One of my earliest restaurant memories (other than Friendly’s with my family) was going to the Yankee Pedlar in Holyoke for a fancy birthday dinner. I remember the dark paneled walls and the dim lighting. It was mysterious and delicious.

Max’s Tavern located at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield brought back those memories. The lighting is not quite dim, but it is subdued and indirect. The booths are upholstered in burgundy fake leather. There are wine and liquor bottles on display and pictures of basketball players on the wall.

The décor, and the hustle and bustle of the large and attentive wait staff, made me think there must be a bunch of guys who wear trench coats smoking cigars in the bar, ready to eat a thick slab of beef after a whiskey.

But that’s not what's happening at Max’s, only an image brought on by the ambiance. To the contrary, Max’s has an open, brightly lit kitchen were a deep-voiced chef called out orders to his staff. When you walk to the bathroom, you can see the slabs of meat (filet mignon especially) glistening on the grill.

(www.maxrestaurantgroup.com/tavern, 1000 Columbus Ave., Springfield, 413-746-6299)

I went to Max’s with my teenage children, Elliot and Olivia, and my oldest friend Margaret (Gawienowski) Briskin, who shares my love for good eating. My miscalculation was thinking that we could start dinner at Max’s at 6 p.m. and make it to a show in Hartford by 8 p.m. Not so.

Max’s is conveniently located right off Interstate 91 (take the Union Street exit) and there is plenty of parking. The menu features “chop house classics,’’ “Tavern Specialties,’’ pasta, seafood and appetizers. Salads don’t come with the meal, they must be ordered separately.

We liked how the water came served in an old milk jug with a small pitcher of ice cubes and a plate of lemon slices on the side. My daughter doesn’t like ice in her water and she was able to have her water just the way she liked it.

The basket of rolls and bread sticks were nice and warm and I liked the little extra touch of a circle of paper with Max’s Tavern written on it that came with our little cup of butter.

I have a theory in which I say the three major food groups that humans crave are salt, sugar and fat (usually butter). Max’s clearly subscribes to my theory. Each of our entrees relied on one or more of those food groups.

We agreed to start by sharing the flatbread of the day which included a roasted garlic puree, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese ($7.95). The flatbread, which I presume to mean a pizza without a puffy crust, was small and overpowering in its garlicky flavor. The roasted garlic was missing some of the sweetness I expect in roasted garlic, but it went well with the cheese and mushrooms.

I chose the “Pan-pressed Murray’s chicken” with sweet potato rosti, shaved Brussels sprouts, pancetta and pan jus. It was delightful, especially for me because my favorite part of the chicken is the skin. The chicken was very crispy, deeply-flavors from the pressing I assume, and tender/falling off the bone. It was sitting atop sweet potatoes that I think had been roasted with olive oil and butter and a small pile of thin-slivered Brussels sports. The flavor of each part of the meal was co-mingled with the others and it made for a rich meal (read I took half of it home and ate it the next day.)

Margaret chose the Nantucket bay scallops with chorizo (Portuguese sausage) polenta, white asparagus and pork belly port wine glaze, a special on the day we visited. Her immediate reaction to the meal was that she was “slightly distressed” there wasn’t more greenery (i.e. vegetables) on her plate. Of course, the white asparagus did look a lot like those tiny bay scallops.

Fortunately, I was able to give her some of the still-crisp but well cooked green beans from my son’s plate. What was most striking about her meal was the port-wine glaze which had a lovely burgundy color but tasted a bit like some sort of berry jam.

My son had the meatloaf and mashed potatoes and other than wanting to ditch the green stuff on his plate, he was perfectly happy. My daughter Livvy’s choice, baked macaroni with prosciutto, broccoli rabe, smoked cheddar and peas, was our least favorite dish.

Something about the cheese being a bit chalky and lacking in flavor left everything else in the dish not very interesting. I admit I threw out the leftovers after trying on the next day.

We ordered desserts mostly just to have a chance to try them and not because we were hungry. I had the apple crisp which had a topping that resembled sugar cookie dough than the brown-sugary crisp I am used to, but it was great with the vanilla ice cream. Livvy’s pumpkin cake came with a tower of cream cheese frosting on it that looked like the swirled top of a soft ice cream cone. Elliot’s chocolate cake was a hit too, with a ganache between the layers of dark chocolate cake.