Post actual reviews of Max & Helen’s in Max & Helen's - Larchmont Village .
cant imagine how popular this place will be… and the reviews with Nancy are probably going to hype this as best diner in LA (maybe even more?).
especially around the holidays and the relatively small space, I anticipate massive lines going into 2026
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Stiff competition from Tesla…
Which, incidentally, I saw quite a few protestors in front of, when I drove past this past Saturday.
I presume the protestors are anti-Musk, not-pro-Oil/Gas…but who knows these days?
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Lmao this actually made me chuckle. What a world we live in
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Nancy also has a ton of media friends (and Phil) so I dont think it’s exaggeration to say this might get hyped as best diner in the US.
do they have walk ins? that place is TINY
think it’s only walk-ins
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really?? that seems super easy then to go in
How was it? Right now I have mentally placed it on the same level as Belles in HP.
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Guessing that’s the aim as it’s a diner? I’m sure it’ll be a long wait to start because folks have been stoked but they’ve done WEEKS of friends and family. I just drove by this evening and there were maybe 5 people waiting outside
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3 hr wait today when they opened. Maybe the line will be mostly daytime
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I was really hoping they’d have latkes, but oh well. I’ll definitely be trying a peanut butter banana shake.
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could this possibly be the most expensive diner in the US?
I wonder if the $27 patty melt comes with fries? I’m certainly open to arguments that this is especially cheffed up diner food -like truly out of this world -and would be willing to try it, but this is definitely splurge territory. Some of the PR and quotes are somewhat laughable and I think they’d be better served by marketing this differently.
Ex from LA Times below:
“The diner is the center of many communities. Rich, poor, everyone in between can appreciate the diner. They’re disappearing from America, and with that disappearance, maybe we lose our sense of community, and maybe with that, we lose the country. So we’re going to fix everything with our diner.”
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at that price, I’d hope so. for comparison, Cassell’s patty melt is currently $18ish with no fries. I was planning on checking out Max & Helen’s but wasn’t thinking it was going to be a $50 lunch. sigh
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Pann’s is around $17-18 and in one of the coolest buildings in LA!
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No PR or anything is more powerful than nostalgia. Touching those hearts of folks who visited such similar concepts growing up with their parents/family. I have always found it fascinating. Filling seats even in places with bad food.
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Just for some context I grew up in diner-central in New Jersey. All of the diners, even the terrible ones, are quite expensive now. I could get into the argument that a diner should be open 24 hours so max and helens is diner style. But if it’s elevated diner food at that price I don’t mind it. It’s not too much more than clark street diner and in a neighborhood that commands slightly higher prices.
But a club sandwich and fries in NJ at this point is like 23$ oh well.
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Same here. Grew up in northern NJ eating diner food.
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