Wipplingerstr. 23 Tel. 0660/372 22 18 Mon-Fri 11.30-19 hrs

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