Maxine’s on Shine: The House on Shine Avenue That Became Orlando’s Favorite Table
A Michelin Guide selection run by Kirt and Maxine Earhart from a Colonialtown South house, ranked No. 5 for brunch in Orlando with a Net Score of 90.9. Inside the Rejuicination Brunch, the prix-fixe dinners and the adults-only rule.
3 minute read
There is no sign problem at Maxine’s on Shine, because there is barely a commercial street for a sign to hang on. The restaurant occupies a house at 337 N. Shine Avenue in Colonialtown South, a few brick blocks east of Lake Eola, and arriving feels like being expected at a friend’s home — which is precisely the effect owners Kirt and Maxine Earhart have been cultivating for more than a decade. The house calls its own atmosphere the parlor of a friend’s home, with a splash of sexiness. The Michelin Guide calls it a selection. Both are right.
Where it ranks — and why it matters here
In our Best Brunch Spots in Orlando rankings, Maxine’s on Shine stands at No. 5 with a Net Score of 90.9 — the only ranked brunch in Colonialtown, and the neighborhood’s standard-bearer. The category’s winner is profiled in our feature on The Hampton Social; Maxine’s keeps very different company and keeps it comfortably. The outside validation runs deeper than our list: the restaurant has been a Michelin Guide Recommended selection across recent editions, and its own wall of honors includes Best Restaurant in Orlando, Best Neighborhood Restaurant and Best Outdoor Dining citations. This is the rare case where the neighborhood place is also one of the city’s decorated tables.
Brunch is the headline act
The restaurant’s weekend engine is its Rejuicination Brunch, served Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with live entertainment on Saturdays and Sundays. The signatures are the ones regulars name without looking: fried green tomatoes, Key West crab cakes, lobster ravioli and the award-winning Bloody Marys, mimosas and sangria the house built its brunch reputation on. It is a made-to-order, à la carte menu rather than a buffet line, and the room’s scale — a house, remember — means weekend tables are a reservation sport. Book ahead; the whole neighborhood already does.
Dinner is a different, moodier room
Dinner runs Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m., and the kitchen, led by Chef Fabiano Olmo, works a small, diverse, made-in-house menu across pasta, seafood, steak and seasonal selections. The current fall edition runs as a three-course prix fixe: garlic shrimp over herb-butter polenta and braised brisket on a sweet potato waffle among the opening acts, linguini frutti di mare and a bison meatloaf with mushroom bordelaise on the mainstage, pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate Grand Marnier crème brûlée for the encore, with an optional wine pairing. The beverage program is a genuine half of the experience — more than 20 wines by the glass, guided by Kirt Earhart, and a classic cocktail list. One honest house rule to plan around: Maxine’s is an adults-leaning room. There is no children’s menu, and children under seven are not admitted after 7 p.m. Date night is not a side effect here; it is the design.
Planning the visit
Street parking runs along Shine Avenue and Harwood Avenue, and reservations for parties of ten or fewer are taken through the restaurant’s own site. The pattern to copy is the locals’ one: brunch on the patio side of the weekend, dinner midweek when the prix fixe room is at its calmest. Find the house on the Orlando Top Spots Map, pair it with a brick-street wander from our historic district walk, and read how it anchors the neighborhood in our Colonialtown dining roundup.
The verdict
Maxine’s is the proof of Colonialtown’s whole thesis: the best table in the neighborhood is inside the neighborhood, behind a residential front door. Sexy, comfortable, delicious is the house’s own slogan, and after a brunch on Shine Avenue it reads less like marketing than like a field report.
Best for: brunch devotees, date nights, and out-of-town guests you want to show the real Orlando.
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