I regularly visit Max & Erma’s for lunch on the days that I find myself working from home. While being a national chain, each restaurant has it’s own “hometown feel” and offers specials and promotions that aren’t available nationwide.

Both their lunch and dinner menus offer a wide variety of salads, appetizers, sandwiches and entrees. The restaurant is well known for their burgers and warm chocolate chip cookies. They even have a customer loyalty card, called “Good Neighbors Rewards”. It allows you to save money on every visit, as well as receive special promotions throughout the year. It’s free to join and can be used at any Max and Erma’s.

My regular lunchtime item has been the “Erma Combo” ; it includes a cup of soup, a 6 oz. cheeseburger with seasoned fries (or hamburger in my case), and a warm chocolate chip cookie all for $8.99.

On my recent visit, I requested Amber, who is extremely nice and a great waitress. Amber remembered what I like to drink- ice tea, half raspberry/half unsweetened, and she remembered my milk allergy. Definitely ask for her during lunch if you’re at the Greentree (Manor Oak Plaza) location. She was sweet enough to substitute a salad in place of the soup for me and every course of my lunch was timed perfectly. The 6 ounce burger is a perfect size for lunch fare, however a 10 ounce option is available, if you have a heartier appetite. Other notable things about the restaurant include: FREE cookies on your birthday! You can choose chocolate chip, white chocolate macadamia nut or a mixture of both. They serve you half a dozen warm cookies right out of the oven. They do take about 10 minutes to bake, so be sure to plan ahead if you’re going to indulge. For the kids, or the “kid at heart” there’s a sundae dessert bar, Tuesday nights at the Greentree location are fun filled with a magician roaming the tables during dinner, and there’s the ever-popular Sunday brunch. The Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are even known to make appearances on their special days.

The website has a location finder so that you are able to find the Max & Erma’s closest to you.