Popular Santa Barbara uptown restaurant calls it quits

One of Santa Barbara’s longtime restaurants is shutting its doors for good after 34 years in business.

Max’s Restaurant on Upper State will close next week.

Owner Henrietta Forystk will answer phones, take orders, serve food and clean dishes until the very end. She started working at the restaurant in 1984 and became the owner in 2002.

Max’s Restaurant serves American cuisine and everything is “made from scratch,” according to Forystk.

In recent years, it was becoming more difficult to compete with restaurants in Santa Barbara’s downtown and Funk Zone.

“Santa Barbara is changing and people change so it’s not the same,” Forystk said. “We have now a thousand restaurants in Santa Barbara. It’s hard to keep up,” she said.

When Forystk’s family moved out of town, she decided to call it quits. The recent disasters solidified her decision when smoke and evacuations forced her to shut down several times.

“With the flood and the fire, it’s too much,” she said. “So, I think it’s time for us to move on and let somebody else come in here.”

Forystk knows most of her loyal customers by name and will miss them when she’s gone.

“It’s kind of like they say, ‘bittersweet’ to go,” she said. “But you know, I think it’s time.”

Max’s Restaurant is in the process of being sold. A new restaurant will likely take its place, but Forystk said the new owners may serve some of the same food.