Max's Bar & Grill, long known for its hot dogs, featured on 'Kitchen Nightmares'

Jennifer Maybaum has spent much of her life at Max's Bar & Grill, an iconic Long Branch hot dog spot nearing its 100th anniversary.

She is the third-generation owner of the restaurant originally known as Max's Famous Hot Dogs, a title she inherited upon the unexpected loss of her father, owner Robert "Bobby" Maybaum, in 2013.

"I just stepped in," she said.

Maybaum did not attend culinary, business or hospitality school — she holds a master's degree in education — but learned along the way because the restaurant is her legacy, and she wants to see it reach its centennial in 2028.

"We have been here for 95 years" she said, "and that means that we are doing something right," she said.

When an email landed in her inbox this spring, pitching an appearance on an unspecified restaurant renovation television show, Maybaum saw an opportunity.

There were things she wanted help with at Max's — creating a seasonal menu to attract off-season diners, for example — and any uptick in business would help pay down a large debt incurred during a 2018 renovation and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The show was "Kitchen Nightmares," revived by Fox after a seven-season run from 2007 to 2014. Host Gordon Ramsay filmed in Long Branch and other New Jersey towns over the summer, and the show premiered in September. Max's will be featured during its two-part season finale, airing at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4.

Filming took place over one week in late June, and "having Gordon in the restaurant made me feel overwhelmed," Maybaum said in the episode. "But I can't ask for somebody with more of an ability to help me address where I'm failing and where I can do better."

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Ramsay's trademark criticisms began soon after he took a seat at a high-top table in Max's dining room, where the exposed brick made him feel "like I'm eating in my grandad's garage." He ordered nachos with grilled chicken, macaroni and cheese bites, chili, and two hot dogs: The Barney, with sauteed onions, and The Chicago, with pickles, tomato, onion, peppers and celery salt.

Ramsay took issue with the consistency of the cheese on the nachos, heavy breading on the macaroni and cheese bites, and the "flavorless" hot dogs.

"When I think about hot dogs, they should be fat, juicy, delicious," he said. "This thing's blistered and wrinkled."

For decades, Max's served a Schickhaus beef and pork hot dog that was discontinued in 2022. It was replaced by the Wenning Griddle Frank from Wenning Food in Long Branch, which enlisted a company to produce the original recipe for the footlong hot dog.

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Ramsay's team introduced a new hot dog, which will be included on Max's menu for a short time starting Monday. (The restaurant will close for its regular winter break just before the holidays and reopen in March.)

"To introduce any kind of new hot dog to replace something that has been our bread and butter and our staple for nine decades, I don’t take that lightly," Maybaum said prior to the episode airing. "But what I will be doing is offering that to the community because I think it's really important for the community to see what Gordon was suggesting for me, and to see if they would embrace something like that."

Other dishes introduced during filming include a smash burger, fried pickles, a chicken bacon sandwich, elote and milkshakes. Maybaum will serve samples of the new items during a viewing party on Monday, and wants customers to share their feedback.

"At the end of the day, I’m willing to evolve and adapt, but I'm not willing to lose my identity and who we truly are," Maybaum said. "I have evolved, and I'm willing to evolve. Moving forward, if customers have good feedback and ideas and suggestions, and over time those suggestions really take hold, why not put them on the menu? Why not move forward?"

Maybaum said one positive outcome of the experience was that Ramsay addressed a lack of systems in place for inventory, staff "and all of the things that make the restaurant life operate, and he's absolutely correct," she said.

"I'm here to help," Ramsay told her, "but it's going to get hard before it gets better."

The chef called in local restaurant owner James Avery to assist, both during filming and in the future, and Maybaum is appreciative.

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"Down the road, I only hope to utilize his wealth of knowledge as much as he’s willing to provide," she said of Avery, who owns The Black Swan and The Mainstay in Asbury Park, and worked as Ramsay's sous chef on Fox's "Hell's Kitchen."

"He has a lot of experience and a lot of contacts that he’s offered to connect me with," she added.

Much of the episode, though, focuses on tension between family members who work at Max's, which Maybaum regrets.

The episode ends with Ramsay stating that if Maybaum embraces the new menu, follows through with the new systems in place, "and lets go of the past, Max's has a chance to really celebrate its amazing 100th anniversary."

Maybaum said she is willing to adapt to keep Max's in business.

"There's no secret that property in Long Branch is sought after. People every day want this property (for) another condo, another hotel, another apartment building," she said. "But we are part of the fabric of Long Branch, and that is why I hold on so tight."

Sarah Griesemer joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2003 and has been writing all things food since 2014. Send restaurant tips to [email protected], follow on Instagram at Jersey Shore Eats and subscribe to our Jersey Shore Eats newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Max's Bar & Grill appears on Kitchen Nightmares